METHOD FOR IMPROVING BLOOD FLOW OF THE CEREBRAL CORTEX

Abstract

A method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex is provided in the present invention. The method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex includes the following steps: stimulating a predetermined site of a subject in need thereof to improve blood flow of the cerebral cortex of the subject in need thereof, wherein the predetermined site is Shousanli (LI10) acupoint.

Claims

1. A method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex, comprising the following steps: stimulating a predetermined site of a subject in need thereof to improve blood flow of the cerebral cortex, wherein the predetermined site is Shousanli (LI10) acupoint.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the predetermined site of the subject in need thereof is stimulated with an acupuncture needle, electricity or a combination thereof.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of stimulating the predetermined site of the subject in need thereof comprises the following steps: applying an acupuncture needle to the predetermined site of the subject in need thereof, and rotating the acupuncture needle.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising a step: retaining the acupuncture needle after insertion and letting it stand still for the first period of time prior to rotating the acupuncture needle.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the first period of time is between 3 to 5 minutes.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the acupuncture needle is continuously rotated for a second period of time.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the second period of time is between 30 to 120 seconds.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the acupuncture needle is rotated in an alternating clockwise and counterclockwise manner.

9. The method of claim 4, further comprising a step: repeating the step of retaining the acupuncture needle after insertion and letting the acupuncture needle stand still and the step of rotating the acupuncture needle for a predetermined number of times, with breaks in between intervals of the standing still step and the rotating step.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the predetermined number of times is 1 to 10 times.

11. The method of claim 3, wherein a length of the acupuncture needle is between 7.5 to 75 mm.

12. The method of claim 3, wherein a diameter of the acupuncture needle is between 0.2 to 0.35 mm.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the cerebral cortex comprises the hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, precuneus, cingulum, or cerebellum.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is used to treat Parkinson's disease.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0017] FIG. 1 (A) to FIG. 1 (J) shows the value differences of the uptake ratio (UR) in brain regions for “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, compared by using paired t-test.

[0018] FIG. 2 shows the changes of uptake ratios of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”.

[0019] FIG. 3 shows the hippocampus images of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, as denoted by the arrows.

[0020] FIG. 4 shows the striatum and thalamus images of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, as denoted by the arrows,

[0021] FIG. 5 shows the precuneus images of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, as denoted by the arrows.

[0022] FIG. 6 shows the cingulum images of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, as denoted by the arrows.

[0023] FIG. 7 shows the cerebellum images of “baseline” and “after acupuncture”, as denoted the arrows.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF TI-IE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

[0024] Different embodiments of the present invention are provided in the following description. These embodiments are meant to explain the technical content of the present invention, but not meant to limit the scope of the present invention. A feature described in an embodiment may be applied to other embodiments by suitable modification, substitution, combination, or separation.

[0025] The present invention relates to a method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex, comprising the following steps: stimulating a predetermined site of a subject in need thereof with an acupuncture needle, electricity, or a combination thereof to improve blood flow of the cerebral cortex, wherein the predetermined site is Shousanli (LI10) acupoint. In addition, in one aspect of the present invention, the predetermined site of a subject in need thereof is stimulated with an acupuncture needle, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0026] In the present invention, the step of stimulating the predetermined site of the subject in need thereof further comprises the following steps: inserting and retaining an acupuncture needle at the predetermined site of the subject in need thereof and then rotating the acupuncture needle, wherein the acupuncture needle can be rotated in an alternating clockwise and counterclockwise manner. In addition, the method of the present invention further comprises a step: letting the acupuncture needle first stand still for a period of time prior to rotating the acupuncture needle. Moreover, the method of the present invention further comprises a step: repeating the step of letting the acupuncture needle stand still after insertion and the step of rotating the acupuncture needle for a predetermined number of times. Furthermore, in the method of the present invention, the acupuncture needle can be continuously rotated for a second period of time.

[0027] In the end, the method of the present invention can be used to redistribute blood flow of the cerebral cortex, wherein the cerebral cortex comprises the hippocampus, striatum, thalamus, precuneus, cingulum, or cerebellum. Thereby, the method of the present invention can be used to treat Parkinson's disease, but the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0028] Experimental Method

[0029] In the method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex according to the present invention, Technetium-99m ethyl cysteinate dimer (.sup.99m Tc-ECD) was administered via intravenous injection and used as a radioactive tracer, and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT) was used to detect the brain of a healthy adult subject and obtain information of cerebral blood flow perfusion. Then, the numerical changes of blood flow in each brain region were obtained by quantitative analysis software, thereby elucidating the condition of blood flow perfusion before/after stimulating Shousanli (LI10) acupoint. After the scanned image was reconstructed by the original manufacturer, the spatial normalization of the brain image was performed with Pmod software (Pmod Technologies, Switzerland), and then the automated anatomical labeling (AAL) was performed to identify the volume of interest (VOI) in the brain.

[0030] The steps of the method for improving blood flow of the cerebral cortex according to the present invention can be divided into a first part and a second part, wherein the first part is to obtain baseline values of a subject and the second part is the detection after acupuncture.

