title: An overview of acupuncture for psoriasis vulgaris, 2009-2014.
abstract: Psoriasis is a chronic, proliferative, and inflammatory skin disease which affects around 2-3% of the global population. Current pharmacotherapy is effective, however medication with safe and long-lasting therapeutic effects is needed. Acupuncture for psoriasis is widely used in China as well as other Asian countries, and is gradually becoming accepted globally. To determine the characteristics and advantages of acupuncture treatment for psoriasis, and to improve the clinical outcomes of this disease in the future, this review summarizes literature on acupuncture treatment for psoriasis published between 2009 and 2014. Databases search was conducted with the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), MEDLINE, and PubMed databases over a time period ranging from January 2009 to December 2014. The condition term was "psoriasis" and the key intervention terms were "needling", "moxibustion", "auriculotherapy", "cupping and bloodletting therapy", "catgut embedding therapy", "point-injection therapy", "traditional Chinese medicine fumigation therapy", "fire needling therapy", and "vesiculation moxibustion". Languages were limited to English and Chinese. Therapeutic mechanisms, therapy, therapeutic characteristics, advantages and limits of acupuncture for psoriasis are discussed. The conclusion is that acupuncture therapies for psoriasis are simple, convenient, and effective, with long-lasting therapeutic effects as well as minimal side effects and toxicity.
authors.affiliation: a School of Medical Information Engineering , Guangdong Pharmaceutical University , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Yu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: b Clinical Medical College of Acupuncture, Moxibustion and Rehabilitation , Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: c Department of Dermatology , Guangdong Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine , Guangzhou , China.
authors.forename: Chuanjian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: d China-Australia International Research Centre for Chinese Medicine (CAIRCCM), School of Health and Biomedical Sciences , RMIT University , Melbourne , VIC , Australia.
authors.forename: Kaiyi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D055097:Auriculotherapy / Q000009:adverse effects; D002681:China; D016208:Databases, Factual; D005221:Fatigue / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008516:Medicine, Chinese Traditional; D009071:Moxibustion / Q000009:adverse effects; D015990:Placebo Effect; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000628:therapy*
keywords: Acupuncture therapy; psoriasis; review