Golden Needle Practitioner Library

Bob Flaws, L.Ac., FNAAOM (USA), FRCHM (UK)

Keywords: Chinese medicine, acupuncture, obesity, hypertension, nitric oxide, nitric oxide synthase

Nitric oxide synthase (NOS) is induced by inflammatory cytokines in skeletal muscle and fat, and it has been proposed that chronic NOS induction may cause muscle insulin resistance.[1] Hypertension is associated with insulin-resistant states such as diabetes and obesity, and nitric oxide (NO) contributes to regulation of blood pressure.[2] Therefore, there appears to be a relationship between NO and NOS, obesity, and hypertension. On pages 134-135 in issue #3, 2006 of the Zhe Jiang Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Zhejiang Journal of Chinese Medicine), Xu Bing-guo and Liu Zhi-cheng published an article titled, “Acupuncture’s Influence on the Levels of Nitric Oxide & Nitric Oxide Synthase in Patients with Obesity & Hypertension.” A summary of this article is presented below.

Cohort description:

There were 30 patients enrolled in this study, all of whom met the diagnostic criteria for simple obesity as well as the 1999 criteria for hypertension set forth in Zhong Guo Gao Xue Ya Fang Zhi Zhi Nan (A Guide to the Prevention & Treatment of Hypertension in China). Twenty-five of these patients were female and five were male. These patients’ ages ranged from 22 to 72 years, with a mean age of 45.2 ” 10.1 years. Their course of disease ranged from 0.5-30 years, with a mean duration of 10.8 ” 7.5 years. In addition, there was another group of 25 normal, healthy patients which served as a comparison. In terms of sex and age, these two groups were statistically comparable.

Treatment method:

The patients in the treatment group were divided into four Chinese medical patterns and then received different ear and body acupuncture protocols depending on their presenting pattern.

1. Liver fire hyperactivity & exuberance pattern (10 cases)

In order to clear the liver and drain fire, the ear points chosen were:

Liver
Gallbladder
Triple Burner
Sympathetic

The body points chosen consisted of:

Feng Chi (GB 20)
Gan Shu (Bl 18)
Qu Chi (LI 11)
Yang Ling Quan (GB 34)
Tai Chong (Liv 3)
Xing Jian (Liv 2)

2. Yin vacuity-yang hyperactivity pattern (six cases)

In order to enrich yin and subdue yang, the ear points chosen were:

Liver
Kidney
Internal secretion (Endocrine)
Sympathetic

The body points chosen were:

Feng Chi (GB 20)
Gan Shu (Bl 18)
Shen Shu (Bl 23)
San Yin Jiao (Sp 6)
Tai Chong (Liv 3)
Tai Xi (Ki 3)

3. Yin & yang dual vacuity pattern (three cases)

In order to regulate and supplement yin and yang, the ear points chosen were:

Liver
Kidney
Internal secretion (Endocrine)
Shen Men (Spirit Gate)

The body points chosen consisted of:

Gan Shu (Bl 18)
Shen Shu (Bl 23)
Ming Men (GV 4)
Guan Yuan (CV 4)
San Yin Jiao (Sp 6)
Tai Xi (Ki 3)

4. Phlegm dampness congestion & exuberance pattern (11 cases)

In order to transform phlegm and dispel dampness, the ear points chosen were:

Spleen
Stomach
Internal secretion (Endocrine)
Triple Burner

The body points chose were:

Pi Shu (Bl 20)
Zhong Wan (CV 12)
Yin Ling Quan (Sp 9)
Zu San Li (St 36)
Feng Long (St 40)
Tai Bai (Sp 3)

Wang Bu Liu Xing (Semen Vaccariae) seeds were tapped over the ear points with adhesive and each point was stimulated three times per day with finger pressure. Each point was stimulated for 1-2 minutes per time. The points were switched from ear to ear every other day. Body acupuncture was administered once every other day, with the needles retained for 30 minutes each time. After obtaining the qi, draining hand technique was applied to those who were mostly replete, and supplementing hand technique was applied to those who were mainly vacuous.  One month equaled one course of treatment, and three courses were administered.

Study outcomes:

Patients body mass index (BMI), weight, and circumference were measured before and after treatment. Circumference was measured at the chest, waist, upper arm, and thigh. Skin thickness was also measured before and after treatment at the back of the elbow, the axilla of the shoulder, and the abdomen as were NO and NOS. Based on these measurements, 10 cases (33.3%) were judged to have experienced a marked effect, 14 cases (46.67%) got some effect, and six cases (20%) got no effect. Therefore, the total effectiveness was stated as 80%. The following table shows the differences in NO and NOS before and after treatment as well as the differences in these two values between the healthy comparison group and the diseased patients.

This table shows that NO levels in the obese patients were significantly lower than in the healthy comparison group before treatment and that these levels significantly increased after treatment. Similarly, NOS levels were lower in the obese patients than the healthy group and also increased after treatment. However, even after treatment, these levels were still not as high as in the comparison group. Based on these outcomes, it appears that the combination of ear and body acupuncture is effective for treating obesity, decreasing blood pressure, and normalizing NO and NOS levels in the body.

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