Acupuncture For Depression Answers

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April 19, 2009

What Is Depression?

Depression is a mood disorder described as having both physical and psychological warning signs that can be damaging detrimental to a persons usual daily life. When depressed you often suffer from poor sleeping habits, crying spells, anxiety, worry, bad, inability to concentrate, body aches, stomach disturbances and a lack of interest in activities you formerly liked doing.

In the late nineteen nineties, the NIH’s Office of Alternative Medicine financed a study at the University of Arizona. Working with acupuncturist who subjects were divided into three groups. The first group received the anti depression specific acupuncture, the second group got the mock treatment, and the third group was put on a waiting list before being placed on eight weeks of the real treatment.

Following the acupuncture depression treatment, the depression specific groups experienced a 43 percent reduction in their symptoms compared with a 22 percent reduction for the mock group. More than half no longer met the criteria for clinical depression. Only five people dropped out of the study, two moved away, one became pregnant, and two didn’t like being poked with needles.

This study puts forward the notion that using acupuncture as a standalone treatment could be as effective as other types of treatments for relieving depression symptoms typically used in Western medicine, such as psychotherapy and drugs. These findings are promising enough that the United Nations World Health Organization has approved acupuncture as a treatment for depression. Additional clinical trials with larger samples are deemed necessary to endorse this new optimism for depression

A significant advantage using acupuncture for depression was the low cost and lack of side affects compared to conventional treatment.

No Need To Fear The Needles

The acupuncturist uses very small needles inserted at specific places in the body to achieve effects. The acupuncturist uses needles that are hygienic to prevent any type of infection. These needles are much thinner than the needles that people are used to when they are in need of a traditional shot. It feels like a mosquito bite without the itching.

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