[0031] For the first part, an intravenous needle is placed on the subject's hand and then the subject is instructed to take a rest in a dark room for 30 minutes. After resting for 30 minutes, the subject is injected with .sup.99mTc-ECD tracer, instructed to rest for another 30 minutes in a dark room, and then the SPECT′ scan is performed. For the second part, an intravenous needle is placed on the subject's hand, the subject takes a rest in a dark room for 30 minutes, and then an acupuncture needle is inserted to stimulate the Shousanli (WO) acupoint of the left hand (located on the dorsal radial side of the forearm and 2 cun below the transverse cubital crease). While retaining the acupuncture needle at Shousanli (LI10) acupoint, a needle-twirling technique is performed at intervals of several minutes, with breaks of several minutes in between the application of the needle-twirling technique. This process of applying the needle-twirling technique with breaks in between intervals is repeated for a determined number of times. The needle-twirling technique entails gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise and counterclockwise, and repeating this needle manipulation several times per minute. The needle is removed after the aforementioned manipulation has been completed, a sterile cotton ball is pressed on the needle insertion site for 30 seconds, and then .sup.99mTc-ECD tracer is injected. After receiving the injection, the subject takes a rest in a dark room for 30 minutes, and then SPECT scan is performed. Statistical analysis software is used to perform normalization on the images obtained by the present Experimental Method, thereby obtaining the redistribution information of blood flow perfusion in different regions of the brain before and after stimulating the acupoint.

Embodiment 1

[0032] In the present embodiment, an acupuncture needle with a length of 7.5 mm and a diameter of 0.3 mm was inserted at the Shousanli (WO) acupoint on the left hand. The first period of time was 4 minutes, the second period of time was 1 minute, the predetermined number of times was 4 times, and the needle was retained for 20 minutes in total. The needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 180 degrees and counterclockwise 180 degrees, repeating this manipulation 140 times per minute.

Embodiment 2

[0033] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the first period of time was 3 minutes, the second period of time was 1 minute, and the predetermined number of times was 5 times. Just as in Embodiment 1, the needle was retained for 20 minutes in total.

Embodiment 3

[0034] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the first period of time was 5 minutes, the second period of time was 1 minute, the predetermined number of times was 5 times, and the needle was retained for 30 minutes in total.

Embodiment 4

[0035] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the first period of time was 4 minutes, the second period of time was 2 minutes, the predetermined number of times was 5 times, and the needle was retained for 30 minutes in total.

Embodiment 5

[0036] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the first period of time was 3 minutes and the second period of time was 2 minutes. Just as in Embodiment 1, the predetermined number of times was 4 times and the needle was retained for 20 minutes in total.

Embodiment 6

[0037] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the first period of time was 5 minutes, the second period of time was 2 minutes, the predetermined number of times was 5 times, and the needle was retained for 35 minutes in total.

Embodiment 7

[0038] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 90 degrees and counterclockwise 90 degrees, repeating this manipulation 250 times per minute.

Embodiment 8

[0039] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 2 except that the needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 90 degrees and counterclockwise 90 degrees, repeating this manipulation 250 times per minute.

Embodiment 9

[0040] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 3 except that the needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 90 degrees and counterclockwise 90 degrees, repeating this manipulation 250 times per minute.

Embodiment 10

[0041] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 1 except that the needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 270 degrees and counterclockwise 270 degrees, repeating this manipulation 1.00 times per minute.

Embodiment 11

[0042] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 2 except that the needle-twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 270 degrees and counterclockwise 270 degrees, repeating this manipulation 100 times per minute.

Embodiment 12

[0043] The present embodiment was similar to Embodiment 3 except that the needle twirling technique entailed gripping the needle handle with the thumb and index finger at the same time, continuously rotating the needle clockwise 270 degrees and counterclockwise 270 degrees, repeating this manipulation 100 times per minute.

[0044] Experimental Results

[0045] Table 1 shows the results obtained by performing the aforementioned Experimental Method under the operating conditions of Embodiment 1. As shown in Table 1 below, statistical analysis was performed to compare the differences of all subjects in various brain regions as shown in FIG. 1 (A) to FIG. 1 (J) and FIG. 2.

[0046] It can be found from the comparison between the data collected before and after stimulating Shousanli (LI10) acupoint that the cerebral blood flow perfusion increased dramatically in the various brain regions, including the hippocampus (FIG. 3), striatum (FIG. 4), thalamus (FIG. 4), precuneus (FIG. 5), cingulum (FIG. 6), or cerebellum (FIG. 7) in which FIGS. 3 to 7 were collected from the same subject. These results indicate that the method of the present invention can achieve the purpose of preventing, relieving and/or treating Parkinson's disease.

TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 Differences in cerebral blood flow perfusion after the stimulation of Brain region Shousanli (LI10) acupoint frontal −1.4% temporal 0.1% parietal −2.1% occipital −2.1% hippocampus 5.9% striatum 5.4% thalamus 5.1% precuneus 1.8% cingulum 1.8% cerebellum 1.7%

[0047] Although the present invention has been explained in relation to its preferred embodiment, it is to be understood that many other possible modifications and variations can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as hereinafter claimed.