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Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia

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Huang Wei Ling at Londrina State University
Huang Wei Ling
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Insomnia is a widespread problem around the world.Insomnia has significant negative impact in dailyfunctioning and is associated with work absenteeism,considerable impairment of quality of life, andincreased medical and societal costs.The pathology isalso frequently associated with a variety of psychiatricdisorders, especially depression and anxiety.
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Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 1
Introduction
Insomnia is a widespread problem around the world.
      
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Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders
ISSN: 2638-504X
Volume 3, Issue 1, 2020, PP: 01-11
Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling
in the Treatment of Insomnia
Huang, W. L.


weilingmg@gmail.com
*Corresponding Author: Huang Wei Ling, MD, Rua Homero Pacheco Alves, 1929, Franca, Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Abstract
Statement of the Problem: Insomnia is a sleep disorder that regularly affects millions of people worldwide.

lethargy, mood swings, anxiety, stress and a general feeling of being unwell, both mentally and physically.
The purpose of this study is to demonstrate the results of a treatment using auricular acupuncture associated
           
during dinner, can be one of the causes of insomnia.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: To prove that insomnia can be treated with auricular acupuncture
and Chinese dietary counselling, a retrospective research of over 1500 patients’ records was done. 55 (3.66%)
of these patients were selected based on having insomnia diagnosis in their records and had performed previous
treatment with auricular acupuncture associated with Chinese dietary counselling.
Findings: Of the total amount, 30 (83.33%) considered their insomnia as a main symptom which affected their

their insomnia symptom.
Conclusion & Significance: The majority of patients who had undergone auricular acupuncture associated

improvement. The study also concluded that patients who not compromised with the dietary changes did not
achieve the same positive results as those who agreed with them.
Keywords: Insomnia, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Auricular Acupuncture, Chinese Nutritional Therapy.
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020
2
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       
       
        
      
 
       
    
      

Yang
and the treatment was started for treating this
   
      

        

        
     
      


 


    
       



Purpose
         
      
     
 

      
      
      

Methods
      

      
treatme    
 


as methods for insomnia treatment.
       
     

      
      
       




    


    
loodletting.
Results

       


          

     

       
        



Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 3
      
       

related to the sleeping pills. It is possible to see in

        
       

Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Table 1. Insomnia Improvement Self-evaluation by Number of Sessions
   # sessions
 
 
 
 
  
 
       



Fig 1. Hospitalization of Insomnia Patient’s before Auricular Acupuncture Treatment

Fig 2. Patients with Previous Treatment Before Auricular Acupuncture Treatment
Fig 3. Insomnia Patients’ evaluation of Acupuncture Treatment
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020
4
Discussion
Western Perspective
        
relation with the alarming insomnia numbers. Sleep

         
      

     
    
       


      


      
tial.
       


     
 


        
     
     
      




       



        
        


   

        
      
    

      
   

      


       

        

       



The Tree Metaphor
      



Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia

        
       

Fig 4. How Patients Evaluated their Auricular Acupuncture Treatment as a Cure for their Insomnia.
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 5
 




        
 
        
      

         





Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Fig 5. Schematic Drawing of the Views of Western Medicine and Traditional Chinese Medicine
          
         
 Yin
and Yang

that.
Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood
       
pe
   
e
      Qi
 Yin and Yang

 Qi

Yin and Yang     
      
  Qi is ruled
 Yin and Yang     

 Yin  Yang
      


       
 Yin
is in
 Yang   
opposite is true.
Fig 6. Yin and Yang
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020
6
The Yin and Yang Cycle of Sleep
          Yin
and Yang  YinYang Yin
 Yang


 Yin Yang Yin
 Yang
 Yang
 Yang within Yin
 Yin
 Yin
 Yin Yang
  

       
     Yin and Yang 
 Yin and Yang
   
 Yang is
depleting and Yin
 Yin is depleting and Yang

Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
   Yin, Yang, Qi    
       
        
 Yin,
Yang, Qi 
       

      
        


 
       



  

