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Study: Acupuncture does not statistically affect glaucoma
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BUENOS AIRES — Despite the reservations of some ophthalmologist, acupuncture does not have an adverse effect on glaucoma, although it does not significantly help it either, according to a study presented here.
Dr. José Emilio Bella and colleagues investigated the effect of acupuncture in 10 eyes of six patients with various types of glaucoma. The researchers compared the first month without acupuncture — the control month — with subsequent months with treatment.
The data showed that, over 6 months of follow-up, none of the 10 eyes of the six patients studied experienced adverse events.
"Throughout the study, the absence of adverse effects in the administered treatment was verified," Dr. Bella said in his presentation at the Argentinean Society of Ophthalmology Congress.
Some patients such as those with primary open-angle glaucoma did show some significant decreases in IOP between months, but the overall significance was not drastic, he noted.
"We have observed most of the subjects evaluated in individual form, in group or total elevations, such as decreases in IOP, not to be statistically significant and without a clear association to types of glaucoma, schedules, etc," he added.