Study on Cerebral Blood Flow Regulatory Features of Acupuncture Stimulation at Various Acupoints

Background: Acupuncture therapy is widely used for treating cerebrovascular diseases, including chronic cerebral artery insufficiency, poststroke, and vertebrobasilar artery insufficiency (VBI). To improve the effect of acupuncture for treating cerebral vascular diseases, it is necessary to clarify the effect of the individual acupoints on the cerebral hemodynamic indices and prescribe the acupoints according to their functional features. Objective: The goal of this research was to observe the influence of acupuncture stimulation at some acupoints of the Gallbladder and Bladder Meridians on cerebral hemodynamic indices. Materials and Methods: For this study, 249 patients with cerebrovascular diseases, including VBI, poststroke, and chronic cerebral artery insufficiency were observed. All participants were outpatients in the Pyongyang Medical College Hospital of Kim Il Sung University, in Pyongyang City, of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, from January of 2012 to October of 2014. Various hemodynamic indices, such as artery compliance, hemodynamic resistance, and blood flow quantity were recorded using a Cerebral Vascular Disease Diagnosis System (CVD 3000) before and after acupuncture stimulation at individual acupoints of the Gallbladder and Bladder Meridians, respectively. Values of each parameter after stimulation were compared with those before stimulation. Results: The effects of acupuncture stimulation on various hemodynamic indices were different in each point group. Particularly, stimulation at acupoints located on the front and middle of the head reduced hemodynamic resistance of the anterior cerebral arteries and middle cerebral arteries significantly, and stimulation at acupoints located on the back of the head reduced the resistance of the posterior cerebral arteries most significantly. Conclusions: Stimulation at acupoints on the head could more improve the cerebral blood flow remarkably, more so than acupoints on the legs, and the systematical specificity of the Gallbladder Meridian and Bladder Meridian was indefinite.