Observations on the Efficacy of Electric Scalp Acupuncture in Treating Mild Cognitive Impairment

Objective: To assess the efficacy of electric scalp acupuncture in treating mild cognitive impairment(MCI)by early intervention,and to provide the reliable evidence of clinical research for acupuncture treatment of mild cognitive impairment.Methods: 84patients diagnosed with mild cognitive impairment were randomly allocated to a medication group,an electric scalp acupuncture group and an electric scalp acupuncture with syndrome differentiation group.Baihui,Sishenchong,Fengchi,Shenting were selected in the electric scalp acupuncture group.Another for electric scalp acupuncture with syndrome differentiation group,selection of points was on the basis of syndrome differentiation according the scale for the differentiation of syndromes of vascular dementia.The medication group was orally given Nimodipine.Evaluation was made using mini-mental state examinations and clock-drawing task scales in the three groups before and after treatment.A comparison was made between pretreatment and post-treatment and between the three groups.Results: After treatment,the scores of mini-mental state examinations and clock-drawing task were significantly changed(P0.01,P0.05) in the three groups;The mini-mental state examinations scores improved more in the electric scalp acupuncture group and the electric scalp acupuncture with syndrome differentiation group than in the medication group(P0.01),but with no significant differences(P0.05) between the electric scalp acupuncture group and the electric scalp acupuncture with syndrome differentiation group;there were no statistically significant differences(P0.05)of the clock-drawing task scores in the three groups.Conclusion : Electric scalp acupuncture has special advantages in improving cognitive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment and the therapeutic effect has been proved.