□ The Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine (KIOM / President: Lee Jin-Yong) announced that the research team led by Dr. Han Chang-Hyun at its KM Science Research Division had proven the improvement in urinary problem of prostatic hyperplasia patients using electroacpuncture and electronic moxibustion jointly with Professor Kim Young Il at Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University.

◦The research team conducted a comparative study on the control group that only used alpha blocker among therapeutics for prostatic hyperplasia and the treatment group that also used electroacupuncture and electronic moxibustion therapies in addition to alpha blocker.

◦The result showed improvement in lower urinary tract symptoms such as sensation of incomplete bladder emptying, frequent urination, nocturia, and urinary urgency in the cotreatment group.

◦The outcome of the research was published in Medicine (IF=1.817), a leading international academic journal.

※ Paper title: Effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture and its cotreatment with electronic moxibustion in the treatment of patients with moderate benign prostatic hyperplasia using alpha blocker

□ Prostatic hyperplasia is a disease often found in men 60 years of age or older. It induces lower urinary tract symptoms that affect the quality of living, and there is a rising interest in its treatment as senior population grows and standard of living increases.

□ Drug treatment is used in general for prostatic hyperplasia patients, but some adverse effects including rhinitis, dizziness and erectile dysfunction have been reported. Also, lower urinary tract symptoms are not sufficiently improved for certain patients in spite of drug treatment, thus requiring development of safe and more effective treatment methods.

□ In this research, electric stimulation was applied at BL33, BL35, SP6 and SP9 acupuncture points that are often used for treating urinary symptoms and lower abdominal symptoms, while electronic moxibustion was applied on lower abdomen. These therapies were administered three times per week for a total of six weeks.

□ After the study, it was confirmed that lower urinary tract symptoms had improved more in prostatic hyperplasia patients treated additionally with electroacupuncture and electronic moxibustion than those who just used alpha blocker.

◦Ultrasound test on prostatic volume, transverse diameter, and anterior posterior diameter also showed that their reduction in the cotreatment group was more prominent than in the control group.

□ The research team said, “Electroacupuncture is an effective therapy method widely used for numerous different diseases, and electronic moxibustion is a safe type of therapy that allows temperature control and is without the risk of burn. The research provided the clinical basis for effective use of acupuncture and moxibustion treatment to improve urinary symptoms of prostatic hyperplasia patients undergoing drug treatment, and it is expected to help expand the use of acupuncture and moxibustion in numerous different diseases including prostatic hyperplasia.”

□ The research was conducted jointly with Korean Medicine Hospital of Daejeon University as part of the key programs of KIOM, an affiliate of the Ministry of Science and ICT.