Irritable bowel syndrome: acupuncture relieves symptoms

Irritable bowel syndrome, also called functional colonopathy, is a disorder of the functioning of the intestine which – although it does not endanger the patient’s life – greatly impacts their daily life. Discomfort and abdominal pain – the cause of which remains unknown – alter their quality of life.

And unfortunately, some patients do not respond to available treatments. However, Chinese researchers are providing them with a solution. They have shown that acupuncture helps relieve the symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome.

Acupuncture and irritable bowel: the benefits persist beyond the sessions

To evaluate the benefit of acupuncture on functional colopathy, the team brought together 170 participants aged 18 to 70 suffering from this pathology. The volunteers were randomly divided into two groups. In the first, participants were pricked on specific acupuncture points known to affect gastrointestinal function. Those in the second – which served as a control group – had the needles applied to areas that did not correspond to acupuncture points. They all had 12 sessions over a 4-week period, in addition to their usual care.

The results at the end of the experiment show that patients who had real acupuncture sessions had a greater drop in Irritable Bowel Syndrome Severity Scale (IBS-SS) scores. “This indicated a substantial improvement in the severity of symptoms, including abdominal pain, distension and interference with daily life”explain the scientists in their press release published on November 1, 2024.

In addition, the beneficial effect of the method from Chinese medical tradition persisted beyond the treatment period.

Functional colopathy: better quality of life with acupuncture

The study, presented in the journal Frontiers of Medicinealso shows that acupuncture improves the quality of life of people suffering from irritable bowel syndrome. “There was also a positive trend toward reduced anxiety symptoms, although changes in depression scores were not significant”add the authors.

Another advantage of this age-old treatment: there are few side effects. Only transient subcutaneous hematomas and residual needle sensation were reported.

“The study results constitute a significant contribution to the field of integrative medicine, suggesting that acupuncture may be a viable adjunctive treatment for patients with irritable bowel syndrome who have not responded to conventional therapies”conclude the researchers.