News from the Field

Abstract

ACUPUNCTURE STUDY TO ADDRESS COVID-19 OLFACTORY DYSFUNCTION

The Mayo Clinic, in Rochester, MN, is recruiting 100 participants each with postviral olfactory dysfunction of more than 4 weeks and a history of a positive COVID-19 PCR test to participate in a randomized, parallel-assignment, clinical trial to investigate the role of acupuncture as a treatment for COVID-19–related olfactory dysfunction. Janalee K. Stokken, MD, an otolaryngologist at the Mayo Clinic, will be the principal investigator. Participants will be randomized to an acupuncture group, receiving 2 treatments per week for 5 weeks + standard care, or to standard of care alone. Standard care consists of twice daily budesonide nasal rinses and olfactory training with 4 essential oils twice daily for 20 seconds each. The researchers expect to complete the study in August of 2023. www.mayo.edu/research/clinical-trials/cls-20517580

CALL FOR PAPERS ON WOMEN IN ACUPUNCTURE

Guest editors are calling for articles for possible publication in “Women in Acupuncture: Celebrating the Contributions of Clinicians, Researchers, Leaders, and Teachers,” a special issue of Medical Acupuncture. The issue will highlight the great contributions of women in the development of the acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine evidence base. The guest editors are looking for top research in the field featuring women authors or primarily women teams of authors. Lisa Jean Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc, DiplOM, at the University of Utah, and Nadia Volf, MD, PhD, a professor and codirector of the Scientific Acupuncture Department at the Medical School of Paris University in France, are the guest editors for the issue. Manuscripts must be submitted by January 28, 2022. https://home.liebertpub.com//cfp/special-issue-women-in-acupuncture/349/

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE AAMA 2022 ANNUAL SYMPOSIUM

The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture will hold its annual symposium May 5–8, 2022, in Cincinnati, OH. Evidence-based presentations will share information that can be integrated into clinical practice. The sessions will explore acupuncture mechanisms from different perspectives and address topics suggested by practitioners. The symposium will also offer time for networking. https://medicalacupuncture.org/events/symposium/

CALL FOR PAPERS: THE WORLD ACUPUNCTURE FORUM

Medical Acupuncture has issued a call for papers for a special issue on the: “World Acupuncture Forum (WAF) Davos 2022” guest-edited by the team of Gerhard Litscher, MSc, PhD, MDsc, Head of the Research Unit for Complementary and Integrative Laser Medicine and the Research Unit of Biomedical Engineering in Anesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine and Chairman of the TCM Research Center Graz, Medical University of Graz; Frank Bahr, MD with the EATCM in Munich, Germany; and Im Quah-Smith, MD, PhD, Adjunct Lecturer, School for Women's and Children's Health, UNSW Medicine, University of New South Wales in Australia. Manuscript topics should be related to either the general aspects or specific aspects outlined by the World Acupuncture Forum, which includes Acupuncture Research in Europe, China, Americas, Australia, and on Different Continents; Acupuncture and COVID-19; and Acupuncture and Mental Health. The deadline for manuscript submission is January 15, 2022. https://home.liebertpub.com/cfp/special-issue-the-world-acupuncture-forum/350/

AWARD-WINNING ABSTRACTS PUBLISHED

The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine published award-winning abstracts from the Society for Acupuncture Research's recent annual conference, “Pandemics, Pain, & Public Health: Roles and Relevance of Traditional East Asian Medicine,” June 14–17, 2021, held in a virtual format and sponsored by the University of Michigan's Department of Anesthesiology and Program in Integrative Medicine. The awards were presented to junior and senior researchers for basic science and clinical research. The journal also has published all of the conference abstracts, including poster presentations. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/acm.2021.29098.abstracts

CHOOSING AN ACUPUNCTURIST

The Washington Post published an article about selecting an acupuncture professional. It included a history about the use of acupuncture, research about the modality's benefits, and information about Western skepticism. The article recommended looking for a physician member of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture; one who was certified by the American Board of Medical Acupuncture or by the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine; or asking a physician and friends about their experiences with acupuncture. The article then lists several questions for patients to ask an acupuncturist under consideration. www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/picking-an-acupuncturist/2021/10/03/019d5394-220a-11ec-9309-b743b79abc59_story.html

ACUPUNCTURE FOR ENDOMETRIOSIS-RELATED PELVIC PAIN

An Australian prospective, randomized controlled feasibility study, reported in The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, found acupuncture acceptable, and well-tolerated for reducing pelvic pain and improving quality of life in patients with endometriosis. Mike Armour, PhD, at the NICM Health Research Institute at Western Sydney University, in Penrith, Australia, was the lead author. Participants were randomized to receive 16 acupuncture treatments delivered by registered acupuncturists using a standardized point protocol twice weekly + usual care during an 8-week period, compared with usual care alone. The researchers found that usual care was not acceptable as a comparison due to dropout rates and lack of completion. However, the researchers concluded that acupuncture was an acceptable and well-tolerated treatment for women with endometriosis, with potential benefits for treating pain and improving emotional well-being. www.liebertpub.com/doi/10.1089/acm.2021.0004

FREE CME CREDITS FOR AAMA MEMBERS

Members of the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture can take continuing medical education (CME) courses for free through Medical Acupuncture. CME topics range from treatment of itch to asthma to the challenges of implementing Battlefield Acupuncture in the Veterans Administration. https://home.liebertpub.com/spcoll/recently-published-cme-articles/91/

STUDY TO ASSESS ACUPUNCTURE FOR MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER

Di Qin, a professor at the Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China, is responsible for a randomized, parallel-assignment study to investigate the effectiveness and safety of using acupuncture to treat major depressive disorder. The researchers plan to enroll 123 participants, ages 18–60. The participants will receive either 5 30-minute sessions of acupuncture per week for 4 weeks, using transcutaneous electric acupoints' stimulation, or sham acupuncture for the same number of sessions. The researchers expect to complete the study in June of 2023. https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT05106868?recrs=abdf&cond=acupuncture&draw=2&rank=49

EXPERT SPOTLIGHT

Gary Stanton, MD, FAAMA, of Concord, MA, gave a presentation comparing French and Chinese auricular acupuncture for the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture (AAMA). He is a member of the AAMA board of directors.

Stephanie Cheng, MD, DABMA, an assistant attending anesthesiologist at the Hospital for Special Surgery and an assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology at Weill–Cornell Medicine, both located in New York City, presented a study about the use of acupuncture during total knee-replacement surgery at the ANESTHESIOLOGY 2021annual meeting (San Diego, CA, October 9–12, 2021). She indicated that patients receiving acupuncture reported less pain and needed far fewer opioids to manage their discomfort.

Ramy Sedhom, MD, at Penn Medicine, Division of Hematology and Oncology, Philadelphia, was the lead author of an editorial, in JCO Oncology Practice, about insurance coverage of integrative medicine modalities, including acupuncture, to control symptoms that patients with cancer experience.

Yolanda Teja, MD, at the University of Indonesia in Jakarta, is the principal investigator of a randomized parallel-assignment clinical trial, which will compare the effectiveness of polydioxanone thread–embedding acupuncture and manual acupuncture for reduction of the nasolabial fold. The study is scheduled for completion in January 2022.