Acupuncture Relieves Xerostomia in Cancer Patients Acupuncture may significantly relieve xerostomia secondary to radiotherapy, according to a recent study published in the journal Cancer. Johnstone et al performed acupuncture on patients with xerostomia secondary to radiotherapy for head and neck malignancies (n=48). The study also included patients with xerostomia secondary to Sjogren syndrome (n=2) and chemotherapy (n=1). Treatment involved needling three points in each ear and a single point in the distal radial aspect of the index finger. All participants were concurrently provided with a sugar-free candy or lozenge to stimulate the salivary glands. (Most xerostomia patients are refractory to this intervention in the absence of acupuncture). Acupuncture sessions lasted 30 to 60 minutes each and were performed by a certified physician acupuncturist. Repeat visits were scheduled on a weekly basis; those who reported no improvement after 3 months were released from the clinic but continued receiving standard oncology care. The primary outcome was subjective patient response to acupuncture therapy, defined as improvement of 10% or better over baseline values. Seventy percent of the participants responded to treatment. Most patients required monthly or bimonthly maintenance visits for continued effects. However, 26% of patients reported that the beneficial effects continued for more than 3 months from the time of the last acupuncture treatment. Confounding factors including age, radiation dose, and time latency between radiation therapy and acupuncture did not influence the participants' response to acupuncture, but the number of acupuncture visits was highly significant. Those who reported at least a 10% improvement in symptoms participated in nearly twice as many acupuncture sessions as those who did not experience such improvement. Johnstone et al acknowledge that more clinical trials (particularly those that include saliva collection) are needed to lend credibility to their preliminary findings. Based on their results, however, they "recommend a 3- to 4-week regimen of weekly acupuncture treatments for [patients with] xerostomia, with extension to 1 month maintenance." References Johnstone PAS, Niemtzow RC, Riffenburgh RH. Acupuncture for xerostomia: clinical update. Cancer. 2002;94:1151-1156. Thanks to Integrative Medicine Communications www.onemedicine.com LINK Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.