Fig 7. Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood Schematic Relationship
Fig 8. Yin Yang Cycle
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 7
 Qi
 Qi

   
      

     
         
       



        





   
          
    




        


 




          



  








       
  
      
         
         
        
   
     
        
        

Shen
      
        
       Qi
         
the spirit as an integral part of our health and our
  


         
         




      

       
 
of Qi

Diagnosis of Energy Imbalances
      
       
     

of Yang Yin    
       
  Yang Yin   
 Yin

  

     
      
 
      

Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020
8
Chinese Nutritional Therapy
       

         
   

       
       



    

        




 


          
     




       
     




          
  

      





      Yin





   
        



         
      
 Yang
 Yin and Yang 


       
         

Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Table 2. How to Diagnose Yin, Yang, Qi, Blood and Heat Retention Imbalances?
Question Does the



Does the


sweating

Does the patient




Does the
patient feel
hot in the






Meaning 





 Qi


is a sign of Yang


a sign of Yin


Heat retention.




Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 9




it has Yang
Yin and Yang
        Yin and Yang


 Yang Yin


   



Auricular Acupuncture
     
       
   
      
    
       
        



       
      
         
      
    
Yin Yang Qi
   Yin-Yang    
 Qi


to the treatment of Heat retention. If a patient does not

       
       


Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Fig 9. Auricular Acupuncture points
Arndt-Schultz’s Law
       
        


          

      





     
       
      

     


  
      



Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020
10
Conclusion
       
     
         
       
     
     

 Yin and Yang 
        
  

References
  
      

     





   
  
     


    
rio
     
     
    Department
     


   

     
  

       
     
   

Sh
anshan Li  Yin Xuan Yin 
ogo and Shifen
Xu      
      
s
     doi: 


      
      



 onHua Li 
Liu     
    
      

Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia


      
       



   
      
      
   

Fig 10. The Arndt-Schultz’s Law
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders V3 . I1 . 2020 11
    
    


     
    
   
ns.
     




   
      

      

     


  

     
        
         
       
     


     




     
of

Hua
     



     
   

 Yang

    
nd

     
 Yin and Yang

on



      
   



St
     



    
   
