- P-ISSN 1010-0695
- E-ISSN 2288-3339
Objectives : Dyspnea is one of the most common symptoms that we meet, but so far there are no researches about the effects of acupuncture therapy on dyspnea. So this study was performed in order to evaluate the effect of acupuncture therapy on dyspnea by means of using objective indexes.Methods : The effect of acupuncture therapy was assessed by analyzing pulmonary function test(PFT) in 10 patients, who had suffered from dyspnea and had pain at the acupuncture point Tian-zong(SI11) when it is compressed by finger, at our outpatient department. Each patient had treated with acupuncture therapy at both sides of Tian-zong. We compared the results of pre-treatment and post-treatment PFTs including forced vital capacity(FVC), forced expiratory volume in one second(FEV1.0), and peak expiratory flow rate(PEFR).Results : FVCs of pre-treatment and post-treatment PFTs are 2.23±0.23(L) and 2.40±0.36(L) respectively(P<0.01). FEV1.0s of pre-treatment and post-treatment PFTs are 1.54±0.37(L) and 1.65±0.41(L) respectively(P<0.05). PEFRs of pre-treatment and post-treatment PFTs are 3.41±1.26(L) and 3.93±1.42(L) respectively(P<0.05).Conclusions : From the above data, we conclude that FVC, FEV1.0, and PEFR in dyspnea patiens have been improved after acupuncture therapy of Tian-zong, and so acupuncture therapy of Tian-zong may relieve the dyspnea symptom.