What is Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)?
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is not uncommon. It manifests through various symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating, diarrhea, and constipation. IBS is a chronic condition. It affects both physical and emotional well-being.
Evidence Supporting Acupuncture for managing IBS symptoms
Zheng et al. (2016)
This randomised controlled trial investigating the effects of electroacupuncture on patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome and functional diarrhea. The findings demonstrated symptom improvement and enhanced quality of life among participants receiving electroacupuncture.
Forbes et al. (2005) conducted a double-blind, placebo-controlled study involving 50 IBS patients. The patients who received real acupuncture experienced a reduction in IBS symptoms like abdominal pain, bloating, and diarrhea when compared to those in the sham acupuncture group.
Cochrane Review by Lim et al. (2006)
This Cochrane review synthesised evidence from eight RCTs, involving a total of 597 patients. Although the authors concluded that existing studies lacked sufficient quality and sample size, some did show positive outcomes, warranting further investigation.
Reference Lists
Forbes, A., Jackson, S., Walter, C., Quraishi, S., Jacyna, M., & Pitcher, M. (2005). Acupuncture for irritable bowel syndrome: a blinded placebo-controlled trial. World journal of gastroenterology, 11(26), 4040–4044. https://doi.org/10.3748/wjg.v11.i26.4040
Lim, B., Manheimer, E., Lao, L., Ziea, E., Wisniewski, J., Liu, J., & Berman, B. (2006). Acupuncture for treatment of irritable bowel syndrome. The Cochrane database of systematic reviews, (4), CD005111. https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD005111.pub2
Zheng, H., Li, Y., Zhang, W., Zeng, F., Zhou, S. Y., Zheng, H. B., Zhu, W. Z., Jing, X. H., Rong, P. J., Tang, C. Z., Wang, F. C., Liu, Z. B., Wang, S. J., Zhou, M. Q., Liu, Z. S., & Zhu, B. (2016). Electroacupuncture for patients with diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhea: A randomized controlled trial. Medicine, 95(24), e3884. https://doi.org/10.1097/MD.0000000000003884