This article is more than 5 years old. Information may no longer be current.
Acupuncture linked with lower risk of CHD in patients with fibromyalgia
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Acupuncture was associated with a decreased risk of coronary heart disease in Taiwanese patients with fibromyalgia, according to a recently published retrospective analysis of 100,000 adults.
“To our knowledge, our present nationwide population-based study is the first to reveal that acupuncture decreases the risk of [coronary heart disease] CHD in patients with fibromyalgia,” Mei-Yao Wu, PhD, in the Research Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine at China Medical University Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues wrote. “As a popular treatment for fibromyalgia, acupuncture has been performed on patients with fibromyalgia in several clinical trials. However, the outcome evaluation was previously always focused on pain score, sleep quality and [quality of life] QoL. In our study, we found that the beneficial effects of acupuncture on developing CHD in patients with fibromyalgia were independent of sex, age, comorbidities and anti-inflammatory drugs included in our data.”
Wu and colleagues used data from the Taiwanese National Health Insurance Research Database to perform a propensity score-matched study of patients diagnosed with fibromyalgia between 2000 and 2010. Patients were categorized into two cohorts of 58,899 adults each who received acupuncture and those who did not receive acupuncture. Researchers used a Cox regression model to compare hazard ratios of acupuncture vs. no acupuncture after adjustment for age, sex, comorbidities and drug use.
Researchers found the cumulative incidence of CHD was significantly lower in the acupuncture cohort. In follow-up, 4,389 patients in the acupuncture cohort and 8,133 patients in the non-acupuncture group developed CHD (hazard ratio = 0.43).
“Statins, the inhibitors of the 3-hydrox-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase for treating hyperlipidemia, were previously reported to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” the researchers wrote. “Our study revealed that regardless of whether patients with fibromyalgia took statins, acupuncture lowered the risk of CHD.” – by Will Offit
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts