DIABETES MELLITUS BY ACUPUNCTURE

Cheng Jianfei

{First Hospital of Nanchang)

Wei Jia

(Jiangxi College of TCM, Nanchang)

This paper reports some goal effects of acupuncture in treating 24 in-patients suffering from diabetes mellitus (DM). All the patients were diagnosed according to the criteria of WHO and to that of the meeting held in Lanzhou of China in 1979. The level of fasting blood sugar of the 24 cases at admission was over 180 mg%.

Therapeutic methods: All the patients in this group were mainly treated with acupuncture combined with the control of diet. For a few patients accompanied with severe complications or having depended on the sugar-reducing drugs for a time- The usual required dose was still maintained when they were admitted. We did not reduce a half of the dose or wholly give up the dose until the therapeutic effect of acupuncture was felt.

Main points: Geshu, Pishu, ZusanU. Other points were also chosen according to symptoms, such as Fcishu, Weishu, Zhongwan Shenshu, Fuliu, Diji, Sanyinjiao, etc.

Procedure and course of treatment: After needling reaction, needles were retained for 30 minutes. Before removing the needles the manipulation of moving needle combined with finger pressure was applied. This was done once a day, and 12 sessions constituted a course of treatment. The interval between each course would be 3-5 days.

Therapeutic results: The total effective rate of the 24 cases was 79.16%. The markedly effective rate (After three courses of treatment, the level of fasting blood sugar dropped to normal, the uretic sugar test was maintained in negative, and main features of the disease basically disappeared.) was 45.8%, The effective rate of 14 cases treated by acupuncture alone was 85.71% and the markedly effective rate of them was 57.14%.

1. The effect of acupuncture on the level of fasting blood sugar: In 19 effective cases treated, the average level of their fasting blood sugar was 308.3±72.1 mg/dl before puncture, but after acupuncture was applied, the average level of fasting blood sugar was reduced to 160.8±64.9 mg/dl. The depreciation between them was l49mg dl. It was statistically significant (P<0.01).

2. The effect of acupuncture on two-hour post-prandial blood sugar: Of the 17 effective cases, the average level of two-hour post-prandial blood sugar was reduced from 21.5±116.9 mg% before acupuncture to 292.5±91.5 mg% after acupuncture. They were statistically significant (P<0.05); of 5 ineffective cases (The reduction of their blood sugar after acupuncture did not exceed 50 mg/dl, and symptoms even repeated), the two-hour post-prandial blood sugar after acupuncture was reduced by 46.5mg/dl on the average, but in comparison with the pre-treatment period the difference was not obvious (P>0.05).

3. The effect of acupuncture on the oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) before and after treatment: We compared the therapeutic effect of OGTT for six cases who had obtained marked effectiveness through acupuncture only. The result revealed that the average level of OGTT was lowered by 96-132 mg%.

4. The effect of acupuncture on uretic sugar: In 19 effective cases after acupuncture, the average volume of fasting uretic sugar that of two-hour post-prandial uring sugar were more reduced than those of the 5 ineffective cases (P<0.001).

5. For six cases who had obtained marked therapeutic effect through acupuncture, we carried on a 3-6 month follow-up, during which the therapeutic effect on them was "found to be steady because of their persistence in diet control.

Analysis of main factors influencing the therapeutic effect of acupuncture: (1) 19 patients with non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) showed a much higher effective rate (92.9%) than 5 patients with insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), the latter's percentage being 20%. The difference between them was statistically significant (P<0.05). (2) Acupuncture was more effective for the patients who were newly attacked by NIDDM than for those with longer duration of the disease. (3) Acupuncture was more effective for the patients of obese and medium figure than for those of emaciated patient (P<0.01) (4) The effective rate of acupuncture in the cases with mild NIDDM (1 case) and moderate NIDDM (15 cases) was 100% while that of acupuncture in the cases with severe NIDDM (8 cases) was 37.5%, the difference being statistically significant (P<0.01). (5) In patients whose needling sensation was strong, the effect obtained was better than that obtained by the slow-witted (P<0.01), (6) As for the treatment of DM, it was shown that most patients in this group achieved satisfactory results after 20 sessions. There was certain relationship between the therapeutic effect and the duration of the course.