Acupuncture helps sleep in veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)

1-3-2019

This research looked at 60 veterans (aged 24 to 55) with a traumatic brain injury and sleeping problems. Many of these patients were also diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Half the participants were given real acupuncture, while the other half were given sham acupuncture. Sham acupuncture needling is defined as giving a patient a treatment with needles, but using fake points that are not considered part of traditional Chinese medicine. It was shown that the real acupuncture significantly helpd both patients with and without PTSD sleep better. The authors are quoted as saying:

“These results indicate that an alternative-medicine treatment modality like acupuncture can provide clinically significant relief for a particularly recalcitrant problem affecting large segments of the veteran population.”

reference: Huang W et al. Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. 201980(1):18m12235

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