Objective: To observe the clinical effectiveness of acupuncture intervention in weight reduction by modulating body compositions in obesity patients.
Methods: A total of 71 obesity patients during weight-loss procedure were allocated to acupuncture+nutrition-consultation group (n=40) and simple nutrition-consultation group (n=31). The patients of the acupuncture +nutrition-consultation group were treated by acupuncture stimulation of Zhongwan (CV 12), Xiawan (CV 10), Tianshu (ST 25), Wailing (ST 26), Qihai (CV 6), Guanyuan (CV 4), etc. for 30 min, once every other day, 3 times per week, 12 times altogether, and also given with weekly nutrition consultation (including subjective query, objective measurement, analysis, program for nutrition support) at the same time. The patients of the simple nutrition-consultation group were treated by only weekly nutrition consultation for 4 weeks. Before and after the treatment, the patients' body weight, body mass index (BMI), fat mass, percentage of body fat, muscle mass, protein quality, water quality and bone mass were measured by using a composition analyzer.
Results: After 4 weeks' treatment, the body mass, BMI, fat mass and fat percentage in both acupuncture+nutrition-consultation and simple nutrition-consultation groups were significantly decreased (P<0.01), while the weight levels of muscle, protein, bone and water content had no apparent changes (P>0.05). The therapeutic effect of acupuncture+nutrition-consultation group was markedly superior to that of the simple nutrition-consultation group in increasing the improved degrees of body weight, BMI, fat mass and fat percentage (P<0.01).
Conclusions: Acupuncture plus nutrition consultation is effective in reducing body mass, fat mass and percentage of body fat in obesity patients.