Acupoint Stimulation for Long COVID: A Promising Intervention

穴位刺激治疗长新冠：一种有前景的干预措施

Bo-Wen Feng（冯博闻） Pei-Jing Rong（荣培晶）

Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China (中国中医科学院针灸研究所,北京100700,中国)

摘要：

“长新冠”是新冠病毒感染后出现的持续性症状。据统计，全球至少有6500万人受“长新冠”的影响，对人类的健康构成长时间的威胁。“长新冠”病理机制复杂，涉及全身多个器官并影响各个系统，常见症状包括心悸、呼吸困难、注意力和记忆问题、疲劳、以及焦虑和抑郁等。单一的干预措施难以取得满意疗效，目前针对“长新冠”的治疗方案仍处于探索阶段，亟需寻找合适、有效的治疗方法。既往研究表明，中医穴位刺激疗法在改善心悸、呼吸困难、认知障碍、焦虑、抑郁等症状疗效明确。结合既往的经验，穴位刺激也许能够改善与“长新冠”相关的各类症状。本文基于“长新冠”涉及的各个系统常见后遗症，结合近年来穴位刺激治疗相似症状的疗效，论述穴位刺激治疗长新冠相关症状的潜在应用价值。

Abstract

"Long COVID" is a sustained symptom following infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). According to recent statistics, at least 65 million people have long COVID, which poses a long-term threat to human health. The pathogenic mechanisms of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are complex and affect multiple organs and systems. Common symptoms include palpitations, breathing difficulties, attention and memory deficits, fatigue, anxiety, and depression. It is difficult to achieve satisfactory treatment effect with a single intervention. Currently, treatment strategies for long COVID are still in the exploratory stage, and there is an urgent need to find appropriate and effective methods for long COVID treatment. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is effective in treating the various phases of COVID-19. Previous studies have shown that acupoint stimulation therapy is effective in improving palpitations, dyspnea, cognitive impairment, anxiety, depression, and other symptoms in patients. According to previous studies, acupoint stimulation may improve various symptoms related to long COVID. This paper discusses the potential application value of acupoint stimulation in the treatment of long COVID-related symptoms, based on the common sequelae of various systems involved in long COVID, and the effect of acupoint stimulation in the treatment of similar symptoms and diseases in recent years.