Clinical Observation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Combined with Traditional Chinese Medicine for Tonifying Kidney and Dispelling Wind-dampness in the Treatment of Elderly-onset Rheumatoid Arthritis
Objective:To explore the clinical effect of acupuncture and moxibustion combined with traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying kidney and removing wind-dampness on elderly-onset rheumatoid arthritis(RA).Methods:The clinical data of 97 RA pa-tients admitted to the Third Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine from February 2020 to October 2022 were analyzed retrospectively.According to different treatment methods,the patients were divided into the control group(n=48)and the observation group(n=49).The control group received methotrexate tablets,while the observation group received acupuncture and moxibustion combined with traditional Chinese medicin for tonifying kidney and dispelling wind-dampness.After the treatment for two months,the clinical efficacy,inflammatory mediators,clinical symptoms,rheumatic factors and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups.Results:The total effective rate of the observation group after treatment was 95.92%,higher than the 79.17%of the control group(P<0.05).After treatment,the inflammatory mediators[tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleu-kin-6(IL-6),C-reactive protein(CRP)],rheumatoid factors[erythrocyte sedimentation rate(ESR),rheumatoid factor(RF),immu-noglobulin G(IgG)]levels were all lower in the observation group than in the control group(P<0.05).After treatment,the clini-cal symptoms in both groups were significantly improved,with the observation group showing better results than the control group(P<0.05).The incidence of adverse reactions in the observation group was 20.41%,while in the control group,it was 18.75%,with no statistically significant difference between the groups(P>0.05).Conclusion:Acupuncture and moxibustion combined with traditional Chinese medicine for tonifying kidney and removing wind-dampness has a significant clinical effect on elderly-onset RA patients,which can inhibit the inflammatory reaction of the body,delay disease progression,improve the clinical symptoms,and have good safety.
Acupuncture and moxibustionTonifying kidney and dispelling wind-dampnessTraditional Chinese medicineElder-lyRheumatoid arthritisInflammatory mediatorsRheumatic factorsClinical efficacy