Auricular acupuncture in patients with bronchial asthma and anxiety disorders

Abstract

Introduction Anxiety disorders in patients with bronchial asthma have a negative impact on their quality of life and create difficulties in treatment. Currently, for this category of patients, different variations of acupuncture are indicated, along with the application of psychotropic remedies. Purpose The study of auricular acupuncture’s anxiolytic effect in patients with bronchial asthma, depending on the predominance of sympathetic / parasympathetic autonomic tonus. Material and methods Vein’s diagnostic tables (autonomic disorders), Spielberger-Hanin questionnaire (anxiety levels), spectral analysis of cardiac rhythm (autonomic tonus) were applied. Patients were divided into 2 groups: I – sympathetic (n=24), II – parasympathetic (n=24). The following acupoints were stimulated: Lung, Sympathetic Nervous System, Shenmen, Zero. The Student’s t-test was applied for coherent selections. Results Anxiety levels before treatment: group I – 51,13±2,19 points, group II – 48,8±3,15 points. After applying AA, anxiety levels had significantly dropped (p<0,01) compared to indexes before treatment (group I - Δ1, group II - Δ2), at all stages of the investigation: after the first procedure Δ1 = –8,58, Δ2 = –6,0; after a 10-day treatment Δ1 = –15,5, Δ2 = –18,17; over 30 days after completing the treatment Δ1 = –15,25, Δ2 = –18,42. The autonomic equilibrium indexes (LF/HF) at each phases of investigation had pronounced tendencies of normalization at the end of the treatment (10 days), being statistically significant (p<0,05). Conclusions In patients with bronchial asthma, AA had a moderate effect on autonomic system and a pronounced anxiolytic effect indifferent of the predominance of the autonomic tonus (sympathetic/parasympathetic). The obtained effects were maintained in the following 3-4 weeks.