For Women with PCOS

 

Study finds acupuncture and exercise decrease a key marker for disease.

 

Exercise and electro-acupuncture treatments reduce sympathetic nerve activity in women with polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) according to a new study. The finding is important because women with PCOS often have elevated sympathetic nerve activity which plays a role in hyperinsulinemia, insulin resistance, obesity and cardiovascular disease.

 

The study also found that the electro-acupuncture treatments led to more regular menstrual cycles, reduced testosterone levels and reduced waist circumference.

 

“The findings that low-frequency electro-acupuncture and exercise decrease sympathetic nerve activity in women with PCOS indicates a possible alternative non-pharmacologic approach to reduce cardiovascular risk in these patients,” said one of the researchers, Dr. Elisabet Stener-Victorin of the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The findings regarding menstrual cycles and decrease in testosterone levels in the low-frequency electro-acupuncture are also of interest, according to the researcher.