A recent systematic review published by Sleep Medicine (1) explored the efficacy of acupuncture for treating insomnia. A total of eleven studies that included an overall number of 775 participants. The research was able to provide the following evidence:
– Acupuncture increases total sleep time.
– Acupuncture improved efficiency, decreased wake after sleep and reduced the number of awake times.
– The subjective quantity and quality of sleep was also reported by the participants within the studies.
The researchers also found that the effect of acupuncture on regulating sleep would require a course of treatments of up to 12 sessions to simulate the treatment outcome found from the eleven studies.
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References
Zhao, Fei-Yi & Fu, Qiang-Qiang & Kennedy, Gerard & Conduit, Russell & Zhang, Wen-Jing & Wu, Wen-Zhong & Zheng, Zhen. (2021). Can acupuncture improve objective sleep indices in patients with primary insomnia? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Medicine. 10.1016/j.sleep.2021.01.053.
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