Acupuncture shows promise for treating lazy eye, study says

Acupuncture shows promise for treating lazy eye, study says

The ancient Chinese treatment of acupuncture has been shown in a small study to be effective in treating lazy eye in children, but the researchers said a larger study should validate their findings. Also called amblyopia, lazy eye is a condition where there is poor vision of one eye because the other one is favored by the visual system. It results from miscommunication between the eyes and the brain according to the National Eye Institute. Between one and five percent of the global population are affected with lazy eye. The study is published in this month's issue of the journal Archives of Ophthalmology.

Younger children between the ages of 3 and 7 who are affected with this condition are typically treated with corrective eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, the standard treatment is only effective in about a third of children between seven and 12 years of age. The researchers, who were led by Dr. Dennis S.C. Lam of the Institute of Chinese Medicine at the Joint Shantou International Eye Center of Shantou University and Chinese University of Hong Kong, studied 88 Chinese kids with ages seven to twelve who had been diagnosed with lazy eye. A subgroup received acupuncture treatment involving the insertion of needles in five points including the top of the head and above the eyebrows, and also the legs and hands. The other subgroup received patch therapy. After four months, the researchers found that those who received acupuncture had improved visual acuity than those who had patch therapy. Lazy eye was eliminated in 42 percent of acupunture patients while only 17 percent of patch patients were treated successfully. The study said there were no significant side effects observed with either therapy.

Posted by George Daniels on Tuesday December 14 2010, 1:41 AM EDT. Ref: Business Week. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Health. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0