Effects of auricular stimulation on obese women: A randomized, controlled clinical trial

Aim of the studyTo investigate the therapeutic effect of different auricular acupoint stimulations on obese women.MethodologyThe subjects who met our inclusion criteria were randomly allocated to receive auricular stimulations by needles or metal beads or sham auricular acupuncture on each ear alternatively at each treatment. The inclusion criteria included body mass index (BMI) > 27 kg/m2 and taking no weight-control treatments in the two months before and throughout the study. The outcomes evaluated included: physical parameters, biochemical characteristics using blood samples, obesity-related hormone peptides and life quality scores at both baseline and after 4-weeksof treatment for comparison.ResultsThough our results showed no significant differences in any of the outcome measures between the three groups after treatment, but there were significant reductions in body weight, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumferences within the groups receiving needles and metal beads auricular stimulations (p < 0.05 and p < 0.001, respectively. N = 30 in each group). Furthermore, there was a 1.9-unit reduction in insulin-resistance level in the auricular acupuncture group, and a 41.3 pg/ml decrease in ghrelin level in the metal beads auricular stimulation group.ConclusionsThe group receiving metal beads auricular stimulation showed a decreasing trend similar to that of the auricular acupuncture group, indicating that metal beads could replace needles when using auricular acupoint stimulation as obesity adjuvant treatment with less adverse effects. Our pilot study obtained findings worthy of further and more in-depth research.