Abstract
Backgrounds and Purpose: Hypertension is a common origin for stroke, heart disease, etc. Clinical management is needed to prevent these diseases. It has been said that auricular acupuncture treatment can be used for the control of hypertension. In this study, we studied the effects of auricular acupuncture on mild hypertension. Materials and Methods: Clinical study was performed on 22 stroke patients who didn't take the antihypertensive drugs. They were admitted in Kyunghee University, Hospital of Oriental Medicine. We checked patients' 24-hour blood pressure by Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitor and did auricular acupuncture treatment for one day and rechecked blood pressure for 24-hours. We compared the blood pressure between, before, and after auricular acupuncture treatment by Wilcoxon test. The acupuncture points were KOHYOLABJUM, NAEBUNBI, SHINMUN, SHIM, KANGABJUM. They were all on the auricular. Results: After auricular acupuncture treatment, systolic and diastolic hypertension decreased significantly(p<0.05), but heart rates didn't change significantly. Conclusions: These results suggest that Auricular acupuncture treatment may be used for antihypertensive purpose. About the efficacy and safety, further study is needed.
