Acupuncture May Benefit Pregnancy

In a new study, acupuncture designed to treat depression appears to improve symptoms in pregnant women, suggesting it as an alternative to antidepressant medication during pregnancy.

As reported in The Wall Street Journal, the study is the largest to date examining the effectiveness of acupuncture to treat depression in pregnant women:

As many as 14% of pregnant women are thought to develop a significant depression at some point during their pregnancy, according to the study authors. In the study, 150 clinically depressed pregnant women who weren't previously taking antidepressants were randomly assigned to get either acupuncture for depression, acupuncture not specifically designed for depression, or massage for eight weeks. Those who got acupuncture targeting depression had a significantly greater decrease in depressive symptoms, compared with the other women. Some 63% of women in the acupuncture-for-depression group responded to treatment, compared with 44% in the other groups.

You can read the full article at The Wall Street Journal

image via the medguru