OBJECTIVETo assess therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Sishencong (EX-HN 1) on insomnia.

METHODSSixty-five cases of insomnia were treated with acupuncture at Sishencong (EX-HN 1) and their quality and compositions of sleeping before and after treatment were evaluated with a multichannel sleep detector.

RESULTSAfter treatment, the quality of sleeping increased significantly (P < 0.05), and the sleeping rate increased from (61.95 +/- 22.90)% before treatment to (79.27 +/- 11.05)% after treatment (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture at Sishencong (EX-HN 1) has obvious therapeutic effect on insomnia.

BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) is more effective than pharmacological treatments. However, the lack of trained experts and the duration, intensity, and cost of four individual treatment sessions curtail the widespread use of CBT-I in Korea. The aim of this study was to determine the clinical efficacy in patients who completed four sessions of CBT-I and in those who did not. METHODS: We investigated 81 patients with chronic insomnia (32-82 years old) who participated individual, four-session CBT-I between February 2010 and June 2013. The clinical efficacy was evaluated by estimating of total sleep time (TST), sleep latency (SL), waking after sleep onset (WASO), and sleep efficiency (SE) based on the sleep diaries. RESULTS: Of the 81 patients, 28 (34.6%) completed the four sessions. 22 (27.1%) withdrew after 1st session, 17 (20.9%) dropped after 2nd session, and 8 (9.9%) stopped voluntarily after 3rd session. Six were excluded due to incomplete sleep diaries. Clinical efficacy was measured in patients who completed at least two sessions (n=53, 65.4%); the mean SE improved from 68.8 to 87.6%, and in 40 (75.4%) the SE was normalized (> or =85%). Other parameters (TST, from 321.0 to 351.3 min; SL, from 61.9 to 25.0 min; WASO, from 86.3 to 24.4 min) were all improved after incomplete CBT-I. CONCLUSIONS: Sleep induction and maintenance as well as quality have improved in patients who underwent at least two of the four CBT-I sessions. It needs to develop briefer CBT-I to increase adherence to patients.
Behavior Therapy ; Cognitive Therapy* ; Humans ; Korea ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders*

OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect on post-stroke insomnia between the repetitive transcranial acupuncture stimulation (rTAS) and the conventional western medication in the patients and to explore the mechanism. METHODS: Ninety patients of post-stroke insomnia were randomized into a rTAS group, a medication group and a placebo group, 30 cases in each one. In the rTAS group, patients were intervened by rTAS. The acupoints were Baihui (GV 20), Ningshen (Extra), emotion area, Wangu (GB 12), Taiyang (EX-HN 5), Neiguan (PC 6), Shenmen (HT 7), Sanyinjiao (SP 6), Zhaohai (KI 6), Zusanli (ST 36) and Taichong (LR 3). Fast twist with small amplitude was used at Baihui (GV 20) and emotion area for 2-3 min, 200-300 r/min, once 15 min. Electroacupuncture (EA) was applied at Baihui (GV 20) and Ningshen (Extra), bilateral Wangu (GB 12), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Zhaohai (KI 6) on the same side, 10 Hz, 0.5-1 mA. The treatment was given for 40 min in the rTAS group, once a day. Diazepam was prescribed orally in the medication group before sleep, 2.5 mg a day. Starch capsule was used in the placebo group before sleep, once a day. All the treatment was given for continuous 1 month. The level of serum orexin A was observed before and after treatment. The effects were compared. The recurrence rate was recorded 3 months after treatment. RESULTS: The total effective rates in the rTAS group and the medication group were 86.7% (26/30) and 90.0% (27/30) repectively after treatment, which were better than 20.0% (6/30) in the placebo group (both <0.01). After treatment, the levels of serum orexin A in the rTAS group and the medication group were lower than those before treatment (both <0.01), which were lower than that in the placebo group after treatment (both <0.01), without statistical significance between the rTAS group and the medication group after treatment (>0.05). The total effective rates in the rTAS group and the medication group were 86.7% (26/30) and 86.7% (26/30) at follow-up repectively, which were better than 16.7% (5/30) in the placebo group (both <0.01). CONCLUSION The rTAS is safe and effective for post-stroke insomnia, which is similar to oral medication of diazepam. The decreasing serum orexin A may be one of the mechanisms.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Humans ; Orexins ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; therapy ; Stroke

OBJECTIVETo observe therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Zhaohai (KI 6) and Shenmai (BL 62) on insomnia.

