Ask An Expert: Asthma and Acupuncture

Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School

Ask An Expert: Asthma and Acupuncture

Question:

Is there any clinical evidence of acupuncture mitigating asthma attacks?

Answer:

Complementary and alternative medical therapies such as yoga, relaxation, chiropractic and acupuncture continue to gain popularity for varied complaints such as migraines, premenstrual syndrome, arthritis, and asthma. Acupuncture has traditionally been used to treat asthma in China, and is used increasingly for this purpose internationally.

For conditions such as asthma, the available scientific evidence on acupuncture is inconclusive. Clear guidelines are lacking. In practice, different syndromes of asthma are treated with different acupuncture regimens, including unique methods and length of treatment. Some types of acupuncture evaluated for asthma include needling, electrical and laser stimulation. However, clinical trial data does not currently support the use of acupuncture for asthma over standard conventional medical therapies. Other methods such as relaxation and Buteyko breathing studies also do not show a significant benefit. Further research is needed before a recommendation can be made. Adverse effects associated with acupuncture such as rash or skin infection have been reported. Please check with your health care professionals and pharmacist before trying new asthma therapies.

Catherine Ulbricht, Pharm.D., is a senior attending pharmacist at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an assistant professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy, Northeastern University, and the University of Rhode Island. She is a founder of Natural Standard Research Collaboration, which provides high-level complementary and alternative medicine content for health-care institutions. She also is a member of the board of directors of the Integrative Medicine Alliance, and chief editor of the Journal of Herbal Pharmacotherapy.

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Last updated:	January 24, 2007

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