Acupuncture Impacts Patients With Parkinson’s

A primary goal of The Wege Institute: Mind, Body, Spirit is to partner with other departments at Saint Mary’s to further benefit patients and the community. So, when the opportunity arose one year ago to perform a collaborative study with the Hauenstein Parkinson’s Center, former Wege Institute Oriental Medical Doctor Irving Marcus jumped at the opportunity. “We want to work together with other departments for the greater benefit of our patients,” Marcus said.

In conjunction with the Parkinson’s Center, The Wege Institute performed a small pilot study to determine if acupuncture and traditional Chinese herbal medicine have a positive impact on the movement disorder aspect of Parkinson’s disease. “We enrolled eight patients between the ages of 50 to 80,” Marcus said, adding that the Saint Mary’s Doran Foundation funded the study. He said they came for acupuncture treatment twice per week for two weeks and once per week for eight weeks. The participants also took Chinese herbal medicine to help calm their nervous system. Before the study, six weeks into the study and at the end of the study, participants underwent diagnostic testing at the Parkinson’s Center.

“There were mixed results,” Marcus said. “Everyone enjoyed the acupuncture and said it improved their quality of life. But due to the diversity of the group, there wasn’t a direct correlation that could be made that acupuncture improves the mobility of patients with Parkinson’s.” However, the acupuncture did help with patients’ moods, sleep and digestion. “This study was a really good start,” Marcus said. “Hopefully we can do more studies in the future. We are fortunate to have the Doran Foundation provide a way for us do these types of things.”

The Lacks Cancer Center and The Wege Institute also recently partnered together to conduct a seven-week study of women who have been newly diagnosed with Stage III or Stage IV ovarian cancer. The purpose of the randomized study is to determine the effects of Ama Deus energy healing therapy compared to a standard relaxation exercise on depression and anxiety in the women.