Currently, women who experience depression during pregnancy usually know of two options: either take antidepressants, which have been shown to pose certain health risks to the developing fetus, or avoid medication altogether. However, untreated depression in pregnancy also poses risks: it has been shown to increase a baby's chances of showing irritability, low activity levels, and poor attentiveness during the first year of life. With the March of Dimes reporting that depression affects up to 20% of pregnant women, clearly, a safe alternative therapy is needed. A study in the March 2010 journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology suggests that acupuncture is as effective as antidepressants for depression in pregnancy.
In this study, 63% of participants showed at least a 50% reduction in depression symptoms when undergoing once or twice weekly acupuncture for 8 weeks. "If you look at the response rates we got in our study and compare to response rates in studies using antidepressants, you see pretty comparable effectiveness," says study author Rachel Manber, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University School of Medicine.
To me, one interesting aspect of this study is the fact that the participants were given individualized acupuncture point prescriptions, that is, set of acupuncture points which were needled. This closely mimics a typical, real-world acupuncture experience. In Traditional Chinese Medicine, five patients, all with depression, could each recieve a different diagnosis and point prescription. In this way, this study is different from the majority of research studies on acupuncture to date. Typically, all participants are given the same point prescription. This is simply the nature of conducting a randomized, controlled, double blind clinical research trial- all patients must be treated the same way. Therefore most studies in the past have been inherently flawed because they do not follow one of the most basic rules of Traditional Chinese Medicine- treat the underlying pattern (which is unique to each patient), not just the symptoms (which may not be unique)! I predict that as more clinical research emerges with individualized point presciptions given to study participants, we will begin to see the true effectiveness of acupuncture (as I have already seen in my practice!)
Read the study for yourself HERE
