ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF MILD OR MODERATE ASTHMA: A RANDOMIZED, PLACEBO-CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIAL

Objective: Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease seen with symptoms such as dyspnea, wheezing and crackling respiration. This study aimed to research the efficacy of acupuncture therapy in newly-diagnosed and untreated asthma patients. Material and Method: A total of 123 asthma patients were included in this single-blinded study; 70 with mild asthma and 53 with moderate. Participants were randomly assigned into two groups. Acupuncture was applied to 62 patients and placebo (sham acupuncture) to 61 patients for a total of ten sessions. To measure the outcomes, FEV1, FVC, FEV1/FVC, PEF and FEF25-75 levels in respiratory function tests were used. For data analysis, Mann Whitney U-and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests were used. Results: The post-treatment respiratory function test parameters of the acupuncture group and placebo group were determined as statistically significantly high compared to the pre-treatment values (p<0.05). When the mean differences between the pre and post-treatment values of the goups were compared, the mean differences of FEV1/FVC, PEF and FEF 25-75 values of the acupuncture group were seen to be statistically significantly higher than placebo group. Conclusion: Acupuncture therapy seems to be effective in the treatment of patients with mild or moderate asthma.