Daily News
Participants wanted: Study on acupuncture for PCOS
From: Carolyn Ee
Valid from: Wednesday 3 July 2019 to Tuesday 30 July 2019
Researchers at NICM Health Research Institute are looking for participants for a randomised controlled feasibility study on acupuncture or ear acupuncture for weight loss in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Who can join?
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Women aged 18 to 45 years, who;
* Are diagnosed with PCOS by a medical doctor.
* Have a Body Mass Index (BMI) between 25 and 40.
* Are not planning on falling pregnant within the next three months, and not pregnant in the past six weeks.
* Are not on any medication for PCOS (including the oral contraceptive pill).
What's involved?
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* Telephone interview to confirm PCOS diagnosis
Before and after the three month treatment:
*Attend two clinic visits at Western Sydney University, Campbelltown campus and have weight, height, waist measurement, blood pressure and heart rate recorded
*Complete surveys about your health
* Have blood taken, including a two-hour oral glucose tolerance test
* Wear an accelerometer (pedometer worn at the waist)
* Register and complete the GetHealthy program (free telephone-based health coaching).
Participants will be randomly allocated into a treatment group-body acupuncture, ear acupuncture or the GetHealthy program only.
Over the three month study:
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* Body acupuncture participants will attend 11 acupuncture treatments.
* Ear acupuncture participants will attend six acupuncture treatments and wear an ear acupuncture stimulation device for up to 96 hours after each acupuncture treatment.
What are the benefits of participating?
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* Participants health will be monitored for the 12-weeks, including glucose, insulin and hormone levels, and heart rate variability
* If allocated to the acupuncture or ear acupuncture groups, participants will receive this treatment for free
* Participants will be reimbursed up to $40 in total for travel costs to the study clinic.
The benefits to the broader community will not be realised for some time yet, but if acupuncture is shown to be effective for weight loss, it could be a valuable additional treatment because it is readily available in the community and is a generally low-risk treatment.
To sign up for the study ,please visit https://www.nicm.edu.au/PCOS_Study and click on the link to the online screening survey at the bottom of the page.