Can acupuncture treat depression?
The alternative practice may be able to replace medication or alleviate its side effects
Tori Rodriguez
June 12, 2014
Tori Rodriguez
June 12, 2014
A growing number of people are seeking alternatives to
antidepressant medications, and new research suggests that
acupuncture could be a promising option. One new study
found the traditional Chinese practice to be as effective as
antidepressants, and a different study found that acupuncture
may help treat the medications’ side effects.
In acupuncture, a practitioner inserts needles into the
skin at points of the body thought to correspond with specific
organs. Western medicine suggests the needles may activate
natural painkillers ∈ the brain; ∈ traditional Chinese medicine,
the process is believed to improve functioning by correcting
energy blocks or imbalances ∈ the organs.
A study published last fall ∈ the Journal of Alternative
and Complementary Medicine found that electroacupuncture
– ∈ which a mild electric current is transmitted through the
needles – was just as effective as fluoxetine (the generic
name of Prozac)∈ reducing symptoms of depression. For
six weeks, patients underwent either electroacupuncture
five times weekly or a standard daily dose of fluoxetine. The
researchers, the majority of whom specialize ∈ traditional
Chinese medicine, assessed participants’ symptoms every
two weeks and tracked their levels of glial cell line-derived
neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a neuroprotective protein.
Previous studies have found lower amounts of GDNF among
patients with major depressive disorder, and ∈ another
research, levels of the protein rose after treatment with
antidepressant medication.
After six weeks, both groups showed a similar improvement
∈ symptoms, and both treatments restored GDNF to a normal
concentration. But the acupuncture began to work faster,
reducing symptoms more dramatically at weeks two and four
than the drug did. Among the patients who got better, a higher
percentage of the acupuncture recipients showed “great
improvement.”
Another study suggests that acupuncture may help with
one particularly difficult aspect of depression treatment:
the sexual side effects of some medications. Twelve weeks
of acupuncture helped both men and women with several
aspects of sexual functioning, according to the work, also
∈ the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.
These findings add to a growing body of research suggesting
acupuncture may be useful for a variety of ailments, including
chronic pain, anxiety and nausea.
(www.scientificamerican.com. Adaptado.)
According to information presented ∈ the last paragraph,
