acupuncuture and animals.. boy that placebo effect sure works

[scorpiotiger]

out of curiosity, I did a scan on pubmed of acupuncture and animals.. and it was very interesting what I got:

here is one, where the acupucture changed eye pressure

Effects of electroacupuncture on intraocular pressure and hemodynamic parameters in isoflurane anesthetized dogs.

The effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on intraocular pressure (IOP) and hemodynamic parameters were evaluated in isoflurane anesthetized 10 (5 males, 5 females) normal mongrel dogs (8.1-9.8 kg, 6-8 years old).

After determination of baseline IOP and hemodynamic parameters (cardiac index, systolic arterial pressure, diastolic arterial pressure, heart rate and systemic vascular resistance index), EA was applied at 3 acupoints (LI-4, LIV-3 and GB-37) for 20 min.

After the EA treatment, IOP was significantly decreased in the both eyes (p<0.05).

However, there were not significant differences in hemodynamic parameters between those of before and after EA treatment.

From these results, the EA treatment at LI-4, LIV-3 and GB-37 would be considered one of the valuable methods for the IOP treatment in dogs.

here are more (too many to go into each one.. but if you read the abstracts, they are pretty interesting.. )

what you do is go to pubmed:

1. type acupuncture in the keyword search box (at top)
2. click on the tab that says LIMITS
3. check (by clicking the box) ANIMALS
4. if you want, check clinical trials
5. if you want, check randomized controlled trials
6. then go to the bottom and click GO

and you will see all the acupuncture clinical trials involving animals.

 

[Xania]

Thanks for that interesting post, Scorpiotiger.. I didn't know so much work had been done with acupuncture and animals. I am not surprised by the results, just that you found so many references!

 

[scorpiotiger]

actually, I bet Joyce might be interested in this. Wonder if she has tried acupuncture for her glaucoma?

It sounds like she already has it under control.. but she still might be interested in this (and she wouldn't even have to be put under! )

I will have to find that cool chart you pointed to a while back and see where the points LI-4, LIV-3 and GB-37 are.