Experience treating Parkinson’s disease with acupuncture

Abstract

PD is a neurodegenerative disease, most commonly seen among middle-aged and elderly people. There is neither any known treatment capable of halting the progression of PD, nor is there any known cure, treatment focuses primarily on decelerating disease progression and improving quality of life. Western medical treatment chiefly consists of oral medication and deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgery, while TCM treatment consists mainly of herbal decoctions and acupuncture (1). Clinically, the cardinal motor symptoms of PD are: (I) resting tremor, (II) bradykinesia, and (III) rigidity. Common non-motor symptoms include abnormal sense of smell, constipation, rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder (RBD), pain, fatigue, salivation, and so on (2).