The Efficacy of Auricular Acupuncture Application in the Treatment of Obesity
Mehmet Mesut Çelebi1
, Soner Akkurt2, Mualla Biçer Gençbay3, Mustafa Öner Küçük4
1Sports Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ankara University, Ankara, Turkey
2Sports Medicine Department, Faculty of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri, Turkey
3Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Bakırköy Dr. Sadi Konuk Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, İstanbul, Turkey
4Department of Traditional and Complementary Medicine, Kayseri Training and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, Kayseri, Turkey
Keywords: Obesity, auricular acupuncture, diet, exercise
Abstract
Objectives: Complementary medical methods such as auricular acupuncture are used for the treatment of obesity in addition to classical methods. Our aim was to compare the effects of exercise plus diet applications with exercise plus diet plus auricular acupuncture applications in the obese patients.
Material and Methods: Seventy volunteer women aged between 20-60 years with BMI ≥ 30 participated in the study. Volunteers were randomly assigned into two groups as Diet-Exercise (DE) and Acupuncture-Diet-Exercise (ADE). Body weight, body mass index, body fat mass and basal metabolic rate measurements were recorded at the beginning of the study and during five months in monthly periods. Both groups were given a dietary program equivalent to basal metabolic rate and exercise of 200 kcal/day for five days per week. In addition, auricular acupuncture was administered to the ADE group.
Results: Statistically significant weight loss was observed in the monthly periods in both groups (p<0.05), but there was no statistically significant difference between the two groups.
Conclusion: According to these results, weight loss can be achieved by using diet and exercise together, while four point applied permanent auricular acupuncture does not seem to make any extra contribution to weight lost.
Cite this article as: Çelebi MM, Akkurt S, Gencbay MB, et al. The efficacy of auricular acupuncture application in the treatment of obesity. Turk J Sports Med. 2019;54(1):45-51.
