No Effect of Acupuncture in the Relief of Delayed-Onset Muscle Soreness: Results of a Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND Delayed-onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is a common symptom in people participating in exercise, sport, or recreational physical activities. Several remedies have been proposed to prevent and alleviate DOMS. DESIGN AND METHODS A five-arm randomized controlled study was conducted to examine the effects of acupuncture on eccentric exercise-induced DOMS of the biceps brachii muscle. Participants were recruited through convenience sampling of students and general public. Participants were randomly allocated to needle, laser, sham needle, sham laser acupuncture, and no intervention. Outcome measures included pressure pain threshold (PPT), pain intensity (visual analog scale), and maximum isometric voluntary force. RESULTS Delayed-onset muscle soreness was induced in 60 participants (22 females, age 23.6 ± 2.8 years, weight 66.1 ± 9.6 kg, and height 171.6 ± 7.9 cm). Neither verum nor sham interventions significantly improved outcomes within 72 hours when compared with no treatment control (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS Acupuncture was not effective in the treatment of DOMS. From a mechanistic point of view, these results have implications for further studies: (1) considering the high-threshold mechanosensitive nociceptors of the muscle, the cutoff for PPT (5 kg/cm) chosen to avoid bruising might have led to ceiling effects; (2) the traditional acupuncture regimen, targeting muscle pain, might have been inappropriate as the DOMS mechanisms seem limited to the muscular unit and its innervation. Therefore, a regionally based regimen including an intensified intramuscular needling (dry needling) should be tested in future studies, using a higher cutoff for PPT to avoid ceiling effects.

Bericht der Commission der preußischen Nationalversammlung über die Steuerverweigerung, vorgetragen in der Sitzung vom 15. November 1848: Die hohe National-Versammlung hat in ihrer Sitzung vom 11. November beschlossen ...

Boberach: Die "reichsständischen Befugnisse" der Nationalversammlung werden aus den Rechten des Vereinigten Landtags von 1847 abgeleitet. - Welsch (Projektbearbeiter): Samt dem Abdruck der Rede des Abgeordneten Kirchmann, dem Berichterstatter der Kommission

Die Organisation der Volksbewaffnung in Deutschland, mit besonderem Bezuge auf Sachsen : eine Denkschrift an die deutsche Nationalversammlung zu Frankfurt und an alle deutschen Regierungen ; Auf Grund der Berathungen einer vom deutschen Vaterlandsvereine zu Dresden berufenen Commission

Boberach: Die Landesverteidigung muß auf der Grundlage der Volksbewaffnung mit Wehrpflicht vom 20. bis 50. Lebensjahr organisiert sein. Stellvertretung wird gestattet. Die Offiziere sollen frei gewählt werden, der oberste Verwaltungsrat des Heeres auch Kriegsgericht sein. Die Rüstung kann mit Anleihen finanziert werden, die später durch die Einsparungen infolge Verminderung des stehenden Heeres zu tilgen sind

Beute aus dem Tempel in Jerusalem [Illustration] : Relief am Titusbogen

Scan von Monochrom-Mikroform

Relief der siebenarmigen Menorah [Illustration] : [Fundort: Synagoge in Pekiin]

Scan von Monochrom-Mikroform

Relief vom Titusbogen in Rom [Illustration] : Aus dem Triumphzug des Titus

Scan von Monochrom-Mikroform

Sendschreiben der "Commission des Conservateurs du Judaisme" in Paris an ihre Glaubensgenossen in Frankreich

Itamar Cohen

THE EVALUATION OF PUBLIC HEALTH COMPONENTS OF INTERNATIONAL DISASTER RELIEF OPERATIONS: INDOCHINESE REFUGEES IN THAILAND, 1979-1982

Refugee populations suffer poor health status and yet the activities of refugee relief agencies in the public health sector have not been subjected previously to comprehensive evaluation. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness and cost of the major public health service inputs of the international relief operation for Indochinese refugees in Thailand coordinated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). The investigator collected data from surveillance reports and agency records pertaining to 11 old refugee camps administered by the Government of Thailand Ministry of Interior (MOI) since an earlier refugee influx, and five new Khmer holding centers administered directly by UNHCR, from November, 1979, to March, 1982.^ Generous international funding permitted UNHCR to maintain a higher level of public health service inputs than refugees usually enjoyed in their countries of origin or than Thais around them enjoyed. Annual per capita expenditure for public health inputs averaged approximately US$151. Indochinese refugees in Thailand, for the most part, had access to adequate general food rations, to supplementary feeding programs, and to preventive health measures, and enjoyed high-quality medical services. Old refugee camps administered by MOI consistently received public health inputs of lower quantity and quality compared with new UNHCR-administered holding centers, despite comparable per capita expenditure after both types of camps had stabilized (static phase).^ Mortality and morbidity rates among new Khmer refugees were catastrophic during the emergency and transition phases of camp development. Health status in the refugee population during the static phase, however, was similar to, or better than, health status in the refugees' countries of origin or the Thai communities surrounding the camps. During the static phase, mortality and morbidity generally remained stable at roughly the same low levels in both types of camps.^ Furthermore, the results of multiple regression analyses demonstrated that combined public health inputs accounted for from one to 23 per cent of the variation in refugee mortality and morbidity. The direction of associations between some public health inputs and specific health outcome variables demonstrated no clear pattern. ^