Skip to main content
Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine logoLink to Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine
. 1988 Aug;81(8):456–457. doi: 10.1177/014107688808100813

P6 acupressure reduces morning sickness.

J W Dundee 1, F B Sourial 1, R G Ghaly 1, P F Bell 1
PMCID: PMC1291716  PMID: 3418660

Abstract

A prospective study was designed to test the efficacy of pressure at the P6 (Neiguan) acupuncture point, in preventing morning sickness. Three groups of patients in early pregnancy recorded the severity and frequency of sickness over a period of 4 consecutive days following daily pressure at P6 point, pressure at a point near the right elbow and with no treatment. Troublesome sickness was significantly less in both the genuine (23/119) and dummy (41/112) pressure groups as compared with the control series (67/119). When the data are adversely 'weighted' to compensate for the lower incidence of fully completed returns in the active treatment groups, only the P6 group show a significant reduction in sickness. No side effects occurred in either group and while anticipation of benefit may offer a partial explanation for the findings, pressure at the Neiguan point appears to have a specific therapeutic effect.

Full text

PDF
456

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bracken M. B. Clinical trials and the acceptance of uncertainty. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987 May 2;294(6580):1111–1112. doi: 10.1136/bmj.294.6580.1111. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Dundee J. W., Chestnutt W. N., Ghaly R. G., Lynas A. G. Traditional Chinese acupuncture: a potentially useful antiemetic? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1986 Sep 6;293(6547):583–584. doi: 10.1136/bmj.293.6547.583. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dundee J. W., Ghaly R. G., Fitzpatrick K. T., Lynch G. A., Abram W. P. Acupuncture to prevent cisplatin-associated vomiting. Lancet. 1987 May 9;1(8541):1083–1083. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(87)90501-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine are provided here courtesy of Royal Society of Medicine Press

RESOURCES