Acupuncture May Benefit Lung Health

by | Apr 18, 2013 | 2012, Lung Health

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. In a study of 68 patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, those who received acupuncture treatment, had 65.5% improvement in breathing. 

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is “a slowly progressive disease of the airways that is characterized by a gradual loss of lung function” and is the fifth-leading cause of death worldwide (1). While 12.1 million adults ages 25 and older were diagnosed in 2001, it’s estimated that another 24 million adults have impaired lung function. In 2001 alone, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease cost our healthcare system over $32 billion (2).

Research has suggested ways to possibly help maintain lung health include omega-3 fatty acids (3), creatine (4), N-Acetyl Cysteine (5), soy (6), and fiber (7). Now a new study (8) suggests that acupuncture may also benefit lung health.

In the study, 68 patients diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease received either 12 weeks of daily acupuncture treatment or a sham acupuncture treatment (placebo) used in previous research (9).  The researchers used 11 acupuncture points located as follows:

  • LU1 (Zhongfu)  and LU9 (Taiyuan) in the lung meridian
  • LI18 (Futu) in the large intestine meridian
  • CV4 (Guanyuan) and (5) CV12 (Zhongwan) in the conception vessel
  • ST36 (Zusanli) in the stomach meridian
  • KI3 (Taixi) in the kidney meridian
  • GB12 (Wangu) in the gallbladder meridian
  • BL13 (Feishu), BL20 (Pishu), and BL23 (Shenshu) in the bladder meridian

Before and after the study, subjects completed a 6-minute walk test and calculated a score using a modified 10-point Borg scale where “0” signified “breathing very well, barely breathless” and “10” signified “severely breathless”(10).

By the end of the study, those in the real acupuncture group had “significantly better” improvements in their Borg scores. Specifically, while those in the real acupuncture group saw a 65.5% decrease in their Borg scores after the 6-minute walk test (5.5 to 1.9), those in the sham acupuncture group had a 9.5% increase (4.2 to 4.6) (p = 0.05).  And not only did the real acupuncture patients have significantly less breathlessness, they also walked 17% farther after the study (373.2 to 436.7 meters) compared to a 4.8% decrease in the sham acupuncture group (405.2 to meters 385.8 meters) (p = 0.05).

When attempting to explain the benefits of acupuncture on lung function, the researchers cited a 2008 study (11) and suggested that acupuncture decreased activity of hyperactive muscles around the rib cage, resulting in better rib cage function and less stressful breathing.  They went on to conclude that “This is the first placebo-controlled, randomized study, to our knowledge, that demonstrated the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for improvement of [perceived exertion] and exercise tolerance in patients with COPD.”

Source: Suzuki, Masao, et al. “A randomized, placebo-controlled trial of acupuncture in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): the COPD-acupuncture trial (CAT).” Archives of internal medicine 172.11 (2012): 878-886.

© 2012 American Medical Association.

Posted April 18, 2013.

References:

  1. Pauwels RA, Rabe KF. Burden and clinical features of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Lancet 2004; 364:613-620.
  2. “Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease” posted on the NHLBI Website.
  3. Wataru M. Effects of Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids on Inflammatory Markers in COPD. Chest 128(6): 3817-3827.
  4. Fuld JP. Creatine supplementation during pulmonary rehabilitation in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Thorax 2006; 60(7): 531-537.
  5. Shan CAI. Oral N-acetylcysteine attenuates pulmonary emphysema and alveolar septal cell apoptosis in smoking-induced COPD in rats. Respirology 2009;14(3): 354-359.
  6. Hirayama F. Soy consumption and risk of COPD and respiratory symptoms: a case-control study in Japan. Res Res 2009; 10:56- 63.
  7. Varraso R. Prospective Study of Dietary Fiber and Risk of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Among US Women and Men. Am Jou Epidemiol 2010; doi:10.1093/aje/kwp455.
  8. Suzuki M.  A randomized, placebo controlled trial of acupuncture in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD): the COPD-acupuncture trial (CAT).  Arch Intern Med. 2012 Jun 11;172(11):878-86.
  9. Park J, White A, Stevinson C, Ernst E, James M. Validating a new nonpenetrating sham acupuncture device: two randomised controlled trials. Acupunct Med. 2002;20(4):168-174.
  10. Borg GA. Psychophysical bases of perceived exertion. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1982; 14(5):377-381.