Acupressure for Pain Management and Fatigue Relief in Gulf War Veterans
NCT ID: NCT02075489
Last Updated: 2017-10-10
Study Results
The study team has not published outcome measurements, participant flow, or safety data for this trial yet. Check back later for updates.
Basic Information
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COMPLETED
NA
7 participants
INTERVENTIONAL
2012-09-30
2017-10-31
Brief Summary
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The results of this study may provide useful information to develop more effective treatment for veterans with GWI disease. Since acupressure treatment is of Asian origin and has shown excellent promise within its Eastern traditions, if successful, this study has the potential to produce a paradigm shift in clinical practice to more effectively relieve the symptoms of veterans with GWI disease. Meanwhile, as a non-invasive therapeutic massage, acupressure may lend to better patient acceptance and ultimately, greater clinical accessibility.
Hypotheses
1. Acupressure besides routine clinical care will produce a more complete fatigue relief and pain alleviation in veterans with GWI versus routine clinical care plus reiki treatment.
2. EEG measures will exhibit a positive change when fatigue is relieved and pain is alleviated for symptomatic veterans after effective treatment.
Detailed Description
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A matter of great concern in investigating oriental alternative and complementary interventions is standardizability and repeatability of experiments. In this proposed study the process of identifying the location of acupoints and underlying meridians for each subject will be carried out using Western anatomy and the World Health Organization's Standard Acupuncture Point Locations (Lim, 2009). The level of manipulation (force and frequency of pressing and kneading) will be monitored by the TN-II manipulation radiometer (Shangxin Medical Science \& Technology Co. Ltd, Shanghai, China), which has been successfully used to normalize acupressure manipulation in previous research (Ma et al., 2006). In this manner, the whole treatment design would be standardized as much as possible and could be repeated in the future by our own and other groups.
Reiki: Veterans in the control group will receive reiki treatment with the same dosage (40 min/session, 12 sessions in 6 wks). The practitioner will place the hands on the recipient in various positions covering head, the back of the torso, and the 4 limbs with fixed set of 12 hand positions. These covered areas will then be tapped and stroked, and practitioner will focus his/her gaze on these areas for 2-3 min, through which the healing energy is transferred to the subjects.
Conditions
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Keywords
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Study Design
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NON_RANDOMIZED
PARALLEL
TREATMENT
NONE
Study Groups
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Acupressure
This group of patients will serve as the experimental group and receive acupressure treatment in addition to routine clinical care. Acupressure will be provided 40 mins/day, 2 days/week for 6 weeks (total of 12 sessions).
Acupressure treatment.
Acupressure will be provided 40 min/day, 2 days/week for 6 weeks (total of 12 sessions). Symptomatic veterans will receive standardized acupressure treatment for \~5 s on each acupoint until the subject gets the sense of soreness and numbness, and the procedure will be repeated three times. Kneading massage will be applied around eyes and forehead, and face will be swabbed by palm for \~ 5 min. Manipulation of these acupoints is aimed at helping to calm and ease the subject, lighten headache and migraine, relieve fatigue, and alleviate insomnia.
Reiki
This group of participants will serve as control group and receive Reiki treatment in addition to routine clinical care. Reiki will be provided 40 mins/day, 2 days/week for 6 weeks (total of 12 sessions).
Reiki
Veterans in the control group will receive reiki treatment with the same dosage (40 min/session, 12 sessions in 6 wks). The practitioner will place his/her hands on the recipient in various positions covering head, the back of the torso, and the 4 limbs with fixed set of 12 hand positions. These covered areas will then be tapped and stroked, and practitioner will focus his/her gaze on these areas for 2-3 min, through which the healing energy is transferred to the subjects. In a format similar to acupressure treatment, it will be used as an inert control treatment to balance additional care the experimental group will receive.
Interventions
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Acupressure treatment.
Acupressure will be provided 40 min/day, 2 days/week for 6 weeks (total of 12 sessions). Symptomatic veterans will receive standardized acupressure treatment for \~5 s on each acupoint until the subject gets the sense of soreness and numbness, and the procedure will be repeated three times. Kneading massage will be applied around eyes and forehead, and face will be swabbed by palm for \~ 5 min. Manipulation of these acupoints is aimed at helping to calm and ease the subject, lighten headache and migraine, relieve fatigue, and alleviate insomnia.
Reiki
Veterans in the control group will receive reiki treatment with the same dosage (40 min/session, 12 sessions in 6 wks). The practitioner will place his/her hands on the recipient in various positions covering head, the back of the torso, and the 4 limbs with fixed set of 12 hand positions. These covered areas will then be tapped and stroked, and practitioner will focus his/her gaze on these areas for 2-3 min, through which the healing energy is transferred to the subjects. In a format similar to acupressure treatment, it will be used as an inert control treatment to balance additional care the experimental group will receive.
Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria
* Over 18 years old (male or female)
* A score of 5 and above for severity and 5 and above for interference by BPI.
* A score of 3 and above by revised Piper Fatigue Scale.
Exclusion Criteria
* fatigue can be explained by existing causes (i.e., eating disorder);
* previous neuromuscular or mood disorders (i.e., bipolar disorder);
* previous cognitive problems (i.e., schizophrenia, dementia, delusional disorder);
* significant cardiovascular problems;
* under other rehabilitation treatment that can significantly differentiate the subject from others.
18 Years
70 Years
ALL
No
Sponsors
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The Cleveland Clinic
OTHER
Responsible Party
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Principal Investigators
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Vernon W Lin, MD PhD
Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
The Cleveland Clinic
Locations
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Cleveland Clinic
Cleveland, Ohio, United States
Countries
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Other Identifiers
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W81XWH1210567
Identifier Type: -
Identifier Source: org_study_id