A Paucity of Acupuncture-Based Rehabilitation for Cerebral Palsy Patients in Pakistan

Authors

  • Ammara Rafique
  • Sana Subhan
  • Syeda Amna Iqbal

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36283/PJMD13-2/020%20

Abstract

Dear Editor,

Cerebral Palsy (CP) is a neurological disorder that primarily affects motor functions along with cognitive, hearing, speech, and oral health functions1,2. Morbidity data has shown that CP is more common in males in Karachi, Pakistan3. CP management often requires many interventions including anticonvulsant medications, bimanual training, botulinum toxins, castings, context-focused therapy, home-based therapy, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and even surgeries in extreme cases4. Apart from these interventions, acupuncture is an effective and widely used method of rehabilitation to treat addiction, asthma, cancer pain, carpal tunnel syndrome, chronic prostatitis, CP, depression, dental pain, fibromyalgia, headaches, infertility, irritable bowel syndrome, labor pain, menstrual cramps, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, post-operative pain, sciatica, urinary incontinence, and many more.

References

Graham HK, Rosenbaum P, Paneth N, Dan B, Lin JP, Damiano DL, et al. Cerebral palsy. Nat Rev Dis Primers. 2016; 2:15082. doi: 10.1038/nrdp.2015.82.

Rafique H, Rafique A, Syed S, Sami Z. The Oral Health of Cerebral Palsy Patients in Pakistan: A Neglected Domain. Pak J Med Dent. 2023;12(2): 68-69. doi: 10.36283/PJMD12-2/012.

Rafique A, Naz H. A survey-based report on the occurrence of cerebral palsy in urban areas of Karachi. J Pak Med Assoc. 2020;70(8):1442-1444. doi: 10.5455/JPMA.28135.

Novak I, Mcintyre S, Morgan C, Campbell L, Dark L, Morton N, et al. A systematic review of interventions for children with cerebral palsy: state of the evidence. Dev Med Child Neurol. 2013;55(10):885-910. doi: 10.1111/dmcn.12246.

Kaptchuk TJ. Acupuncture: theory, efficacy, and practice. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136(5):374-383. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-136-5-200203050-00010.

Liptak GS. Complementary and alternative therapies for cerebral palsy. Ment Retard Dev Disabil. 2005;11(2):156‐163. doi: 10.1002/mrdd.20066.

Published

2024-04-16

Metrics

How to Cite

1.
Rafique A, Subhan S, Iqbal SA. A Paucity of Acupuncture-Based Rehabilitation for Cerebral Palsy Patients in Pakistan. PJMD [Internet]. 2024 Apr. 16 [cited 2026 Jun. 23];13(2):123-4. Available from: https://ojs.zu.edu.pk/pjmd/article/view/2506