The meta-analytic method including a criteria-based assessment and a uniformly defined effective rate of clinical studies was used to study the clinical effect of acupuncture. This method of analysis can be used for a clinical study including case-series study. A criteria-based assessment may reveal the generality and lack of bias in a clinical study and the uniformly defined effective rate represents the general effectiveness led by the study.
We tried to analyze the clinical effect of acupuncture on migraine headache. As a result of analyzing to 16 reports of acupuncture treatment for migraine headache, the criteria-based assessments were widely distributed from 3 to 17 out of 20 points. In its distribution, the 4 reports designed by the randomized controlled trial scored 13, 16, 16 and 17 points, those of 2 prospective clinical studies scored 10 and 17 points, and those of 10 case-studies all scored less than 13 points.
As for the uniformly defined effective rate (%) in clinical studies, the average of the reports was 77.8% (its 95% confidence interval ranged from 68.2-86.0 %) and was much higher than the placebo effective rate of mock TENS (30-35%).
Considering the result of 4 randomized controlled trials, this meta-analytic result suggests the high efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine headache.

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in muscle strength of the quadriceps femoris after intraarticular acupuncture treatment of the affected joint in subjects with unilateral osteoarthritic knee. Isometric muscle strength was measured by standard dynamometry at 90 degree knee flexion when the subjects contracted the quadriceps muscle slowly and maximally without any pain.
In the preliminary experiment, the repeated measurement yielded a high reliability coefficient (correlation coefficient r=0.95, there is no significant difference between the two means) in the affected knee as well as the normal side for 19 patients with osteoarthritic knee.
Nine subjects, whose muscle strength of the affected side had fallen by more than 20% compared with the normal side, participated in the study. An acupuncture needle was inserted into the point where the tenderness of the affected meniscus was marked. The results revealed a noticeable increase in muscle strength of the quadriceps femoris in the affected side from 14.3±2.2kg before acupuncture to 22.9±3.0kg after intraarticular acupuncture (p<0.001), with no significant change in the normal side from 26.0±2.4kg to 27.1±2.8kg (p>0.05).
A hypothesis was formulated that the dicreased muscle strength of the quadriceps femoris in the osteoarthritic knee results from reflex inhibition from joint receptors and that intro-articular acupuncture has a disinhibition effect on this inhibition of the extensor muscle activity.

The reflex mechanisms of the responses in heart rate elicited by acupuncture stimulation in anesthetized rats were examined. An acupuncture needle measuring 160μmin diameter was inserted into skin and the underlying muscles to the hindlimb to a depth of about 5mm and was twisted once every second for 1min. A decrease in the heart rate was observed in 55% of 22 trials and in 70% of 20 trials when muscles separated from the overlying skin were stimulated. The response was abolished completely by cutting the femoral and sciatic nerves. The response was not influenced by transecting of the bilateral vagi but was totally abolished by transecting of the cardiac sympathetic nerves. Therefore, we conclude that the decrease in heart rate elicited by acupuncture stimulation of a hindlimb is based on a somato-autonomic reflex, in which the afferent pathway is composed of hindlimb muscle afferents and the efferent pathway is composed of cardiac sympathetic nerves.

The effect of moxibustion on duodenal motility was examined. Duodenal motility was measured by the balloon method in anesthetized, artificially ventilated rats. The stimulation temperature and duration of moxibustion varied. Treatments were applied to the hind paw and abdomen.
The duodenal motility exhibited an excited response by pinch stimulation of hind paw, and inhibitory response by abdominal pinch stimulation. Duodenal motility did not show any response to indirect moxibustion stimulation of the hind paw and abdomen. Duodenal motility exhibited an excited response by direct application of moxibustion to the hind paw and an inhibitory response by direct application of moxibustion to the abdomen.

We have developed the new dynamometer to measure twist strength of upper limbs that was not investigated sufficiently before. This dynamometer can measure both twisting hold strength and torque at a time. Therefore, it can be applied to motion analysis at demonstrating muscle strength. Both development curve of the age group's average of the average hold strength of left and right hand { (LH⋅HS+RH⋅HS) /2} and the average twisting hold strength of left and right hand { (LF⋅HS+RF⋅HS) /2} showed the peak of development in man's thirties and in woman's twenties-thirties and then marked depreciation gradually with ageing. The average torque of forward twisting of left hand and that of right hand { (LF⋅T+RF⋅T) /2} showed the same tendency in respect of the peak of development too, but woman's curve showed the peak in twenties different from that in man and then didn't mark depreciation remarkably. From the analysis with respect to twisting motion by the subjects of right handedness, we have recognized that the twisting hold strength of right hand by the action of left or right forward twisting (LF·RH·HS, RF·RH·HS) is greater than that of left hand (LF·LH·HS, RF·LH·HS), the torque of forward twisting of left hand (LF·T) is greater than that of right hand (RF·T) and that the hand of back twisting supports the grip-torque dynamometer from the result of EMG. Therefore, we can understand that the stronger torque is generated by the motion of forward twisting of left hand which can support stronger than by that of right hand. But we have recognized too that the average hold strength and the average torque correlate to one another closely. Therefor, we can understand that it requires the stronger hold strength to generate the higher torque.

This study was carried out to determine the relationship between health status and physical fitness, and the contribution of each element of physical fitness to the health status of middle-aged and elderly men and women. The subjects were 889 males and females aged 30 to 69 years. Physical fitness tests and medical check ups were performed. According to health status, the subjects were divided into two groups ; the healthy group (HG, n=348) and the unhealthy group (UG, n=207) . Multiple discriminant analysis was applied to the multivariate data. Correct discriminant probabilities of multiple discriminant functions to discriminate the HG and UG were 70.2% and 68.2% for men and women, respectively. These results suggested that there was a relatively strong relationship between health status and the level of physical fitness in both men and women. The contribution of each element of physical fitness to health status was evaluated by correlation coefficients between the discriminant score representing health status, and performance on each element of the physical fitness test and age. Age and muscle endurance contributed significantly to health status in both men and women. In addition, close relationship was seen between health status and elements of cardiorespiratory endurance, balance, and muscle strength in men, while change in physique correlated with health status in women. From these findings, it was concluded that exercise programs for health promotion in middle-aged and elderly people should be provided separately with consideration of the degree to which these specific elements contribute to health status.

The objective of this study is to assess the differences in access to antiretroviral treatment among health insurance recipients, using a patient-based analysis.
METHODS: The subjects were 324 outpatients with the human immunodeficiency virus who were treated at a regional hospital for infectious diseases in Khon Kaen Province. We collected data every visit of the patients during the study period between April1 and September 30 in 2002. We defined access to antiretroviral treatment as having a prescription for antiretroviral drugs on at least one visit during the study period. We examined the relationship between access to antiretroviral treatment and age, sex, stage of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), and health insurance. We also compared the results of the patient-based analysis and the record-based analysis that was used in our previous study.
RESULTS: Multiple logistic regression analysis shows that patients insured by the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme have better access to antiretroviral treatment than the others (vs. Universal Coverage; odds ratio=11.38, 95% confidence interval=4.09, 31.65). We have also shown that patients with AIDS-related complex have better access to antiretroviral treatment compared to asymptomatic AIDS patients (odds ratio=3.38, 95% confidence interval=1.31-8.76). Values of these odds ratios were lower in the record-based analysis than in the patient-based analysis.
CONCLUSIONS: Patients insured by the Civil Servant Medical Benefit Scheme had better access to antiretroviral drugs. We reconfirm the differences in access to antiretroviral treatment among health insurance recipients, using the patient-based analysis.