Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
Conditions
Keywords
meridians, acupuncture, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, meridian phenomena
Brief summary
Although some important progresses were made in the field of the meridian research, no breakthroughs have been achieved. Besides,there are some problems in meridian researches. The majority of the existing studies involve lots of subjective assessments for meridian phenomena. In addition, few studies have investigated the site specificity between two specific meridians.Therefore, this study is designed to detect the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomena by using an objective assessment tool and investigate the site specificity for the meridian-visceral association and surface-surface association between two specific meridians.
Detailed description
The Lung and Heart meridians are chosen as two specific studied meridians. 120 participants will be enrolled and divided into the healthy control group, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) group and healthy intervention group. Laser doppler flowmetry (LDF) will be used to assess the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomena for the Heart and Lung meridians. The site specificity for the meridian-visceral association will be investigated by comparing the microcirculatory difference between the Heart and Lung meridians in the healthy control group and COPD group. Besides, participants in the healthy intervention group will receive two sessions of moxibustion in the Heart meridian and Lung meridian respectively to explore the site specificity for the surface-surface association.
Interventions
OTHERMoxibustion
Two sessions of moxibustion will be performed in the Heart meridian and Lung meridian successively. Intervention in the Heart meridian: moxibustion will be performed above Shaohai (HT3) for 15 minutes. During moxibustion, the probes of laser doppler flowmetry will detect the microcirculatory characteristics of three measuring sites, which include the midpoint of the Heart meridian along the left forearm, Chize (LU5) of the Lung meridian, and the midpoint of the Lung meridian along the left forearm. Intervention in the Lung meridian: moxibustion will be performed above Chize (LU5) for 15 minutes. During moxibustion, the probes of laser doppler flowmetry will detect the microcirculatory characteristics of three measuring sites, which include the midpoint of the Lung meridian along the left forearm, Shaohai (HT3) of the Heart meridian, and the midpoint of the Heart meridian along the left forearm.
DEVICELaser doppler flowmetry
Laser doppler flowmetry will be used to detect the microcirculatory characteristics of meridian phenomena for the Heart meridian and Lung meridians.
Sponsors
The Third Affiliated hospital of Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Zhejiang Chinese Medical University
Study design
Allocation
NON_RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
PARALLEL
Primary purpose
BASIC_SCIENCE
Masking
NONE
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
20 Years to 75 Years
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
Inclusion criteria for COPD patients * Patients should meet the COPD diagnostic criteria, and the severity of COPD is in the stage of GOLD 2 or 3 based on pulmonary function testing; * COPD patients in the stable phase and present with mild symptoms; * 35 ≤ age ≤75 years, male or female; * Patients have clear consciousness and could communicate with others normally; * Patients could understand the full study protocol and written informed consent is signed. Inclusion criteria for healthy volunteers * Healthy volunteers who could provide a recent medical examination report to confirm they have not any cardiovascular, respiratory, digestive, urinary, hematological, endocrine and neurological disease; * age ≥20 years, male or female; * Participants have clear consciousness and could communicate with others normally; * Participants could understand the full study protocol and written informed consent is signed.
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change from baseline blood flow curve | 5-minute baseline, 15 minutes during moxibustion and 5 minutes after stopping moxibustion | Laser doppler flowmetry is used to assess blood flow curve of relevant sites along the Heart and Lung meridians |
| Change from baseline blood perfusion units | 5-minute baseline, 15 minutes during moxibustion and 5 minutes after stopping moxibustion | Laser doppler flowmetry is used to assess blood perfusion units of relevant sites along the Heart and Lung meridians |
Countries
China
Contacts
Primary ContactYongliang Jiang
Backup ContactHantong Hu
Outcome results
None listed