Do Japanese style acupuncture and moxibustion reduce symptoms of the common cold?

Abstract

We summarize the results from a series of investigations of Japanese style acupuncture and moxibustion therapies on symptoms of the common cold that have been conducted (FTLE 1999-03, supported by the Foundation for Training and Licensure Examination in Anma- Massage- Acupressure, Acupuncture and Moxibustion). We also discuss the various interventions and concerns that we faced during these investigations. The subjects were students and teachers. The pilot study (FTLE1999) of a two arm (real and non-treatment control) RCT at a Japanese acupuncture school showed that manual acupuncture to a specific needling point at the throat clearly reduced symptoms of the common cold. The first multi-center (five centers) RCT (FTLE 2000) revealed a significant reduction in cold symptoms, by general linear model analysis (between groups, P = 0.024). To reduce the technical variation, we employed indirect moxibustion to the neck points as a uniform intervention in the next project (FTLE 2001) without statistically significant results. Then we elongated the periods of treatment from 2 to a maximum of 12 weeks (FTLE 2002) with different interventions accompanied by 4 weeks follow-up. The results were still not statistically significant. As the final project, we tried to develop a new experimental design for individualized intervention by conducting n-of-1 trials using elderly subjects in a health care center but without detecting a clear effect. In conclusion, the safety of Japanese acupuncture or moxibustion was sufficiently demonstrated; however, a series of clinical trials could not offer convincing evidence to recommend the use of Japanese style acupuncture or moxibustion for preventing the common cold. Further studies are required as the present trials had several limitations.

Figure 1.

Survival curves in Kaplan–Meier survival analysis (FTLE 1999).The subjects who entered ‘yes’ in the CCD were deleted from the survivals. Acupuncture group: solid line, no treatment control group: dotted line. A vertical solid bar indicates the period of intervention.

Figure 2.

Survival curves for the Cox regression analysis (FTLE 2000). The subjects who entered ‘yes’ in the CCD were deleted from the survivals. Acupuncture group: solid line, no treatment control group: dotted line. A vertical solid bar indicates the period of intervention.

Figure 3.

Acupuncture on CCQ scores during the trial (FTLE 2000).The estimated marginal means (EMM) of the item 14 ‘degree of common cold’ in acupuncture (solid line) and control (dotted line) groups are shown. The higher value indicates the worse symptom. In the acupuncture group, marked decrease of estimated marginal means (EMM) was observed at the end of treatment (14 days).

Figure 4.

Indirect moxibustion on the EMM of CCQ scores (FTLE 2001). The estimated marginal means (EMM) of the 15 items in acupuncture group (upper traces) and the control group (lower traces) are shown. The higher value indicates the worse symptoms. In the acupuncture group, initial high scores of EMM tended to decrease and the scores continued until the end of trial.

Figure 5.

The influence of various interventions on the survival curves (FTLE 2002). Thick lines indicate the group of active intervention and thin lines indicate the group of no treatment group.