The switch from methadone to buprenorphine-naloxone for individuals with heroin dependence is associated with several obstacles and challenges. Such patients may experience discomfort from discontinuing methadone, precipitated withdrawal symptoms induced by buprenorphine-naloxone, and poor psychosocial adjustments such as anticipatory anxiety regarding severe opioid withdrawal. We herein describe a 46-year-old man with a history of heroin dependence who underwent Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)-facilitated switching from methadone to buprenorphine-naloxone.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIntroduction: Acupuncture and electroacupuncture have been proved to be beneficial in weight control among obese women. Acupoint catgut embedding treatment, a derivative type of acupuncture, is considered to be more effective than acupuncture and electroacupuncture in reducing weight. This study is to investigate the therapeutic effects and safety of acupoint stimulation by catgut embedding in obese women.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThis study investigated a 51-year-old married man with a history of heroin dependence who underwent methadone maintenance treatment for 7 years. He received traditional Chinese medicine (TCM)-facilitated treatments and switched from methadone to buprenorphine/naloxone. Strong anxiety symptoms were observed during the initial stage; therefore, we prescribed a combination of Chaihu-Shugan-San, Zhi Bai Di Huang and Chin-Gin-Kuan-Ming decoction as the major herbal synergic regimen to relieve the symptoms of opioid withdrawal, anxiety and insomnia.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjective: The aim of this study is to investigate the seasonal variations of prescriptions for the three most common syndrome types and the three major manifestations of upper respiratory infections (URIs) according to the theories of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM).
Design: This is a cross-sectional study. We examined a random sample comprising 1,000,000 beneficiaries from the National Health Insurance program in 2005.
Introduction: There is no study exploring the trend of utilization in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) from 2000 to 2010. The objective of this study was to investigate the trends of TCM utilization among 3 cross-sectional cohorts of 2000, 2005, and 2010.
Method: This study was a cross-sectional analysis of TCM utilization over time.