ABOUT PARKINSON'S DISEASE IS A PROGRESSIVE NERVOUS SYSTEM DISORDER THAT AFFECTS MOVEMENT. SYMPTOMS START GRADUALLY, SOMETIMES STARTING WITH A BARELY NOTICEABLE TREMOR IN JUST ONE HAND. TREMORS ARE COMMON, BUT THE DISORDER ALSO COMMONLY CAUSES STIFFNESS OR SLOWING OF MOVEMENT.
SYMPTOMS Tremor Slowed movement (bradykinesia) Rigid muscles Impaired posture and balance Loss of automatic movements Speech changes Writing changes
In Parkinson's disease, certain nerve cells (neurons) in the brain gradually break down or die. Many of the symptoms are due to a loss of neurons that produce a chemical messenger in your brain called dopamine. When dopamine levels decrease, it causes abnormal brain activity, leading to impaired movement and other symptoms of Parkinson's disease.
"Acupuncture has been reported to have significant effects, not only in alleviating impaired motor function, but also rescuing dopaminergic neuron deficits in rodent models of Parkinson's disease
HOW THE RESEARCH REVIEW FINDS Background A literature search of the PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Research Information Service System, and Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion databases was performed to retrieve studies that investigated the effects of acupuncture on PD. The quality of each included study was evaluated using the 10-item checklist modified from the Collaborative Approach to Meta-Analysis and Review of Animal Data from Experimental Studies. Results The 42 studies included scored between 2 and 7 points, with a mean score of 4.6. Outcome measures included tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) level and dopamine content. Meta-analysis results revealed statistically significant effects of acupuncture for increasing both TH levels (33.97 [95% CI 33.15–34.79]; p < 0.00001) and dopamine content (4.23 [95% CI 3.53–4.92]; p < 0.00001) compared with that observed in PD control groups. In addition, motor dysfunctions exhibited by model PD animals were also mitigated by acupuncture treatment