Modern

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Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia
Citation: Huang, W. L. Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia.
Archives of Neurology and Neuro Disorders. 2020; 3(1): 01-11.
Copyright: © 2020 Huang, W. L. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided
the original work is properly cited.
... According to Chinese medicine, everything is composed by energy, including the human being and all formation of disease process is related to Yin and Yang imbalances and also, for the Five Elements theory disruption [2]. ...
... This kind of treatment is important to treat the cause of all diseases formation and not just treating the symptoms presented by the patient and in the case of insomnia in children, there are two important considerations to observe by the doctor [2]. ...
... The first step is to evaluate which kind of food the children is eating during the night and the time of consumption of these foods. In this article, I am explaining that there is the transformation of Yang (maximum Yang energy at 12 PM) into Yin (maximum Yin at 12 AM), and if the patient eats foods very Yang in energy during the night, the patient will have energy to keep awake and will not have condition to sleep [2]. The time to eat the dinner is also important to analyze because the digestive tract will not work after 6PM [2]. ...
Energy Alterations in Children with Insomnia and What Can We Do to Improve Their Sleep
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Insomnia in children and adolescents are common conditionin my daily practice. In an article written by Oerkermann., et al .(2007) entitled Prevalence and Course of Sleep Problems in Child-hood, the authors are saying that 12% of the children reported tohave sleep difficulties such as difficult in initiating and maintainingthe sleep is the most common sleep problems in childhood [1].
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... The lack of understanding of how the use of medications could induce sleep disorders by Western medicine, is maintaining the use of this kind of medication to this kind of symptoms. According to traditional Chinese medicine, sleep disorders can be caused by many energy imbalances and each patient should be evaluated individually because the cause of each patient could be different and needs to be treated according to their energy disturbances, as the author demonstrated in the article written by the author (2020) entitled Auricular Acupuncture and Chinese Dietary Counselling in the Treatment of Insomnia [3]. ...
... According to traditional Chinese medicine, all diseases came from the internal energy imbalance of Yin, Yang, Qi and Blood and retention of Heat, and the treatment of this condition, using Chinese dietary counseling, auricular acupuncture with apex ear bloodletting to restore the balance state between these energies, is the primordial importance to bring health again to this patient [3][4][5]. The first step in all treatments in insomnia patients is the correction of the errors in the diet. ...
... Patients with insomnia should be advised to avoid eating food with a lot of energy during the night such as red meat, corn, beans, rice and all leaves that grow above the earth. The patient needs to eat dinner in the early evening around 6 PM, because after this period, the functioning of the organs of the digestive system is stagnant, causing the food to stay standing in the stomach and digestion is not carried out, being one of the causes of insomnia according to traditional Chinese medicine [3]. The most suitable foods to be eaten at night are foods that grow underground like cassava, carrot, onion, beetroot, yam etc. and white meet [3]. ...
Why Insomnia Patients Do Not Sleep Even When Taking Sleep Inducers Medications?
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  • Open Neurol J
Insomnia is a very common problem nowadays evenpatient and party so many percent in the world population. In the article written by Bhaskar (2016) entitled Prevalenceof chronic insomnia in adult patients and its correlation with medical comorbidities, chronic insomnia was seen in 33 % of the population she studied at that time. Other factors such as diabetes and increasing age are the factors that increase the incidence of insomnia [1].
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... So, this type of immunodeficiency is causing a variety of different symptoms but the cause is the same, as I am showing in a variety of articles written by myself in all kinds of specialty in any kind of disease. They can have emotional or have any kind of physical symptoms such as anxiety, depression, panic syndrome, insomnia, autism, headaches, low back pain, knee pain, sexual dysfunction, infertility, diabetes, hypertension, myocardial infarction, strokes, autoimmune diseases, or even cancer, they have in common, these energy deficiency state, that is the cause of all symptoms nowadays [6,7,[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. ...
... In patients with any kind of emotional or physical problem, if we analyze the metaphor of the tree, which I usually use in all my articles to explain the different levels of diagnosis and treatment, it is necessary to use these highly diluted medications to treat the cause of disease formation, because nowadays, we are treating the "leaf" of the tree, but the real cause of all forms of the disease is on the "root" of the tree, that is usually invisible by the naked eyes as I am showing in the article written by myself (2021) titled Why is Homeopathy the Medication of Choice in the Treatment of All Kinds of Diseases Nowadays? [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18]30]. And the "root" of all kinds of patients with any kind of disease is weak if we analyze the energy of the five internal massive organs and, if we still use medications that could harm our vital energy, we can cause complications for these patients or even death, as I am showing in the article written by myself (2021) titled Why Medications Used Nowadays are Harmful to Our Health? ...
