[Clinical observation on acupuncture combined with music for treatment of Alzheimer disease].
OBJECTIVE
To find the method for increasing clinical therapeutic effect on Alzheimer disease (AD).


METHODS
The patients of AD meeting American NINCDS-ADRDA Criteria were randomly divided into group A and group B. The group A (n = 21) were treated with acupuncture for 10 courses, 10 sessions constituting one course; and the group B (n = 20) were treated with combination of acupuncture and music therapy. The acupuncture method was the same as the group A and the music therapy was given for 20 sessions, once every 5 days. After treatment, their effectiveness were evaluated with the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Activities of Daily Living (ADL).


RESULTS
After treatment, the scores for MMSE increased significantly (P < 0.05) and the scores for ADL decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in the both groups, and the therapeutic effect in the group A was better than the group B (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Acupuncture combined with music therapy can increase the therapeutic effect on AD.
Liu
Gang
G
College of Acupuncture and Massage, Guangzhou University of TCM, Guangdong 510405, China. cnlgtcm@163.com
Yuan
Li-Xia
LX
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D009146:Music; D009147:Music Therapy