Re: Acupuncture in the treatment of GO

[Guest guest]

Interesting! I have found that my weekly (now monthly) acupuncture

appointments did nothing for my eyes, also. The only thing that they did

seem to do, eye-wise, was diminish some of the pain for a few days and make

the puffiness go down--no real clinical advances, however.

B

Acupuncture in the treatment of GO

> Acupuncture in the treatment of Graves' ophthalmopathy. A blinded

randomized study.

>

> Rogvi-Hansen B, Perrild H, Christensen T, Detmar SE, Siersbaek-Nielsen K,

Hansen JE.

>

> Department of Internal Medicine and Endocrinology F, Herlev Hospital,

Denmark.

>

> Seventeen patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy, all euthyroid for at least

one year, were included in a blinded trial to test the effect of acupuncture

twice a week during two months on the eye disease, assessed by an

ophthalmologist and computed tomography of the eye muscle volume. No

significant change was found in eye muscle volume, Hertel measure, palpebral

aperture, intraocular pressure, Hess chart, nor was there any statistically

significant improvement of the irritative conjunctival symptoms.

>

> Publication Types:

> a.. Clinical trial

> b.. Randomized controlled trial

>

> PMID: 2003373 [PubMed - indexed for MEDline

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

So then can we conclude that acupuncture has no benefits for this?

--

dx hyperT/Graves Feb 2001; (treatment Toprol Xl and PTU)

[Guest guest]

I have to disagree at least in my case.

In the last two months, I have received about 5 treatments of

acupuncture for my Graves' Eye Disease and have much relief in

pressure, pain, eye redness and I believe orbital protrusion.

Once I see an opthamologist again, I will know if my

measurements of the orbits have decreased. Meanwhile my

eyes feel a whole lot better and the acupuncture is worth every

penny I pay and more. I am seeing an Oriental Medicine doctor

who came from China 4 years ago, who's speciality is

acupuncture and is probably the best in town. I believe the skill

of the practitioner makes a big difference. I really like that she is

not at all biased towards Western Medicine methods, and it is

reassuring to me that in China the primary course of treament is

acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

I'd be careful about drawing any conclusions about a treatment

method from one study and the reports of only a few people who

have received the treament. Western Medicine has not yet

offered me anything for my GED. I am grateful for Eastern

Medicine which seems to be significantly helping. I think

acupuncture deserves a whole lot more study and consideration!

Lois

[Guest guest]

Lois,

Very interesting to here! Of course we won't base our decisions on

one study. Thanks for sharing your experiences for us to mull over.

> I have to disagree at least in my case.

>

> In the last two months, I have received about 5 treatments of

> acupuncture for my Graves' Eye Disease and have much relief in

> pressure, pain, eye redness and I believe orbital protrusion.

> Once I see an opthamologist again, I will know if my

> measurements of the orbits have decreased. Meanwhile my

> eyes feel a whole lot better and the acupuncture is worth every

> penny I pay and more. I am seeing an Oriental Medicine doctor

> who came from China 4 years ago, who's speciality is

> acupuncture and is probably the best in town. I believe the skill

> of the practitioner makes a big difference. I really like that she

is

> not at all biased towards Western Medicine methods, and it is

> reassuring to me that in China the primary course of treament is

> acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

>

> I'd be careful about drawing any conclusions about a treatment

> method from one study and the reports of only a few people who

> have received the treament. Western Medicine has not yet

> offered me anything for my GED. I am grateful for Eastern

> Medicine which seems to be significantly helping. I think

> acupuncture deserves a whole lot more study and consideration!

>

> Lois

[Guest guest]

Lois,

Thanks for posting your account. I've heard from several people with similar

accounts since that article came out.

[Guest guest]

Hi again Lois,

I wanted to add that my endo said many things will affect the

eyes. When I went to him the first time, he noted there was no

proptosis, however 4 months before that the eye doc said there was

proptosis. The next time I saw the endo, about 3 weeks later, there

was proptosis. He said stress will cause it to come and go and those

3 weeks were about the worse I've had in the last couple of years

anyway. (The restricted eye movement and lid retraction hadn't

changed, though.)It occurs to me that acupressure and acupuncture

both improve the quality of relaxation a person experiences, so maybe

that is a contributing factor.

> > I have to disagree at least in my case.

> >

> > In the last two months, I have received about 5 treatments of

> > acupuncture for my Graves' Eye Disease and have much relief in

> > pressure, pain, eye redness and I believe orbital protrusion.

> > Once I see an opthamologist again, I will know if my

> > measurements of the orbits have decreased. Meanwhile my

> > eyes feel a whole lot better and the acupuncture is worth every

> > penny I pay and more. I am seeing an Oriental Medicine doctor

> > who came from China 4 years ago, who's speciality is

> > acupuncture and is probably the best in town. I believe the

skill

> > of the practitioner makes a big difference. I really like that

she

> is

> > not at all biased towards Western Medicine methods, and it is

> > reassuring to me that in China the primary course of treament is

> > acupuncture and Chinese herbs.

> >

> > I'd be careful about drawing any conclusions about a treatment

> > method from one study and the reports of only a few people who

> > have received the treament. Western Medicine has not yet

> > offered me anything for my GED. I am grateful for Eastern

> > Medicine which seems to be significantly helping. I think

> > acupuncture deserves a whole lot more study and consideration!

> >

> > Lois