Study links blood pressure drugs with Celiac disease symptoms.

Dr. Joseph Murray of the Mayo Clinic, has published a study linking the drug, olmesartan, to a potentially life-threatening gastrointestinal condition that mimics celiac disease.

Murray found that the pill, which is sold in the United States under the brand name Benicar, was associated with severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and weight loss in a group of 22 patients from 16 states, according to a report published online in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

Some of the patients had been told - apparently mistakenly - that they had celiac disease, a severe intestinal disorder. A number were so sick that they were hospitalized repeatedly, he said, including one person who lost 125 pounds over the course of a year.

"Their symptoms substantially improved when they stopped the olmesartan," Murray said at a press briefing Thursday at Mayo.

Murray said this is the first study to find such a connection, and he stopped short of saying the drug caused the symptoms. He also said the condition appears quite rare.

"The vast majority of patients on this medication should not change," he said, but those with symptoms should talk to their doctors.

The drug's manufacturer, Daiichi Sankyo, issued a statement saying that it is reviewing the Mayo report, but that its own analysis in 2009 concluded "that a causal relationship between exposure to olmesartan and celiac disease is very unlikely." The company does, however, list several gastrointestinal symptoms, such as abdominal pain and nausea, among the drug's possible side effects.

Murray, a specialist in celiac disease, said he began his investigation in 2009 after the first patient told him about his experience in the hospital, and asked whether the pill could be at fault.

The very next day, he said, another patient raised the same question - and Murray learned they were both taking the same blood-pressure drug.

Eventually, Murray said, he studied 22 patients with similar stories. Although some had received a diagnosis of celiac disease, none responded to the typical treatments, such as a gluten-free diet. He also discovered that their blood tests did not match the diagnosis.

Study: Acupuncture Relieves Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

A recent study published in the Journal of Research in Medical Sciences concludes that acupuncture is effective for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. There were 72 subjects in this randomized controlled study. The acupuncture treatment group received 8 acupuncture treatments over a period of 4 weeks and night splinting was used as an additional component to the medical are. The control group received night splinting, sham acupuncture (use of non-relevant acupoints in relation to carpal tunnel syndrome), vitamin B1 and vitamin B6. A follow up after the treatment regime measured a clinically significant nerve conduction velocity difference between the groups. The acupuncture group measured significantly better according to the nerve conduction study’s electrophysiological measurements. The researchers also conclude that acupuncture is effective in relieving the subjective symptoms of carpal tunnel syndrome.¹

This new acupuncture and carpal tunnel syndrome research from 2012 is not alone. Looking back to a less recent study from 2006 published in the Journal of the International Association for the Study of Pain, researchers measured the effectiveness of acupuncture for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome and discovered a brain pathway by which acupuncture exerts its therapeutic results. The researchers measured brain responses using fMRI technology to measure brain processing related to acupuncture stimuli in relation to neuropathic pain. The controlled study discovered that acupuncture caused greater activation of the hypothalamus and greater deactivation of the amygdala- both important brain centers. The researchers concluded that acupuncture benefits chronic pain sufferers “through a coordinated limbic network including the hypothalamus and amygdala.”²

For original article: 

http://www.healthcmi.com/index.php/acupuncturist-news-online/484-acupunctureceuscarpaltunnelsyndrome

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