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There are many different types of immune deficiency described today and many of them can increase the patient to a variety of different symptoms such as the increased chance to have cancer. In this article, I am describing a new type of immune deficiency that we cannot prove by laboratory tests because they are in the energy level and affects the energy of the five internal massive organs of the five elements theory of traditional Chinese medicine, after the implementation of the modernization of telecommunication, leading to an increased chance to have any kind of emotional or physical disease because these organs are responsible for the production of internal energy for maintenance of our survival. The use of highly diluted medications according to the theory written by myself (2020) titled Constitutional Homeopathy of the Five Elements Based on Traditional Chinese Medicine in this new type of population that we are facing nowadays is very important to keep the battery of these organs working and functioning to maintain our immune system in adequate level to prevent the development of diverse diseases, in the last phase, the formation of cancer.
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... Sleeping early is something very important also because during sleep, there is the replenishment of Kidney's energy and the ideal time to sleep is around 9 PM [7]. ...
... It is also important to guide the patient to avoid the ingestion of coffee, mate tea, soft drinks because these drinks could cause a worsening of Kidney's energy. The patient need to eat black color foods, because black foods tones the Kidney's energy, with the exception of coffee and Coca-Cola that have black color, but worsen the Kidney's energy [5,7]. ...
What Do We Need to Understand in Patients with Teeth Bone Loss to Do Not to Cause Further Damage?
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In this presentation, the author showed that the energy of the Kidney can naturally fall, beginning in 30 years and can worsen with ag-ing process. In a study the author did in her clinic in Brazil from 2015 to 2020, she measured 1000 patients’ chakras’ energy centers and the result of her research was that more than 90% of all her patients were in the lowest level of energy in the five massive organs (Liver,Heart, Spleen, Lung, Kidney). This means that the production of energy by all these organs were very compromised (Yin and Yang by theKidney; Qi by the Liver and Lung; Blood by the Spleen) and for this reason all patients nowadays are having aging process earlier and theenergy that is responsible for the bone in the tooth, are also, very compromised, demonstrating that 97% of these patients are with Kidney deficiency (responsible for the teeth from childhood to older patients) [3-5].
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... [10] Depending on what time the individual is waking up, we will know which internal organ is affected leading to insomnia. [11] For example, if insomnia is caused by Gallbladder imbalance, the individual will wake up between 11 and 1 AM. If the individual wakes up between 3 and 5 AM, it is due to the involvement of the Lung meridian. ...
... can cause stagnation of food in the gastrointestinal tract, as the gastrointestinal tract stops working at 6 PM. [11] It is common after the treatment of replenishment of this lack of energy in the chakras' energy centers, using highly diluted medications such as homeopathy medications according to the theory Constitutional ...
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... [10] Depending on what time the individual is waking up, we will know which internal organ is affected leading to insomnia. [11] For example, if insomnia is caused by Gallbladder imbalance, the individual will wake up between 11 and 1 AM. If the individual wakes up between 3 and 5 AM, it is due to the involvement of the Lung meridian. ...
... That is why, the author always advises the patients to eat the dinner until 6 PM, as eating after this time, can cause stagnation of food in the gastrointestinal tract, as the gastrointestinal tract stops working at 6 PM. [11] It is common after the treatment of replenishment of this lack of energy in the chakras' energy centers, using highly diluted medications such as homeopathy medications according to the theory Constitutional ...
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... All the phenomena in nature have the Yin and Yang changes such as day and night, sun and moon, man and women, black and white, etc. The formation and transformation of each other is represented in Figure 3, during day and night [8]. To Yin and Yang flow inside the body, there is the necessity of having two other energies, that are Qi and Blood, as I am showing in Figure 4 [7]. ...
Malignant Ovarian Cancer Secondary to the Chronic Use of Mirena Intrauterine Device
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Malignant ovarian cancer is the fifth most common cause of death in women in developed nations. According to traditional Chinese medicine, cancer is formed when the internal energy is reduced and also with the formation of internal Fire. The use of highly concentrated medications (in this case hormones in the intra-uterine device) can reduce the vital energy of the patient and lead to the formation of internal Fire and have more propensity to develop cancer.
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... The bitter taste of food can unbalance the Fire element and induce problems in the sleep process and communication [11]. ...
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... The bitter taste of food can unbalance the Fire element and induce problems in the sleep process and communication [11]. ...
