Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria

Editorials14 November 2023Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous UrticariaMike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcMike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcBritish Medical Acupuncture Society, London, United KingdomSearch for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M23-2713 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail I have been reading the acupuncture literature for nearly 30 years as well as using the technique in clinical practice, initially as a medical officer in the British military. Early in my acupuncture career, I witnessed considerable success in treating soft tissue pain (mostly muscle pain) in young men. Never did I consider that acupuncture might be used to treat nonpain conditions. I was even rather dubious that it could treat degenerative joint pain until I saw the headlines stimulated by the first large randomized controlled trial on osteoarthritis of the knee published in this journal (1).Fast-forward a decade ...References1. Berman BM, Lao L, Langenberg P, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2004;141:901-910. [PMID: 15611487] doi:10.7326/0003-4819-141-12-200412210-00006 LinkGoogle Scholar2. Liu Z, Yan S, Wu J, et al. Acupuncture for chronic severe functional constipation: a randomized trial. Ann Intern Med. 2016;165:761-769. [PMID: 27618593] doi:10.7326/M15-3118 LinkGoogle Scholar3. Tracey KJ. The inflammatory reflex. Nature. 2002;420:853-859. [PMID: 12490958] doi:10.1038/nature01321 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Torres-Rosas R, Yehia G, Peña G, et al. Dopamine mediates vagal modulation of the immune system by electroacupuncture. Nat Med. 2014;20:291-295. [PMID: 24562381] doi:10.1038/nm.3479 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar5. Xian J, Wang L, Zhang C, et al. Efficacy and safety of acupuncture as a complementary therapy for sepsis: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Acupunct Med. 2023;41:3-15. [PMID: 35579024] doi:10.1177/09645284221086288 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Andersson S, Lundeberg T. Acupuncture—from empiricism to science: functional background to acupuncture effects in pain and disease. Med Hypotheses. 1995;45:271-281. [PMID: 8569551] doi:10.1016/0306-9877(95)90117-5 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar7. Zheng H, Xiao XJ, Shi YZ, et al. Efficacy of acupuncture for chronic spontaneous urticaria. A randomized controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 14 November 2023. [Epub ahead of print]. doi:10.7326/M23-1043 LinkGoogle Scholar8. Kaplan A, Ledford D, Ashby M, et al. Omalizumab in patients with symptomatic chronic idiopathic/spontaneous urticaria despite standard combination therapy. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2013;132:101-109. [PMID: 23810097] doi:10.1016/j.jaci.2013.05.013 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar9. Chang HW, Lin WD, Shih PJ, et al. Acupuncture decreases risk of hypertension in patients with chronic spontaneous urticaria in Taiwan: a nationwide study. Healthcare (Basel). 2023;11:1510. [PMID: 37239796] doi:10.3390/healthcare11101510 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar10. Wu MY, Huang MC, Liao HH, et al. Acupuncture decreased the risk of coronary heart disease in patients with rheumatoid arthritis in Taiwan: a nationwide propensity score-matched study. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2018;18:341. [PMID: 30577824] doi:10.1186/s12906-018-2384-5 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAuthors: Mike Cummings, MBChB, DipMedAcAffiliations: British Medical Acupuncture Society, London, United KingdomDisclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M23-2713.Corresponding Author: Mike Cummings, MBChB, British Medical Acupuncture Society, 60 Great Ormond Street, London WC1N 3HR, United Kingdom; e-mail, london@thebmas.com.This article was published at Annals.org on 14 November 2023. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoEfficacy of Acupuncture for Chronic Spontaneous Urticaria Hui Zheng , Xian-Jun Xiao , Yun-Zhou Shi , Lei-Xiao Zhang , Wei Cao , Qian-Hua Zheng , Feng Zhong , Ping-Sheng Hao , Ying Huang , Ming-Ling Chen , Wei Zhang , Si-Yuan Zhou , Yan-Jun Wang , Chuan Wang , Li Zhou , Xiao-Qin Chen , Zuo-Qin Yang , Zi-Hao Zou , Ling Zhao , Fan-Rong Liang , and Ying Li Metrics LatestKeywordsAcupuncturePruritusRandomized trialsTraditional Chinese medicineUrticaria ePublished: 14 November 2023 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2023 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF downloadLoading ...