Researchers from the Women's and Children's Hospital in Adelaide, and Adelaide University's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, studied the effectiveness of acupuncture in reducing symptoms of morning sickness in 593 women who were less than 14 weeks pregnant and suffered from nausea or vomiting. The women had four 20-minute traditional acupuncture sessions each week for one month. The researchers also tried a type of acupuncture called p6, which, unlike the variety of points used in traditional acupuncture, involves only one acupuncture point classically associated with nausea and vomiting. The researchers found that traditional acupuncture reduced the women's feelings of nausea throughout the trial and reduced dry retching from the second week; p6 also reduced these symptoms, but took a week longer to have an effect. Study co-ordinator Dr Caroline Smith says, "Around 50 to 80 per cent of all pregnant women experience nausea or vomiting in early pregnancy. As a result they can have poor quality of life - they feel lousy and may be low in spirits, anxious and find it hard to do everyday things. "Our results have shown that as little as one acupuncture treatment can significantly change the way these women feel." Dr Smith believes the findings are particularly important because they provide "good quality evidence" for the effectiveness of a complementary therapy. "Women now have an additional option to manage their morning sickness. They function physically and emotionally much better after both types of acupuncture," she says. "I hope this exciting evidence that complementary therapy does work will open up new opportunities for funding future research in women's health."

From health-news.co.uk