The COMmunicator 2020-21 Vol. 1 | Page 20

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Research has already begun, especially in China, on the use of acupuncture in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.8,9 Initial reports are promising.

Given the above, acupuncture offers several benefits to our patients, that may be of benefit during these COVID-19 pandemic days:

1)Acupuncture can be used in well, lower risk patients, to improve their overall immune system, thus decreasing their susceptibility to catching COVID-19 and/or limiting the severity of COVID-19 should they catch it and develop symptoms.

2)Acupuncture can be used in high risk patient populations as a preventative treatment to help tamp down or improve endothelial dysfunction, thus potentially decreasing the severity of their response to COVID-19. This patient population could, and should, also be treated with acupuncture treatments oriented at boosting the overall immune system, as the lower risk patient.

3)Acupuncture can be used in the acute treatment of COVID-19 to improve lung and vascular manifestations of the disease potentially decreasing morbidity and mortality.

Acupuncture is not a panacea for COVID-19. No panacea currently, or likely, will ever exist. COVID-19 is likely with us for the long-haul. Acupuncture is a tried and true treatment modality that has existed for millennia. Acupuncture likely has a place in the treatment of patients to both prevent and treat COVID-19 infections. The evidence is there to support this.

References:

1, 5. Helms, Joseph M. Acupuncture Energetics. New York. Thieme Publishers, 1995.

2. Wu, Hallin. Acupuncture for Immune System Treatment. https://www.amcollege.edu/blog/acupuncture-can-strengthen-the-immune-system#:~:text=Acupuncture%20can%20strengthen%20a%20weakened,patients%20with%20immune%2Drelated%20illness.&text=A%20compromised%20or%20dysfunctional%20immune,component%20of%20most%20chronic%20diseases. (Accessed August 14, 2020).

3. Green, Shawn J. COVID-19 accelerates endothelial dysfunction and nitric oxide deficiency. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7229726/ (accessed August 14, 2020).

4. People Who Are at Increased Risk for Severe Illness. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/people-at-increased-risk.html (accessed August 14, 2020).

6. Jung-Mi, Park et. Al. The acute effect of acupuncture on endothelial dysfunction in patients with hypertension: a pilot, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled crossover trial. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20673141/#:~:text=Conclusions%3A%20This%20study%20demonstrates%20that,cardiovascular%20diseases%20in%20hypertensive%20patients. (accessed August 14, 2020).

7. Lundeberg, Thomas. Acupuncture mechanisms in tissue healing: contribution of NO and CGRP. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1136/acupmed-2013-010313 (accessed August 14, 2020)./

8. Sun, Peilin and Zhou, Wen Sheng. Acupuncture in the Treatment of COVID-19: An Exploratory Study. http://kajabi-storefronts-production.s3.amazonaws.com/sites/25548/themes/1683328/downloads/S3PHNSYyQkWwkVubf57v_sun_zhou_coronavirus_acupuncture_article_1.pdf (accessed August 14, 2020).

9. Zhang, Baozhen, et. Al. Acupuncture for breathlessness in COVID-19, A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7337514/ (accessed August 14, 2020).

“Given the current world situation, where COVID-19 is

sweeping the globe and there is a relative paucity of curative treatments as well as the lack of a viable vaccine, acupuncture is a treatment modality that warrants further consideration.

-Craig Amnott, DO '01