Matsuura Yuto, Watanabe Yoshinori, Taniguchi Hiroshi, Koga Yoshihisa, Yasuno Fumiko, Sakai Tomomi
Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Tokyo Ariake University of Medical and Health Sciences, Tokyo, Japan.
Himorogi Psychiatric Institute, Tokyo, Japan.
Clin Med Insights Case Rep. 2020 Oct 28;13:1179547620967379. doi: 10.1177/1179547620967379. eCollection 2020.
Bipolar disorder (BD) is typically treated by pharmacotherapy. However, pharmacotherapy alone is often not adequate to cope with the variety of symptoms associated with BD. The present case report describes the therapeutic effects of manual acupuncture on a patient with chronic BD, and multiple concurrent physical symptoms, that did not improve with standard pharmacotherapy.
A 41-year-old woman with type II BD presented with depression, anxiety, and multiple physical symptoms. Her symptoms had first appeared 12 years prior, and she was diagnosed with type II BD 3 years after symptom onset. Although she received standard treatment, including medication and psychotherapy, her symptoms did not improve. Acupuncture treatment aimed at improving psychiatric and physical symptoms was performed weekly for 12 weeks. Depression and anxiety symptoms were evaluated using the Himorogi Self-Rating Depression Scale (HSDS) and Himorogi Self-Rating Anxiety Scale (HSAS) respectively. A visual analog scale (VAS) was used to evaluate physical symptoms including diarrhea, insomnia, and general malaise. Outcome measures were evaluated before each treatment.
Throughout the course of the acupuncture intervention, no changes were made to the patient's psychotropic medication regimen. HSDS and HSAS scores decreased after 12 weeks of acupuncture treatment and improvements in all physical symptoms, as measured by the VAS, were observed. Furthermore, psychiatric symptoms with hypomanic or mixed features were not exacerbated.
In this patient, acupuncture was effective in improving psychiatric and physical symptoms of type II BD. This non-pharmacological intervention may be a viable option for the treatment of BD-associated symptoms.
双相情感障碍（BD）通常采用药物治疗。然而，单纯的药物治疗往往不足以应对与BD相关的各种症状。本病例报告描述了手动针刺对一名慢性BD患者及多种并发身体症状的治疗效果，该患者采用标准药物治疗无效。
一名41岁的II型BD女性患者出现抑郁、焦虑及多种身体症状。她的症状首次出现于12年前，症状出现3年后被诊断为II型BD。尽管她接受了包括药物治疗和心理治疗在内的标准治疗，但其症状并未改善。针对改善精神和身体症状的针刺治疗每周进行一次，持续12周。分别使用日莫谷自评抑郁量表（HSDS）和日莫谷自评焦虑量表（HSAS）评估抑郁和焦虑症状。采用视觉模拟量表（VAS）评估包括腹泻、失眠和全身不适在内的身体症状。在每次治疗前评估结果指标。
在针刺干预过程中，未对患者的精神药物治疗方案进行调整。针刺治疗12周后，HSDS和HSAS评分降低，并且观察到VAS测量的所有身体症状均有改善。此外，伴有轻躁狂或混合特征的精神症状未加重。
在该患者中，针刺有效改善了II型BD的精神和身体症状。这种非药物干预可能是治疗BD相关症状的可行选择。