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Nosocomial infections are a widespread problem around the world. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimatesthat nosocomial infections affect around 1.7 million patients per year, and cause 99.000 deaths. According to CDC, 32% of all health-care acquired infections are urinary tract infections, 22% are surgical site infections, 15% are pneumonia and 14% are bloodstreaminfections. Nowadays, only 1/3 of nosocomial infections can be prevented with the Infection Control Programs. The other 2/3 cannotbe prevented with the programs used nowadays. In USA, 31 billion of dollars are spent in the treatment of nosocomial infections peryear.
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Background: The National Institutes of Health estimates the prevalence of insomnia in menopausal women at 40-50%. Some studies have shown that acupuncture might be effective in treating primary insomnia and insomnia related to depression and stroke. Although there are some programs supporting insomnia during the menopausal transition, there are few randomized controlled trials (RCT) to provide evidence regarding their effectiveness. We design a RCT of suitable sample size to verify the effectiveness of acupuncture in patients with insomnia during the menopausal transition and to form an optimized acupuncture treatment protocol. Method/design: In this randomized, single-site, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial, 84 eligible patients will be recruited and randomly assigned to either the acupuncture group (n = 42) or the sham control group (n = 42) in a 1:1 ratio. Participants will receive a total of 18 treatment sessions for eight consecutive weeks. Treatments will be given three times per week in the first four weeks, twice a week for the next two weeks, and finally once weekly for the final two weeks. Treatment will utilize eight main acupoints (GV20, GV24, GV29, RN6, RN4, SP6, HT7, EX-HN22) and extra two acupoints based on syndrome differentiation. The primary outcome will be assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The secondary outcomes will be measured by sleep parameters recorded in the Actigraphy (SE, TST, SA), Insomnia Severity Index (ISI), Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (SAS), Self-Rating Depression Scale (SDS), and Menopause Quality of Life (Men-QOL). The primary outcomes will be assessed at baseline, week 4, week 8, and the first and third month after the end of treatment. Discussion: If the results confirm that acupuncture is effective and safe for the treatment on insomnia in menopausal women, this positive outcome could provide evidence for clinical application. Trial registration: Chinese Clinical Trial Registry, ChiCTR1800018645 . Registered on 10 January 2018.
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National surveys are relevant for the study of sleep epidemiology since they can provide specific data about sleep in large dimension with important implications for the health system. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of sleep complaints among the Brazilian population using a randomized cluster sample according to region and socioeconomic class. For this, a 3-stage sampling technique was used to randomly select Brazilian subjects of both genders older than 16 years. A total of 2017 subjects, from 132 different cities, were selected to estimate prevalence in the Brazilian population with a sampling error of ±2%. Questions about sleep complaints were administered face-to-face by Instituto Datafolha interviewers on April 10 and 16, 2012. Data were expanded using a weighted variable. The results showed that 76% of the study population suffers from at least 1 sleep complaint, indicating that approximately 108 million Brazilians may be affected by sleep disorders. On average, each subject had 1.9 sleep problems with the most common complaints being light and insufficient sleep, snoring, moving a lot during sleep, and insomnia, which usually occurred more than 3 times per week. Low income was associated with higher number of sleep complaints only in Northeast and Southeast regions. In conclusion, this study showed a high prevalence of sleep complaints in a sample of the Brazilian population, suggesting that sleep disorders may be markedly frequent in the Brazilian population with a possible correlation with the socioeconomic situation of the interviewed subjects.
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Treatment of Insomnia With Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine
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Insomnia is a condition with sleep problems and many people suffered from it. Chronic insomnia can last for long time and it will severely affect people's health and the quality of life. In conventional medicine, the most commonly used the medicine is benzodiazepine. It is effective but also has significant side effects. Patients try to use some kinds of alternative medicines.
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Insomnia in Chinese Medicine: The Heart of the Matter
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Chronic insomnia affects a significant proportion of the general population worldwide, and is associated with several serious medical conditions. From the Western scientific literature, hyper-arousal (on the cognitive-emotional, behavioral, autonomic, or central nervous system level) is a final common pathway involved in its pathogenesis. However, from a Chinese medicine (CM) perspective, it is the Heart, capitalized to denote the functional system as described in CM theory, that is the key organ involved in insomnia due to its role as the "seat of consciousness." This article explores how insomnia is understood from the CM perspective, in particular the role of the Heart, and some of the neurophysiological evidence that supports these ancient theoretical understandings. The potential role of the vagus nerve and its relationship with the (biomedical) heart and CM Heart is also examined. Finally, some of the evidence in association with mechanisms of action of acupuncture in insomnia, in particular its impact on cardiovascular variables associated with insomnia, is presented, along with findings of systematic reviews.
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