The study conducted by the department of Traditional Asian Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, Tohoku University, demonstrated that acupuncture improves intraocular pressure (IOP) and retrobulbar circulation behind the globe of the eye. Acupuncture points that were studied were UB-02, Tai Yang (M-HN9), ST-02, ST-36, SP-06, K-03, Liv-03, GB-20, UB-18, and UB-23 with all acu-points were needled bilaterally. The study used colour doppler imaging to confirm the improvement in circulation behind the eye. The improvements in IOP and eye circulation suggest that acupuncture is effective in the treatment of open-angle glaucoma (OAG).
Western medical treatments for Glaucoma, focuses on controlling intraocular pressure and retrobulbar hemodynamics. The study concluded that acupuncture is effective in controlling these factors. Using the colour doppler imaging, the researchers revealed that acupuncture lowers intraocular pressure and vessel resistance in patients with open-angle glaucoma.
Acupuncture needles were retained for 15 minutes on the anterior and posterior sides of the patients during each session. UB-02, Taiyang, ST-02, St-36, SP-06, K-03, and Liv-03 were applied to the patients when in the supine position and retained for 15 minutes. For the prone position, GB-20, UB-18, and UB-23 were retained for 15 minutes. No needle manipulation techniques were applied.
Shin Takayama, lead researcher commented that this is the first study using acupuncture to measure improvements of eye hemodynamics and that acupuncture was found to decrease vessel resistance in the eyes, specifically the ophthalmic artery (OA) and short posterior ciliary artery (SPCA). The OA and SPCA originate from the carotid artery. The study concludes that a combination of medications combined with acupuncture improves glaucoma patient outcomes over patients who only receive medications.
Online reference:
healthcmi.com
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed
