Mild cognitive impairment (MCI) is an effort to quantify a transitional state between normal aging and dementia, whereby an affected person typically exhibits a subtle deterioration in memory capacity beyond what would be expected for his/her age. The present study only used 600 people.
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Previous studies have linked lower test scores to the earlier onset of dementia so improving mental ability could stave off neurodegenerative disease. MCI is actually an intermediate stage between the standard decline in cognition that most people have as they get older and the more severe decline that leads to dementia. “It also suggested that acupuncture was effective when used as an adjunctive treatment to nimodipine for [mild cognitive impairment]”.
“However, these seemingly positive findings must be interpreted cautiously”.
Included in the analysis were relevant clinical trials from Western and Chinese databases comparing acupuncture and medical treatment published up to July 2015. The research paper based on the assessment of a review of the available evidence in Acupuncture in Medicine would have even more effect when combined with drug treatment. The participants scored better on two tests of memory and dementia- the mini-mental state exam and picture recognition.
The data showed that the patient treated with acupuncture alone did better that those who received medication.
The studies compared the benefit of acupuncture alone versus nimodipine. The number of participants in each study varied from 26 to 94, while acupuncture treatment was provided three to five times a week for 8 weeks in four trials, and for 3 months in one.
Moreover, researchers found that the combined treatment with acupuncture and nimodipine compared to nimodipine alone, improved scores on the mini-mental state exam.
Three of the trials reported side effects, which for acupuncture included fainting during treatment and slow bleeding (errhysis) at the needle sites, and for nimodipine included gut symptoms and mild headache.
The problem is that “the quality of the studies really was poor, so that puts a damper on the findings, because it’s hard to trust the data from the original studies”, explained Coeytaux. But, it’s impossible from this review to know how much, if any, was a placebo effect, he explained.
While this study is certainly a positive finding in terms of looking for effective treatments in slowing the progression of cognitive decline, it is also clear that the researchers feel the need for more studies on a much larger study than has been done to this point. “I tend to believe some holistic interventions when properly executed”, he said.
“I can imagine some ways in which acupuncture might increase alertness and attention and thereby memory, but I would want to see independent replication”, Gandy added.
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For more about acupuncture, visit the U.S. National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health.
