abstracted & translated by

Honora Lee Wolfe, Dipl. Ac., Lic. Ac., FNAAOM

Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, electroacupuncture, psychiatry, anxiety disorder

In issue #3, 2003 of the Hu Nan Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Hunan Journal of Chinese Medicine), Wang Chao-ying et al. from the Hunan Provincial Cerebral Hospital published an article titled, “The Electroacupuncture Treatment of 20 Cases of Anxiety Disorder.” This article appeared on page 26 of that journal and a summary is given below.

Cohort description:

Altogether there were 39 patients enrolled in this study. All these patients met the diagnostic criteria for generalized anxiety disorder as set forth in the CCDM-III (the Chinese equivalent of the DSM-IV).Their HAMA scores were over 14 points and their SAS and SDS scores were over 50 points. Accompanying depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and other similar conditions resulting in anxiety were ruled out. These 39 patients were randomly divided into two groups. In the treatment group, there were seven males and 13 females 19-62 years of age, with a median age of 38.2 ± 9.4 years. Three cases had been ill for from six months to one year, Ten cases had been ill from 1-2 years, and seven cases had been ill for more than two years. In the comparison group, there were eight males and 11 females 20-65 years of age, with a median age of 35.7 ± 8.8 years. Three of these cases had been sick from six months to one year, 11 cases from 1-2 years, and five cases for more than two years. Therefore, these two groups were statistically comparable in terms of sex, age, and disease duration.

Treatment method:

After allowing three days for drugs to wash out of their systems, the members of the treatment group received electroacupuncture at Yin Tang (M-HN-3), Bai Hui (GV 20), Xuan Lu (GB 5), and Feng Chi (GB 20). The amount of stimulation depended on the amount of discomfort each patient was able to bear. Three to 10 volts were used at 12Hz for the first 10 minutes, 10Hz for the second 10 minutes, 8Hz for the third 10 minutes, and 6Hz for the last 15 minutes, for a total of 45 minutes per treatment. This was done once per day with no rests each week for six weeks. During this treatment, all other psychotropic medications were suspended.

After allowing three days for any previous drugs to wash out of their systems, the members of the comparison group received 100-150mg of a Western anti-anxiety drug (mei shu yu) per day in two equally divided doses per day for six continuous weeks. These patients were instructed not to take this medication with any other anti-anxiety or antidepressant medication. Both groups were reassessed in terms of HAMA, SAS, and SDS scores once every two weeks.

Treatment outcomes:

Cure was defined as basic disappearance of psychiatric symptoms and a reduction in HAMA scores to less than eight points. Marked effect was defined as reduction in psychiatric symptoms and a reduction in HAMA score of 50% or more. Some effect was defined as partial reduction in psychiatric symptoms and a reduction in HAMA score of 25-50%. No effect meant that there was no obvious improvement in psychiatric symptoms and any reduction in HAMA score was less than 25%. Based on these criteria, two out of 20 cases in the treatment group were judged cured, 11 got a marked effect, and seven got some effect, for a total marked effectiveness rate of 65%. In the comparison group. one case was cured, 10 got a marked effect, and eight got some effect, for a total marked effectiveness rate of 58%.

Discussion:

Based on the outcomes of this study, the authors believe that electroacupuncture is relatively successful for the treatment of generalized anxiety disorder or GAD. Although there was no marked differences in outcome between the electroacupuncture and the Western anti-anxiety drug used in this study, electroacupuncture is safe and without side effects, whereas the Western drug is known to cause dizziness, lack of strength, dry mouth, and other discomforts in some patients. According to the Chinese authors, electroacupuncture can raise serotonin levels in the brain.

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