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eCAM Advance Access published online on June 11, 2007
eCAM, doi:10.1093/ecam/nem055
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© 2007 The Author(s).
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Do Japanese Style Acupuncture and Moxibustion Reduce Symptoms of the Common Cold?{dagger}

Kenji Kawakita, Toshiyuki Shichidou, Etsuko Inoue, Tomoyuki Nabeta, Hiroshi Kitakoji, Shigekatsu Aizawa, Atsushi Nishida, Nobuo Yamaguchi, Norihito Takahashi, Eiji Sumiya, Kaoru Okada, Takashi Umeda, Tadashi Yano and Shouhachi Tanzawa

EBM working group, Research Department, the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (JSAM)

We summarize the results from a series of investigations of Japanese style acupuncture and moxibustion therapies on symptoms of the common cold that have been conducted (FTLE 1999–03, supported by the Foundation for Training and Licensure Examination in Anma- Massage- Acupressure, Acupuncture and Moxibustion). We also discuss the various interventions and concerns that we faced during these investigations. The subjects were students and teachers. The pilot study (FTLE1999) of a two arm (real and non-treatment control) RCT at a Japanese acupuncture school showed that manual acupuncture to a specific needling point at the throat clearly reduced symptoms of the common cold. The first multi-center (five centers) RCT (FTLE 2000) revealed a significant reduction in cold symptoms, by general linear model analysis (between groups, P = 0.024). To reduce the technical variation, we employed indirect moxibustion to the neck points as a uniform intervention in the next project (FTLE 2001) without statistically significant results. Then we elongated the periods of treatment from 2 to a maximum of 12 weeks (FTLE 2002) with different interventions accompanied by 4 weeks follow-up. The results were still not statistically significant. As the final project, we tried to develop a new experimental design for individualized intervention by conducting n-of-1 trials using elderly subjects in a health care center but without detecting a clear effect. In conclusion, the safety of Japanese acupuncture or moxibustion was sufficiently demonstrated; however, a series of clinical trials could not offer convincing evidence to recommend the use of Japanese style acupuncture or moxibustion for preventing the common cold. Further studies are required as the present trials had several limitations.

Keywords: multi-center RCTs, common cold symptoms, acupuncture, moxibustion, japanese style

For reprints and all correspondence: Kenji Kawakita, Research Department of JSAM, Department of Physiology, Meiji University of Oriental Medicine, Hiyoshi-cho, Nantan-City, Kyoto 629-0392, Japan. Tel & Fax: +81-(0)771-72-1289; Tel: +81-(0)771-72-1181(ext. 275); Fax: +81-(0)771-72-0326 E-mail: k_kawakita{at}meiji-u.ac.jp

{dagger}Multi-center RCTs conducted the EBM Working Group of JSAM

Received September 15, 2006; accepted April 12, 2007


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