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(Database last updated on Mar 27, 2024)
| ID Number | 2802 | |
| Study Type | Human / Provocation | |
| Model | Effect of millimeter waves applied to acupuncture points on patients with rheumatoid arthritis. | |
| Details | AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Usichenko, Ivashkivsky, Gizhko 2003 (IEEE #7121): The aim of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of electromagnetic millimeter waves (MW) applied to acupuncture points in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Twelve patients with RA were exposed to MW with power 2.5 mW and band frequency 54-64 GHz. MW were applied to the acupuncture points of the affected joints in a double blind manner. At least 2 and maximum 4 points were consecutively exposed to MW during one session. Total exposure time consisted of 40 minutes. According to the study design, group I received only real millimeter wave therapy (MWT) sessions, group II only sham sessions. Group III was exposed to MW in a random cross-over manner. Pain intensity, joint stiffness and laboratory parameters were recorded before, during and immediately after the treatment. The study was discontinued because of beneficial therapeutic effects of MWT. Patients from group I (n=4) reported significant pain relief and reduced joint stiffness during and after the course of therapy. Patients from group II (n=4) revealed no improvement during the study. Patients from group III reported the changes of pain and joint stiffness only after real MW sessions. After further large-scale clinical investigations MWT may become a non-invasive adjunct in therapy of patients with RA. AUTHORS' ABSTRACT: Usichenko et al. 2006 (IEEE #7122): Millimeter wave therapy (MWT), a non-invasive complementary therapeutic technique is claimed to possess analgesic properties. We reviewed the clinical studies describing the pain-relief effect of MWT. Medline-based search according to review criteria and evaluation of methodological quality of the retrieved studies was performed. Of 13 studies, 9 of them were randomized controlled trials (RCTs), only three studies yielded more than 3 points on the Oxford scale of methodological quality of RCTs. MWT was reported to be effective in the treatment of headache, arthritic, neuropathic and acute postoperative pain. The rapid onset of pain relief during MWT lasting hours to days after, remote to the site of exposure (acupuncture points), was the most characteristic feature in MWT application for pain relief. The most commonly used parameters of MWT were the MW frequencies between 30 and 70 GHz and power density up to 10 mW cm(-2). The promising results from pilot case series studies and small-size RCTs for analgesic/hypoalgesic effects of MWT should be verified in large-scale RCTs on the effectiveness of this treatment method. |
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| Findings | Effects | |
| Status | Completed With Publication | |
| Principal Investigator | University of Greifswald, Germany. | |
| Funding Agency | ????? | |
| Country | GERMANY | |
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