OBJECTIVETo observe the clinical effect of acupuncture on obesity complicated with hyperlipidemia, and to explore the therapeutic differences among patients with different obesity levels.

METHODSA total of 1528 patients of obesity complicated with hyperlipidemia were enrolled into the study. According to the clinical symptoms and signs, they were treated with acupuncture according to the syndrome differentation. According to their obesity levels (A), body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (F%) before treatment, they were assigned into a mild obesity group, a moderate obesity group and a severe obesity group. The obesity index of body weight, A, BMI and F%, the blood lipid levels of total cholesterol (TC), triglyceride (TG), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C) and high density lipoprotein (HDL-C) were observed before and after treatment. The total efficacy, weight loss effect and lipid-lowering effect were evaluated.

RESULTS① The constituent ratio of severe obesity in male patients overweighted that of female patients (<0.01), and the obesity was positively correlated with age and disease duration (=0.145 and 0.164, both<0.01). ② After treatment, the total effective rate was 98.9% (461/466), the weight loss rate was 99.4% (463/466) and lipid-lowering rate was 99.1% (462/466) in the mild obesity group, which were the all highest among three groups, indicating the lower obesity level achieved the better acupuncture efficacy. ③ Acupuncture can significantly regulate the obesity index and blood lipid levels (all<0.01); the obesity was negatively correlated with BMI and HDL-C (all<0.01), and positively correlated with F%, TC, TG and LDL-C (all<0.01).

CONCLUSIONSAcupuncture has dual effects on obesity and hyperlipidemia, which is significantly effective for patients with different obesity levels; acupuncture has the optimal effect on mild obesity, and had the optimal regulation on F% and blood lipid levels on severe obesity; acupuncture has superior overall regulation effects on obesity complicated with hyperlipidemia.