View clinical trials related to Acupressure.
Filter by:Post-stroke fatigue (PSF) was defined as 'a subjective feeling of physical and/or mental exhaustion that is unrelated to exertion and does not typically improve with rest'. About 25~85% of first stoke patients had PSF in the first year. Literature review from animal studies suggested the mechanism of post-stroke fatigue may be due to prolonged production of inflammatory cytokines process after stroke. Acupuncture therapy which regulates the inflammatory process may have the potential to ameliorate fatigue symptoms alone with sleep disturbance after stroke. Acupressure which stimulating the same acupoints by manually pressure may make it easy to perform in anytime and anywhere. The effect of circadian based acupressure application on post-stroke fatigue and sleep disturbances need be further examined. The purpose of this two-year study is to (1) explore the distribution of inflammatory cytokines (blood and urine IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8) and post-stroke fatigue and sleep, and (2) examine the effect of circadian-based acupressure application on the inflammatory cytokines (urine and blood IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8), and post-stroke symptoms fatigue and sleep) in ischemic stroke patients with post-stroke fatigue during rehabilitation. Ischemic stroke patients (N=240) will be assessed from the rehabilitation wards. Patients with fatigue (FAS>=24) at assessment (n=78) will be further randomly assigned to the circadian based acupressure application group (AA), or the routine care control group (RC) for 2 weeks. Data of inflammatory cytokines (of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8), post-stroke fatigue (Fatigue assessment scale), and sleep (Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index and consumer tracker) will be collected. Descriptive statistics, t-test, repeated measure ANOVA, linear/logistic regression or appropriate nonparametric equivalent will be used to compare pre-post differences and to compare differences between groups. Study results will provide information about the mechanism and effect of acupressure application on inflammation and post-stroke fatigue and sleep disturbances in ischemic stroke patients.
Hormonal and physical changes during pregnancy can cause nausea and vomiting. Nausea and vomiting are common, especially in the first trimester. The incidence of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy varies between 50% and 80%. Symptoms range from mild nausea to excessive vomiting, dehydration, electrolyte imbalances, and weight loss to a severe form of nausea-vomiting called hyperemesis gravidarum (HG). Nausea-vomiting can cause discomfort in the pregnant woman in its mildest form, and a serious threat to the life of the mother and fetus in the most severe form. Nausea and vomiting during pregnancy is an important symptom that reduces the quality of life of the pregnant woman.In order to reduce the complaints of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, women are offered suggestions such as changing their eating habits and staying away from stress. Complementary and alternative methods can also be used to reduce nausea and vomiting. Acupressure, which is one of these methods, is accepted as an important, effective, supportive and economical complementary method as a non-invasive technique that midwives can directly include in the control of nausea and vomiting during pregnancy, reducing the severity of labor pain, accelerating the birth process, gynecological problems and assisting breastfeeding. The efficacy of acupressure applied to P6, ST36 and CV8 points in cases of nausea and vomiting experienced after motion sickness, chemotherapy or surgery has been investigated in many studies. The CV8 point has not been studied sufficiently in reducing nausea and vomiting in pregnancy. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of a band-aid applied to the umbilical area (Shenque-CV8 point), which is a method that pregnant women can apply on their own, on nausea-vomiting during pregnancy.The sample of the study will consist of 60 pregnant women, 30 in the application group and 30 in the control group. Which of the application/control groups of the pregnant women constituting the sample group will be included will be determined by simple randomization. Pregnant women in the treatment group will be asked to fix a hazelnut-sized cotton ball to their navel with a Band-Aid regularly for five days before going to bed at night. Pregnant women in the control group will not be asked to make any life changes. Five days later, the nausea-vomiting levels of the pregnant women who applied and the pregnant women in the control group will be compared.
The primary aim of the study is to determine whether self-administered acupressure has effects equivalent to aerobic exercise on CRF in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Secondary outcomes include sleep disturbance (self-reported and objective), activity levels (self-reported and objective), quality of life (QoL), cognitive impairment, return to work, chemotherapy completion, and adherence to the intervention. This will be a prospective, assessor-blind, parallel group randomized controlled trial (RCT) that will strictly follow the CONSORT guidelines. A total of 138 patients aged 18 or above with a diagnosis of breast cancer scheduled to commence their first cycle of outpatient adjuvant chemotherapy will be recruited and randomized into self-administered acupressure and aerobic exercise groups. The hypothesis of this study is self-administered acupressure and aerobic exercise demonstrate equivalent effects on CRF. The acupressure arm comprises of a one-on-one, 90-min instructional session and a 1-hour follow-up visit by a trained Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practitioner, and self-practice for 12 weeks. The exercise arm consists of a one-on-one, 90-min instructional session and a 1-hour follow-up visit by a trained exercise specialist, and self-practice for 12 weeks. Participants will be instructed to maintain self-practice after the intervention. Intention-to-treat analysis will be performed.
The effect of acupressure in non-breastfeeding mothers after preterm cesarean delivery
A 12 weeks technology enhanced home exercise (TEHE) program using mobile technologies that provide immediate feedback and send reminder messages to improve exercise motivation is developed. Investigators combine this TEHE program with techniques including auricular point pressure (APA) and brief mindfulness body scan (MBI). This study will examine the feasibility of the TEHE program and combined programs, and ascertain the effect of TEHE program alone, the combined programs on fatigue and biological markers among cancer survivors. Main Research Variable(s): The independent variables are the 12-week program of TEHE alone, APA alone, combined APA and TEHE (TEHEplus) and combined MBI and TEHE (TEHE-MBI). Outcome variables are fatigue, physical activity, contributing factors of fatigue and biomarkers. Design: Repeated measures randomized controlled trial. Setting: Participants will be recruited through the Comprehensive Cancer Center, Johns Hopkins University. Sample: Participants diagnosed with non-metastatic solid tumor cancer; who had completed all primary cancer treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy )within at least 3 months OR non-metastatic prostate cancer completed all primary cancer treatment and have hormone therapy for at least 6 month, OR participants diagnosed with solid tumor cancer; who are receiving immunotherapy for at least 3 months before enrollment, aged 21 years or older, experiencing fatigue in the past 7 days on average of ≥ 3/10, able to participate in a moderate-intensity exercise training program, self-report ability to complete the 6 min walk test with a perceived exertion of 3 or below, and can communicate in English. Methods: Participants who meet the inclusion criteria will be randomly assigned to the TEHE only, APA only or TEHEplus or TEHE-MBI or control group. All exercise groups (TEHE) will be offered a 12-week exercise program through an online communication. In additional to the TEHE, the TEHEplus group will receive an instruction on how to apply the pressure on the ear points through online meeting/communication. The TEHE-MBI group will perform 5 min mindfulness body scan daily. The control (usual care) group will report participant's fatigue level daily. At the end of week 12, participants will answer open-ended questions about participant's opinions on the programs. Fatigue will be assessed and blood will be drawn before and after the program.
Abstract Objectives: To explore the clinical effects of self-acupressure for treating insomnia delivered by a training course. Hypothesis: Subjects who have participated in the self-acupressure training course will have greater improvement in insomnia symptoms and daytime impairment than the sleep hygiene education control group at 4 and 8 weeks. Design and subjects: A pilot randomized controlled trial. Subjects with insomnia will be recruited from the community. 30 subjects will be randomized to self-acupressure and sleep hygiene education control groups in a 1: 1 ratio. Study instrument: Insomnia Severity Index (ISI) will be used to assess insomnia symptoms and daytime impairment. Interventions: Subjects in the self-acupressure group will attend two training sessions to learn self-acupressure and will practice self-acupressure every night for 4 weeks; subjects in the sleep hygiene education control group will receive two training sessions to learn sleep hygiene practice. Main outcome measures: The primary outcome measure is the ISI score. Other measures include sleep parameters using subjective sleep diary, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, and SF-6D at 4 and 8 weeks. Acceptability and sustainability of self-acupressure will also be evaluated. Data Analysis: Differences in the questionnaire scores, subjective sleep parameters will be examined using a mixed-effects model.
In this proposed project, the investigator will estimate the effect of massotherapy of acupoints on alleviating chemotherapy-induced myelosuppression among patients with cancer.