For women with PCOS, acupuncture and exercise brings relief, reduces risks.
BETHESDA, Md. (June 29, 2009) Exercise and electro-acupuncture
treatments can reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with
polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), according to a new study.
The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated
sympathetic nerve activity, which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia,
insulin resistance, obesity, cardiovascular disease, and infertility.
The study also found that the electro-acupuncture treatments
led to more regular menstrual cycles, reduced testosterone levels
and reduced waist circumference. Together, exercise and electroacupuncture
effect the irregular or non-existent menstrual cycles that are
common among women with PCOS.
"The findings that low-frequency electro-acupuncture and exercise
decrease sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS indicates
a possible alternative non-pharmacologic approach to reduce cardiovascular
risk in these patients," said one of the researchers,
Dr. Elisabet Stener-Victorin of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
The findings regarding menstrual cycles and decrease in testosterone
levels in the low-frequency electro-acupuncture are also of interest,
according to the researcher.
The study, "Low-frequency
electro-acupuncture and physical exercise decrease high muscle
sympathetic nerve activity in polycystic ovary syndrome" was conducted
by Elisabet Stener-Victorin, Elizabeth Jedel, Per Olof Janson and
Vrsa Bergmann Sverrisdottir, all of the Sahlgrenska Academy, University
of Gothenburg, Sweden and the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm,
Sweden. The study is in the online edition of the American Journal
of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology,
published by The American Physiological Society.
Common endocrine
disorder Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is one of the most common
endocrine disorders, affecting an estimated 10% of women of reproductive
age. Among the problems associated with the condition are elevated
levels of androgens (such as testosterone, the 'male' hormone found
in both sexes), ovarian cysts, irregular menstrual cycles and infertility.
PCOS is associated with increased sympathetic nerve activity in
the blood vessels, part of the 'fight or flight' response that
results in blood vessel constriction. Chronic activation of the
sympathetic nervous system increases the risk of diabetes, high
blood pressure, heart attack and stroke.
The Swedish researchers
had previously found that PCOS is associated with increased sympathetic
nerve activity and said it may arise from the elevated testosterone
level that is characteristic of PCOS. The researchers wanted to
find a long-lasting treatment for PCOS that would have no adverse
side effects, and so they looked at whether acupuncture or exercise
could decrease the sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS.
The study included 20 women,
average age of 30 years, divided into the following groups: low-frequency
electro-acupuncture (9) exercise (5)
untreated controls, (6).
The acupuncture group underwent 14 treatments during the 16-week
study. Acupuncture points were located in abdominal muscles and
back of the knee, points thought to be associated with the ovaries.
The needles in the abdomen and leg were stimulated with a low-frequency
electrical charge, enough to produce muscle contraction but not
enough to produce pain or discomfort.
The exercise group received
pulse watches and were told to take up regular exercise: brisk
walking, cycling or any other aerobic exercise that was faster
than walking but that they could sustain for at least 30 minutes.
They exercised at least three days per week for 30-45 minutes,
maintaining a pulse frequency above 120 beats per minute.
The researchers
instructed the control group in the importance of exercise and
a healthy diet, the same instructions the experimental groups received,
but were not specifically assigned to do anything differently.
Key Findings The researchers measured the muscle sympathetic nerve
activity before and after the 16-week study.
Following treatment,
the study found the following: Both the acupuncture and exercise
groups significantly decreased muscle sympathetic nerve activity
compared to the control group. The acupuncture group experienced
a drop in waist size, but not a drop in body mass index or weight.
The exercise group experienced a drop in weight and body mass index
but not in waist size. The acupuncture group experienced fewer
menstrual irregularities but the exercise group's irregularities
did not change.
In the acupuncture group, there was a significant
drop in testosterone. This is an important indicator because the
strongest independent predictor of high sympathetic nerve activity
in women is the level of testosterone.
"This is the first study to demonstrate that repeated low-frequency electro-acupuncture
and physical exercise can reduce high sympathetic nerve activity
seen in women with PCOS," according to the authors. "Furthermore, both therapies
decreased measures of obesity while only low-frequency electro-acupuncture
improved menstrual bleeding pattern."
The study has some limitations, including a small sample size,
so further research is necessary, the authors wrote.
 The
full study is available as a PDF document.
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