Acupuncture may be an effective way to treat depression during pregnancy, and to reduce the pain of menstrual cramps, according to new research into the health benefits of the ancient Chinese practice. One study, from researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine, found that women confronting depression during pregnancy experienced a greater reduction in symptoms when treated with acupuncture targeted to treat depression, compared with those treated with control acupuncture (when needles were inserted into points not known to target depression) or massage. Those findings will be published in the March issue of the journal Obstetrics & Gynecology. In a separate analysis, published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and covered last week by the BBC, Korean researchers reviewed 27 studies including more than 3,000 women that analyzed the impact of acupuncture on menstrual cramps. In all but two studies, they found that women receiving acupuncture targeted to treat cramps reported a greater reduction in discomfort than those treated with “sham acupuncture.”
