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Scientific Study: Acupuncture Shows Promise in Treating Chronic Hives
A randomized controlled study involving over 300 participants diagnosed with chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU), or hives, suggested that acupuncture might provide some relief from symptoms. However, the clinical significance of these results remains uncertain. The study was recently published in the journal Annuals of Internal Medicine.
CSU is the most common form of chronic hives and is characterized by recurrent itching, skin lesions, or swelling lasting more than 6 weeks in the absence of specific triggering factors. More than 90 percent of patients with CSU require urgent medical treatment to relieve itching; therefore, the management of itching is one of the main goals in the treatment of CSU.
Acupuncture’s Effects on CSU
Researchers from Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine randomly assigned 330 persons diagnosed with CSU to receive either 4 weeks of acupuncture, 4 weeks of sham acupuncture, or a waitlist (control) and then followed the patients for 4 weeks after treatment to investigate whether acupuncture leads to improvement of CSU symptoms. Changes in symptoms were measured using the Weekly Urticaria Activity Score (UAS7).
Patients in the acupuncture group reported improved UAS7, more than sham acupuncture or waitlist control. However, the differences between intervention and control did not meet the minimal clinical difference (MCID) threshold, so the clinical significance of the observed reductions in itch severity scores is uncertain. The rate of adverse events was highest in the acupuncture group, but events were mild and transient.
注释：
Acupuncture: n
表示" 针灸；针治"，如：Acupuncture will often bring a fainting person to. 针刺疗法经常可使昏迷中的人苏醒过来。
urticaria: n
表示"风疹；荨麻疹"，如：Some affected children will have skin lesions that mimic urticaria. 有些被感染的儿童会出现类似风疹的皮肤损害。
hive: n
表示"蜂房, 蜂箱; 荨麻疹"，如：Bees can be smoked from their hive. 用烟能把蜜蜂从蜂巢中熏出来。How to treat waterside chronically hives? 如何治疗慢性浔麻疹?
sham: n
表示" 假"，means "something that is a counterfeit; not what it seems to be"，如：She claims to know all about computers but really she's a sham. 她自称精通计算机，其实她是假充内行。
transient: adj
表示" 短暂的"，means "lasting for only a short time;brief;fleeting"，如：Her feeling of depression was transient. 她那抑郁的心情一会儿就过去了。
中文简要说明：
针灸是中国传统医疗之一，至少已有2500年的历史，然而神奇的是，针灸在现代医疗仍有一席之地。一项包括300多名患有慢性自发性荨麻疹 (CSU)、荨麻疹的患者进行的随机对照研究显示，针灸可能在一定程度上缓解症状。虽然就如针灸的科学原理还不确定一样，这项调的临床意义也不确定。
每日科学(Scitech Daily)报导，众所周知，荨麻疹就是「痒」，非常的令人难受，超过 90% 的 自发性荨麻患者需要紧急就医以缓解那种难耐的搔痒；因此，如何止痒一直是治疗的主要目标之一。
成都中医药大学(Chengdu University Traditional Chinese Medicine)的研究人员，随机分配330 名确诊为CSU 的患者，他们接受4 周的针灸治疗、4 周的假针灸治疗，还有一批不作特定治疗（对照组），然后4星期后，后对患者进行治疗后访问，以调查针灸的效果与健康影响。研究人员使用每周荨麻疹活动评分（UAS7），来测量症状的变化。有意思的是，受到正规针灸治疗的组别，患者回报「有所改善」的比例最高，超过假针灸组与不做治疗组。
然而，针灸组的正面响应不够明显，与假针灸组的正向差异没有超过临床正向效果的阈值，这意味假针灸组的止痒效果也有下降，这使得实验的临床意义尚不确定。
另外，针灸组的不良事件发生率最高，所幸副作用轻微且短暂。
英国医学针灸学会的评论表示，这些试验结果很有趣，因为这是针灸首次对付不非疼痛为特征的疾病，也获得正向疗效。在此之前，针灸在缓解疼痛方面，获得广泛的肯定。
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