Estudio comparativo de la eficacia de la terapia habitual para la enfermedad de Parkinson más acupuntura auricular permanente frente a la terapia habitual sin acupuntura

A clinical study is performed to compare the efficacy of the routine treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) plus permanent auricular acupuncture versus routine treatment without acupuncture. The main aim of the study is to compare the efficacy at 12 months of pharmacological treatment plus acupuncture with permanent needles versus pharmacological treatment with no acupuncture, using the scores obtained on a unified Parkinson's disease rating scale and pharmacological treatment. The study population consisted of patients diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and on pharmacological treatment. The insertion of the needle points were individualised, with between 100 and 120 needles being inserted, or as many as the symptoms required. The patients that received the non-acupuncture process would have an identical procedure, with the same number of needles but with none of the needles permanently inserted in the ears. Due to the reduced sample number (n=32), it was not possible to perform the appropriate statistical analysis to evaluate any significant differences between the two groups, with a descriptive analysis of the variables being performed instead. The results indicated that permanent needles (Forever Needles), leads to a greater stability of the pharmacological treatment for PD, and showed an improvement as regards the complications in the treatment (reductions, increases, inclusion of new drugs. On the other hand, it is concluded that the efficacy of the Forever Needles, compared to those of the group without permanent insertion for the treatment of PD, could not be established in this study.