DT News - UK - Acupuncture may provide relief for dry mouth

Dental Tribune International

Mon. 5 November 2012

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BRIGHTON, UK: Head and neck cancer patients who undergo radiation often suffer from chronic xerostomia. However, a new study conducted among cancer patients in the UK has found that a course of group acupuncture significantly reduced the symptoms of dry mouth after eight weeks and provided greater benefit than oral care alone.

Scientists from the University of Sussex surveyed 109 male and 35 female cancer patients from seven cancer centres in the UK who displayed radiation-induced xerostomia 18 months after treatment. The participants were divided into two groups. One group received group acupuncture for 20 minutes weekly for eight weeks and the other received two oral care educational sessions for one hour. Thereafter, each group received the treatment that the other group had first received.

“Acupuncture compared with oral care produced significant reductions in patient reports of severe dry mouth, sticky salvia, needing to sip fluid to swallow food and waking up at night to drink,” the researchers said.

According to the study, 26 per cent of the patients in the group who had first received acupuncture reported improvements nine weeks later, compared with 14 per cent in the group that had received the educational sessions first. In this group, 24 per cent reported improvements eight weeks after acupuncture, compared with 19 per cent who crossed over to oral care education.

The mechanisms underpinning the effects of acupuncture are not yet understood by the scientists. They believe, however, that acupuncture either stimulates the residual salivary gland tissue directly or increases blood supply to it.

According to the Community Research and Development Information Service of the European Commission, about 500,000 people are diagnosed with head and neck cancer each year worldwide. More than 40 per cent of these patients complain about dry mouth even up to five years after radiotherapy, the researchers estimated. The condition impairs quality of life significantly, as it is associated with taste, chewing, speech and sleep problems. To date, no effective treatment exists to relieve dry mouth. Usually, only short-term relief is available in the form of specific mouthwashes, gels and toothpastes.

The study was funded by Cancer Research UK and published online on 25 October in the Annals of Oncology journal ahead of print.

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