The effect of acupuncture in chronic intractable epilepsy.
We examined the effect of acupuncture on epileptic seizures in humans in a controlled clinical setting. Treatment was administered by two Chinese professors of acupuncture. Effect was measured by change in seizure frequency. Twenty-nine patients with chronic intractable epilepsy completed the study. They were randomized in two groups; 15 were given classical acupuncture and 14 were given sham acupuncture. There was a reduction in seizure frequency in both groups, which did not reach a level of statistical significance. There was also an increase in the number of seizure-free weeks in both groups, which reached a level of significance in the sham group. Thus, we have not been able to prove a beneficial effect of acupuncture in chronic intractable epilepsy.
Kloster
R
R
The National Center for Epilepsy, Sandvika, N-1301, Norway.
Larsson
P G
PG
Lossius
R
R
Nakken
K O
KO
Dahl
R
R
Xiu-Ling
X
X
Wen-Xin
Z
Z
Kinge
E
E
Edna Røssberg
D015669:Acupuncture Points / Q000145:classification*; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000328:Adult; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric