Acupuncture Therapy — Effectiveness and Safety of Thread Embedding Acupuncture for Drug Resistant Epilepsy
Citation(s)
Chao D, Shen X, Xia Y From Acupuncture to Interaction between d-Opioid Receptors and Na (+) Channels: A Potential Pathway to Inhibit Epileptic Hyperexcitability. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:216016. doi: 10.1155/2013/216016. Epub 2013 Apr 3.
Cheuk DK, Wong V Acupuncture for epilepsy. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2014 May 7;(5):CD005062. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD005062.pub4. Review.
J Zhang, Y. Z. Li, and L. X. Zhuang (2006). Observation on therapeutic effect of 90 tonic-clonic epilepsy patients treated by catgut implantation therapy. Zhen Jiu Lin Chuang Za Zhi, vol. 22, no. 6, pp. 8-10, 2006
Kim E, Kim HS, Jung SY, Han CH, Kim YI Efficacy and safety of polydioxanone thread embedded at specific acupoints for non-specific chronic neck pain: a study protocol for a randomized, subject-assessor-blinded, sham-controlled pilot trial. Trials. 2018 Dec 6;19(1):672. doi: 10.1186/s13063-018-3058-9.
Interventional studies are often prospective and are specifically tailored to evaluate direct impacts of treatment or preventive measures on disease.
Observational studies are often retrospective and are used to assess potential causation in exposure-outcome relationships and therefore influence preventive methods.
Expanded access is a means by which manufacturers make investigational new drugs available, under certain circumstances, to treat a patient(s) with a serious disease or condition who cannot participate in a controlled clinical trial.
Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.
Phase 1: Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
Phase 2: The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
Phase 3: The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
Phase 4: Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.