Combining herbal treatment with electroacupuncture has no synergic effects on the parameters of obesity

Lee SK¹, Shin BC¹, Lee MS^2,3

¹Department of Oriental Rehabilitation Medicine, College of Oriental Medicine, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea

²Center for Integrative Medicine, Institute of Medical Science, Wonkwang University, Iksan, South Korea

³Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Exeter EX2 4NT, UK

Objective

This study evaluated the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) and EA combined with herbal treatment (EAHT). The combining treatment (EA + EAHT) has more synergistic effects than EA only in the treatment of obesity patients.

Materials and methods

Sixty-five obese patients (BMI > 25 kg/m² according to Asian-Pacific standards) received either EAHT (n = 32) or EA alone (n = 33) for 4 weeks with calorie restriction (1500 kcal per day). The EA group took EA treatment two times a week for 4 weeks, the EAHT group received EA treatment and herbal treatment (Chegamuiyiintang) equally twice a day 30 min before meals for 4 weeks. All the patients were assessed for weight, height and body fat.

Results

Non-parametric statistical tests revealed no significant differences between the effects of EA and EAHT (all P > 0.05). Separate Wilcoxon signed-rank tests for each intervention revealed that both EA and EAHT exerted significant effects on body-weight, body fat percentage and body-weight relative to the ideal body-weight.

Conclusion

These findings suggest that herbal treatment has no synergic effects of EA for obesity treatment. However, these results cannot be conclusive because there is no herbal treatment group only, so the reproducibility of our findings should be tested in a study with a randomised design including a herbal treatment group and long-term follow-up testing.

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