Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Association between skin reactions and efficacy of summer acupoint application treatment on chronic pulmonary disease: A prospective study

  • Acupuncture Research
  • Published:
Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

To examine the variations in the prevalence of skin reactions and the association between skin reactions and efficacy of summer acupoint application treatment (SAAT) on chronic pulmonary disease (CPD).

Methods

A total of 2,038 patients with CPD were enrolled at 3 independent hospitals (defined as Groups A, B and C, respectively) in China. All patients were treated by SAAT, as applying a herbal paste onto the acupoints of Fengmen (BL 12) and Feishu (BL 13) on the dog days of summer, according to the lunar calendar, in 2008. Ten days after treatment, skin reaction data (no reaction, itching, stinging, blistering, and infection) were obtained via face-to-face interviews. Patients were retreated in the same hospital one year later, thereby allowing doctors to assess treatment efficacy based on the patients' symptoms, the severity of the spirometric abnormalities, and the concomitant medications used.

Results

A large number of patients (85.3%) displayed reactive symptoms; however, the marked associations between reactive symptoms and age or gender were not observed. An increased number of patients from Group B (99.3%) and Group C (76.5%) displayed reactive symptoms due to the increased mass of crude Semen Sinapis Albae. The effective rate of SAAT was as high as 90.4% for patients of Group B, which was followed by Group A (70.9%) and Group C (42.2%). Using stratified analyses, a convincing association between reactive symptoms and therapeutic efficacy was observed for patients with asthma [itching: odds ratio (OR)=2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.49 to 3.14; blistering: OR=0.43, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.73; and no reaction: OR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.90]. However, the same tendency was not observed for patients with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Conclusions

SAAT can induce very mild skin reactions for patients with CPD, among which patients with asthma displayed a strong association between skin reactions and therapeutic efficacy. The skin reactions may be induced by the crude Semen Sinapis Albae.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Wong GWK, Li ST, Hui DSC, Fok TF, Zhong NS, Chen YZ, et al. Individual allergens as risk factors for asthma and bronchial hyperresponsiveness in Chinese children. Eur Respirat J 2002;19:288–293.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Asthma Group, Chinese Thoracic Society. Guidelines for prevention and treatment of bronchial asthma. Chin J Asthma (Electronic Version, Chin) 2008;2:3–13.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Tai CJ, Chang CP, Huang CY, Chien LY. Effi cacy of Sanfujiu to treat allergies: patient outcomes at 1 year after treatment. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2007;4:241–246.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  4. Tai CJ, Chien LY. The treatment of allergies using Sanfujiu: a method of applying Chinese herbal medicine paste to acupoints on three peak summer days. Am J Chin Med 2004;32:967–976.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. WHO Regional Office for the Western Pacific. WHO international standard terminologies on traditional medicine in the Western Pacifi c Region. 2007:251. Available at: http://www.wpro.who.int/publications/PUB_9789290612483/en/

  6. Jobst KA. Acupuncture in asthma and pulmonary disease: an analysis of effi cacy and safety. J Alternat Complement Med 1996;2:179–206.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Ngai SPC, Hui-Chan CWY, Jones AYM. A short review of acupuncture and bronchial asthma — Western and traditional Chinese medicine concepts. Hong Kong Physiother J 2006;24:28–38.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Lai XS, Li YM, Fan ZJ, Zhang JW, Liu BQ. An analysis of therapeutic effect of drug acupoint application in 209 cases of allergic asthma. J Tradit Chin Med 2001;21:122–126.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Li JS, Li SY, Yu XQ, Xie Y, Wang MH, Li ZG, et al. Bu-Fei Yi-Shen Granule combined with acupoint sticking therapy in patients with stable chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: a randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled, 4-center study. J Ethnopharmacol 2012;141:584–591.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. Peng J, Wu XQ, Hu JQ, Fang YG, Zi MJ, Liu BY. Influencing factors on efficacy of summer acupoint application treatment for allergic rhinitis: a retrospective study. J Tradit Chin Med 2012;32:377–381.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  11. Kim JI, Choi JY, Lee H, Lee SM, Ernst E. Moxibustion for hypertension: a systematic review. BMC Cardiovasc Disord 2010;10:33.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Wen MS. Prevention and treatment for chronic pharyngitis by acupoint sticking therapy: a report of 100 cases. J Acupunct Tuina Sci 2012;10:254–257.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Endres HG, Molsberger A, Lungenhausen M, Trampisch HJ. An internal standard for verifying the accuracy of serious adverse event reporting: the example of an acupuncture study of 190,924 patients. Eur J Med Res 2004;9:545–551.

    CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Park JE, Lee MS, Choi JY, Kim BY, Choi SM. Adverse events associated with acupuncture: a prospective survey. J Alternat Complement Med 2010;16:959–963.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Park JE, Lee SS, Lee MS, Choi SM, Ernst E. Adverse events of moxibustion: a systematic review. Complement Ther Med 2010;18:215–223.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Respiration Group, Chinese Pediatric Society, Chinese Medical Association. Guidelines for diagnosis, prevention and treatment of pediatric bronchial asthma. Chin J Pediatr (Chin) 2008;46:745–753.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Zheng XY, ed. Guiding principles of clinical research on new drugs of traditional Chinese medicine. Beijing: China Medical Science Press;2002:54.

  18. COPD Group, Chinese Thoracic Society. Guidelines for diagnosis and treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Continuing Med Educ (Chin) 2007;21:31–42.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Peng J, Wu XQ, He LY, Fang YG, Zi MJ, Yan SY, et al. Effects of summer acupoint application therapy in reducing exacerbation frequency of chronic lung diseases: protocol of a retrospective and prospective study. J Chin Integr Med (Chin) 2012;10:39–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Liu M, Kauh SK, Lim S. A study of direct moxibustion using mathematical methods. Comput Methods Biomechan Biomed Engin 2012;15:383–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Cao DX, Kitamura T, Todo H, Yoo SD, Sugibayashi K. Pretreatment effects of moxibustion on the skin permeation of FITC-dextran. International J Pharmaceut 2008;354:117–125.

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  22. Huang C, Sheu TWH. Study of the heat transfer effect in moxibustion practice. Developm Heat Transf 2011;9:557–572.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Wheeler J, Coppock B, Chen C. Does the burning of moxa (Artemisia vulgaris) in traditional Chinese medicine constitute a health hazard? Acupunct Med 2009;27:16–20.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Yi SH. Thermal properties of direct and indirect moxibustion. J Acupunct Merid Study 2009;2:273–279.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Liu LF, Liu T, Li GX, Wang Q, Ng T. Isolation and determination of p-hydroxgbenzoylcholine in tranditional Chinese medicine Semen Sinapis Albae. Analyt Bioanalyt Chem 2003;37:854–858.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Song XP, Ji XL. Study on vesicant characteristics of using Mylabris and Semen Sinapis Albae. Chin Acupunct Moibust (Chin) 2007;27:126–128.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Liu DL, Li SM. Impact on different processing methods for the concentration of Sinalbin in Semen Sinapis Albae. Chin J Tradit Chin Mater Med (Chin) 1990;15:28–29.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Zhang XM, Liu FL, Liang WB, Wang YQ, Xing FY, Zhang WE, et al. Antitussive, expectorant and antiasthmatic effects of Brassica alba extracts. Chin Tradit Herb Drugs (Chin) 2003;34:635–637.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Feng BM, Yu ZJ, Li F, Yang AG, Liu JY, Mu HM, et al. Study on the chemical constituents of Semen Sinapis Albae. J Dalian Univ (Chin) 2004;25:43–44.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Feng BM, Qiu L, Zhan QP, Wang GH, Shi LY, Jiang G, et al. Study on antitussive substance of Semen Sinapis Albae based on the relationship between drug processing and activity. Chin Pharmacol Bull (Chin) 2010;26:1173–1176.

    CAS  Google Scholar 

  31. Feng JT, Hu PC, Li XZ. Dorsal root ganglion: the target of acupuncture in the treatment of asthma. Adv Therapy 2007;24:598–602.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Basic Research in Clinical Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China

    Xia-qiu Wu  (吴夏秋) & Jin Peng  (彭 锦)

  2. Department of Respiration, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China

    Guo-qin Li  (李国勤)

  3. Department of Respiration, Dongzhimen Hospital, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing, 100700, China

    Hui-ping Su  (苏惠萍)

  4. Department of Respiration, Affiliated Hospital of Anhui University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Hefei, 230061, China

    Guang-xia Liu  (刘广霞)

  5. China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100700, China

    Bao-yan Liu  (刘保延)

Authors
  1. Xia-qiu Wu  (吴夏秋)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jin Peng  (彭 锦)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Guo-qin Li  (李国勤)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Hui-ping Su  (苏惠萍)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Guang-xia Liu  (刘广霞)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Bao-yan Liu  (刘保延)
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bao-yan Liu  (刘保延).

Additional information

Supported by the National Key Technology Research and Development Program for the Eleventh Five-Year Plan of China (No. 2008BAI53B061)

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Wu, Xq., Peng, J., Li, Gq. et al. Association between skin reactions and efficacy of summer acupoint application treatment on chronic pulmonary disease: A prospective study. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 22, 284–292 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-016-2497-y

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-016-2497-y

Keywords

Search

Navigation