title: Safety of 4-week indirect-moxibustion therapy at CV4 and CV8.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Moxibustion therapy is a commonly used treatment in Oriental medicine. Here, we provide evidence for the safety of long-term moxibustion therapy.
  
  
  METHODS
  and design: Forty-five subjects (10 men and 35 women) who complained of chronic fatigue were divided into control (5 men and 15 women) and experimental groups (5 men and 20 women) in a randomized double-blind setting. The experimental group was treated with moxibustion to CV4 and CV8 for 4 weeks (administered three times per week); the control group was exposed to simulated burning of moxibustion. Complete blood counts, blood chemistry, and urinalysis results were analyzed before and after each trial.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The absolute and relative number of peripheral blood cells did not differ between the pre- and posttreatment measurements of either group. No significant changes in blood chemistry or urinalysis data were observed in either group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that indirect moxibustion has no effect on blood chemistry or urine and is safe for clinical use. These data could be used as reference data for further moxibustion studies.
authors.affiliation: Liver and Research Center, Daejon Oriental Hospital of Daejon University, Republic of Korea. ckson@dju.ac.kr
authors.forename: Chang-Gue
authors.initials: CG
authors.lastname: Son
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D000328:Adult; D001774:Blood Chemical Analysis; D015673:Fatigue Syndrome, Chronic / Q000097:blood / Q000628:therapy* / Q000652:urine; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009071:Moxibustion / Q000009:adverse effects; D014556:Urine / Q000737:chemistry