Acupuncture Cuts Migraine Severity

Researchers conclude that acupuncture increases the clinical effective rate of the drug deanxit for the treatment of migraines. Importantly, the addition of acupuncture to the administration of deanxit significantly reduces the adverse effects caused by the medication. The data was published in the report entitled Clinical Effect Observation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Combined with Flupentixol/Melitracen Tablet in the Treatment of Migraine.

This research confirms findings made by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (New York) and University of York (York) researchers. In a high quality study with a massive sample size exceeding 18,000 patients, the researchers determined that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of headaches and migraines. In the research, acupuncture was found effective as a standalone therapy for migraines. We’ll take a look at that research shortly. First, let’s take a look at the acupuncture research for the treatment of migraines when the deanxit drug therapy was employed.

Deanxit is used for the treatment of depression, anxiety, bipolar illness, myogenic headaches, and intractable migraines. Deanxit is a combination of two medications, comprised of both flupentixol and melitracen. Flupentixol is a thioxanthene class antipsychotic medication and melitracen is a tricyclic antidepressant. Deanxit is banned in the USA due to neurological adverse effects associated with intake of the medication. It is also habit forming and withdrawal is difficult. The research is important given that acupuncture significantly reduces the adverse effect rate of the medication.

Guangdong Yangjiang Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital researchers determined that the addition of acupuncture to administration of melitracen/flupentixol increases the total effective rate by 7.14%. Acupuncture plus melitracen/flupentixol had an 82.14% total treatment effective rate. Melitracen/flupentixol as a standalone therapy, in the same study, achieved a 75.00% total effective rate. Based on the data, the researchers conclude that “the combination of acupuncture with melitracen/flupentixol provides optimal patient outcomes for the treatment of migraines.”

A total of 56 patients with migraines were treated and evaluated in this study. All patients were diagnosed with migraines between January 2013 and June 2016. They were randomly divided into a treatment group and a control group, with 28 patients in each group. In the treatment group, there were 4 males and 24 females. The age range was 20–65 years. The average age was 43.4 (±2.4) years. The duration of each attack was 2–12 hours, and the average duration was 8.5 (±2.8) hours. The observation group included 6 males and 22 females. The age range was 22–64 years. The average age was 44.6 (±2.7) years. The duration of each attack was 2–14 hours, and the average duration was 8.7 (±2.8) hours. Based on these statistics, there were no significant differences between the two groups at the start of the investigation.

Both groups received melitracen/flupentixol tablets. Melitracen/flupentixol tablets were orally administered twice per day, with a dosage of 10.5 mg each