METHODSSeventy-eight cases of insomnia were randomly divided into a treatment group of 40 cases and a control group of 38 cases. The treatment group were treated with acupuncture at Zhaohai (KI 6) using reinforcing method and at Shenmai (BL 62) using reducing method, combined with acupuncture at acupoints selected according to syndrome differentiation. The control group were treated with acupuncture at acupoints selected according to syndrome differentiation. Their therapeutic effects were compared.

RESULTSThe cured rate and the total effective rate were 62.5% and 97.5% in the treatment group, and 31.6% and 68.4% in the control group, respectively, with significant difference between the two groups (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONAcupuncture at Zhaohai (KI 6) and Shenmai (BL 62) has a better therapeutic effect on insomnia.

OBJECTIVETo find the best method for increasing clinical therapeutic effect on refractory insomnia.

METHODSNinty-one cases of refractory insomnia were randomly divided into an observation group (n = 48) and a routine acupuncture group (n = 43). The observation group were treated by acupuncture at acupoints Daling (PC 7) and "Shimian", and the routine acupuncture group by routine acupoints. After treatment of 4 courses, their therapeutic effects were compared.

RESULTSThe cured rate was 81.25% in the observation group and 34.88% in the routine acupuncture group, the observation group being significantly better than the routine acupuncture group (P < 0.01). And the cured rate of one course in the observation group was significantly higher than that in the routine acupuncture group (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONThe therapeutic effect of acupuncture at Daling (PC 7) and "Shimian" is significantly better than that of acupuncture at routinely selected acupoints.

Humans ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; classification ; diagnosis ; therapy

Insomnia is one of the most common sleep disorders, which is leading to significant clinical distress and impairment of daytime functioning and decreasing quality of life. This article reviews the current clinical treatment options of insomnia. Non-pharmacological treatment including stimulus control, sleep restriction, cognitive therapy, relaxation training, and education of sleep hygiene should be considered first for treatment of insomnia. Psychological and behavioral interventions tend to have longer-lasting treatment benefits, while drugs show immediate improvement of sleep disturbance. In pharmacotherapy, benzodiazepine receptor agonist, melatonin receptor antagonist, and 'off-label' drugs to treat insomnia are reviewed.
Behavior Therapy ; Cognitive Therapy ; Drug Therapy ; Quality of Life ; Relaxation ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders* ; Sleep Wake Disorders

By analyzing and summarizing the previous research results regarding acupuncture for insomnia, factors influencing the efficacy of acupuncture on insomnia were discussed, and a summary was made from aspects of age, gender, duration of insomnia, use of medication, types of syndrome differentiation, acupoint selection, acupoint combination, acupuncture timing, etc. With respect to the influencing factors, precautions during the clinical syndrome differentiation were briefly reviewed, and the treatment plan of acupuncture for insomnia was optimized, which could provide new methods and thoughts for clinical and scientific research regarding acupuncture for insomnia.
Acupuncture Points ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Sleep ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; therapy

This article describes the experiences of professor CHEN Quan-xin, an old famous TCM doctor, in the treatment of insomnia. He believes that insomnia stems from incoordination between nutrient qi and defensive qi and deficient cultivation of cardiac spirit, and treatment of insomnia need to regulate spirit and quiet heart coherently. Painless acupuncture method of Chen's flying needling is adopted including to select Shenmen (HT 7), Sanyinjiao (SP 6) and Anmian (Extra) as the main points and take special needling technique and grading reinforcing and reducing manipulations. During treatment, he pays attention to understanding patients' psychological and mental status through "watching one's expressions and weighing his words carefully".
Acupuncture Therapy ; Heart ; physiopathology ; Humans ; Sleep ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; psychology ; therapy ; Spirituality

The characteristics and application of Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS) and other commonly used international insomnia evaluation scales are introduced in this article. Analysis are also carried out on clinical literature about insomnia treatment with acupuncture. Problems of scale applications are classified mainly into three categories, namely (1) Too many self-made scales; (2) Lack of application standardization; (3) Lack of variety in application, limited application of Life Quality Scale. And relevant suggestions are also proposed in this article.
Acupuncture Therapy ; Biomedical Research ; Humans ; Sleep ; Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders ; physiopathology ; therapy