Acupuncture for generalized anxiety disorder: a study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

During the COVID-19 outbreak, there was a sharp increase in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD). Acupuncture therapy has the advantages of accurate clinical efficacy, safety and reliability, few adverse reactions, and no dependence, and is gradually becoming one of the emerging therapies for treating GAD. We present a study protocol for a randomized clinical trial with the aim of exploring the mechanism of brain plasticity in patients with GAD and evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of acupuncture treatment.

Fire acupuncture for plaque psoriasis case series.

Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of fire acupuncture (FA) on plaque psoriasis (PP), exploring its suitable syndrome types, in order to achieve better therapeutic effects, accelerate the possibility of psoriasis skin lesion recovery, and provide assistance for clinical treatment.

Methods: A total of 8 patients with PP aged between 18 and 60 years were recruited and treated with FA once a week, and the lesion area and severity index (PASI), visual analog scale and pruritus were measured before, 2, 4 and 8 weeks after treatment and at the follow-up period (week 12), respectively. Visual analog scale, and dermoscopy were used for assessment.

Depression and macrophages: A bibliometric and visual analysis from 2000 to 2022.

Background: Macrophages are closely related to the occurrence and development of depression, but there are few bibliometric studies on the role of macrophages in depression. We aim to examine the current state and frontier trends of the research on macrophages in depression from 2000 to 2022 in this study, so as to establish a new direction for follow-up research.

Methods: The literature scan covering the period 2000 to 2022 was performed on macrophages in depression, which were analyzed with Citespace 6.

Intra-Venous Lidocaine to Relieve Neuropathic Pain: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The prevalence of neuropathic pain is estimated to be between 7 and 10% in the general population. The efficacy of intravenous (IV) lidocaine has been studied by numerous clinical trials on patients with neuropathic pain. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to evaluate the efficacy of IV lidocaine compared with a placebo for neuropathic pain and secondly to assess the safety of its administration.