Confirming the Effects of Acupuncture Treatments to Relieve Symptoms of Gulf War Illness
University of Utah
Summary
This unblinded Phase II clinical trial will test the effects of individualized acupuncture treatments offered in extant acupuncture practices in the community; practitioners will have had at least 5 years of experience plus additional training provided by the study. Veterans with diagnosed symptoms of Gulf War Illness will be randomized to either six months of biweekly acupuncture treatments (group 1, n=100) or 2 months of waitlist followed by weekly acupuncture treatments (group 2, n=100). Measurements were taken at baseline, 2, 4 and 6 months. The primary outcome is the SF-36 physical component scale score (SF-36P).
Description
Gulf War Illness (GWI), or chronic multisymptom illness (CMI), is a complex illness characterized by multiple symptoms, including fatigue, sleep and mood disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, and musculoskeletal pain, which are unexplained by physical and laboratory examinations. There is no standard of care treatment for this syndrome at this time. First defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) after the first Gulf War, it is commonly seen with a highly individualistic presentation, associated with clusters of symptoms and co-morbid medical diagnoses, including chronic f…
Eligibility
- Age range
- 18+ years
- Sex
- All
- Healthy volunteers
- No
Inclusion Criteria: * Deployed to the Gulf Theater of operations (as defined by 38 CFR 3.317, includes Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Oman, the Gulf of Aden, the Gulf of Oman, the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea, and the airspace above all of these locations) between August 1990 and the present date * Have at least 2 of the following symptoms from the 3 CDC clusters of symptom that have lasted for more than 6 months. Each symptom cluster must be characterized as mild-moderate or severe, with at least one symptom in each cluster required to be…
Interventions
- DeviceAcupuncture
Sterile insertive needles are applied by licensed, experienced practitioners.
Locations (10)
- University of California, BerkeleyBerkeley, California
- VariousLos Angeles, California
- VariousColorado Springs, Colorado
- VariousDenver, Colorado
- VariousTampa, Florida
- Beth Israel Deaconess Medical CenterBoston, Massachusetts