By Carol Tanzer Miller HealthDay Reporter
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WEDNESDAY, Feb. 14, 2024 (HealthDay News) — Acupuncture may protect rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients from stroke, new research suggests.
This study shows that a course of acupuncture treatments can lower blood levels of inflammatory proteins called cytokines, which are associated with heart disease, the number one killer of rheumatoid arthritis patients.
“Inflammation is a consistent and independent predictor of cardiovascular disease. [rheumatoid arthritis]” the researchers wrote in the February 13 issue. BMJ Open. “Unstable blood pressure and lipid profiles are two risk factors for ischemic stroke, and acupuncture has the advantage of controlling both.”
Ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot in the brain.
For the study, a team led by Dr. Hunglong Yen of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Medical University in Taiwan examined a database of more than 23,000 rheumatoid arthritis patients in Taiwan.
This included approximately 12,300 patients who received acupuncture treatment between 1997 and 2010. On average, a patient started acupuncture 2.9 years after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
The majority (87%) were treated with manual acupuncture. 3% were treated with electroacupuncture, which involves attaching electrodes to needles that generate low electrical pulses, and 10% received both treatments.
Patients were monitored until 2011.
The risk of stroke increased with patient age and co-morbidities. For example, people with high blood pressure were twice as likely to have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure, and people with diabetes were 58% more likely to have a stroke.
However, researchers found that acupuncture remained protective regardless of gender, age, type of drug used, or comorbidities.
Of the patients who received acupuncture, 341 had a stroke during the study period, compared with 605 in the other groups. This means the risk of stroke was reduced by 43%.
The researchers noted that the study could not prove causation, only that there was a link between acupuncture and stroke risk. They added that there is a lack of information about other factors that may influence risk, such as height, weight, laboratory tests, and physical activity levels.
The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Medicine has more information about acupuncture.
sauce: BMJNews Release, February 13, 2024
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