Acupuncture improves sleep quality and quality of life in patients with Parkinson's: JAMA

A new study published in the Journal of American Medical Association revealed that acupuncture, when used along with standard anti-Parkinson medications, significantly improves sleep quality and overall quality of life for patients with Parkinson's disease (PD). 

Parkinson’s disease is a progressive neurological disorder that often comes with a host of worsening symptoms including poor sleep quality. This sleep disruption severely impacts the quality of life of patients and can accelerate the deterioration associated with PD. While current treatments for sleep issues in PD patients are limited, recent updates on acupuncture is observed to be a promising complementary therapy.

The primary objective of this study was to assess the safety and efficacy of real acupuncture (RA) when compared to sham acupuncture (SA) in enhancing sleep quality among PD patients. The study by Mingyue Yan and team provided robust clinical evidence on whether acupuncture could be a potential addition to conventional PD treatments.

This single-center randomized clinical trial was carried out from February 18, 2022 to February 18, 2023 by involving patients at The First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine. The participants who had PD and reported sleep complaints were randomly assigned to receive either real acupuncture or sham acupuncture for a duration of four weeks. A total of 83 patients were enrolled with 78 completing the intervention and being included in the final analysis. The primary measure of effectiveness was the change in Parkinson Disease Sleep Scale (PDSS) scores. These scores were recorded at three key points, at baseline, after four weeks of treatment and at an eight-week follow-up.

The study found that both real and sham acupuncture treatments led to an increase in PDSS scores which indicated improved sleep quality. This improvement was significantly greater in the group receiving real acupuncture. Also, the patients in the RA group underwent an average increase of 29.65 points in their PDSS scores from baseline when compared to an increase of 10.47 points in the SA group. This significant difference was observed both at the end of the four-week treatment period and at the eight-week follow-up, suggesting that the benefits of acupuncture are not only immediate but also lasting. Overall, the findings of this study provide strong evidence that acupuncture can be a beneficial adjunctive therapy for improving sleep quality and the quality of life in patients with Parkinson’s disease. 

Source:

Yan, M., Fan, J., Liu, X., Li, Y., Wang, Y., Tan, W., Chen, Y., He, J., & Zhuang, L. (2024). Acupuncture and Sleep Quality Among Patients With Parkinson Disease. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 7, Issue 6, p. e2417862). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.17862