A narrative review of acupuncture in prostate diseases: perspectives from traditional Chinese medicine, current evidence and future directionsUna revisión narrativa de la acupuntura en enfermedades de la próstata: perspectivas de la medicina tradicional China, evidencia actual y direcciones futuras
Abstract
Prostate diseases, including chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome (CP/CPPS), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and prostate cancer, are among the most common conditions in andrology and urology. These diseases significantly affect patients’ life quality and have profound impacts on the mental and psychological health of patients. Acupuncture has been widely used to treat prostate diseases, demonstrating notable efficacy and safety. This review synthesizes traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) perspectives on prostate diseases and evaluates the clinical application of acupuncture while summarizing mechanisms and proposing future research directions. Our review included twenty clinical trials involving CP/CPPS, BPH and prostate cancer. Acupuncture demonstrates significant efficacy in symptom relief (pain reduction and improvement of urinary symptoms) and disease modification (prostate volume reduction). The most frequently targeted meridians were the bladder meridian of foot-taiyang, the spleen meridian of foot-taiyin, ren meridian, the pericardium meridian of hand-jueyin, the liver meridian of foot-jueyin, the heart meridian of hand-shaoyin, the gallbladder meridian of foot-shaoyang and the kidney meridian of foot-shaoyin. In addition, acupuncture treatment for each disease exhibited distinct TCM characteristics and mechanisms of action. Patients with prostate disease may benefit from acupuncture treatment, however, high-quality clinical evidence, standardized…
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