Therapeutic effects of acupuncture for rhumatoid arthritis

A study in Japan with rheumatoid arthritis patients found that 10 acupuncture treatments in 2 months significantly reduced the intensity of pain, improved knee joint range of motion (ROM), and disability of daily activities although no improvement was found for systemic inflammatory markers. It was concluded that acupuncture relieves symptom, remedies physical function, and improves quality of life in rheumatoid arthritis patients, but may have no or very limited anti-inflammatory effect systemically.

Source: Sato M et al. Therapeutic effects of acupuncture in patients with rheumatoid arthritis: a prospective study using (18)F-FDG-PET. Annals of Nuclear Medicine 2009;23:311-316.