Clinical Study of Acupuncture Combined with Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation on Vascular Dementia

Abstract

Background The study is to explore the clinical efficacy of acupuncture combined with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in the treatment of vascular dementia (VD). Methods A total of 100 VD patients were selected and randomly divided into a control group and an observation group, with 50 cases in each group. Patients in control group were given tDCS, while those in observation group were given tDCS combined with acupuncture. The clinical efficacy, mini mental state examination (MMSE) score, montreal cognitive function (MoCA) score, ability of daily living (ADL) score, blood rheology indexes, serum factor levels and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, the total effective rate of observation group (90.00%) was obviously higher than that of control group (70.00%) (P<0.05). Additionally, scores of MMSE and MoCA, as well as levels of serum brain-derived nerve growth factor (BDNF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) after treatment were obviously higher than those before treatment (P<0.05), but score of ADL, level of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), whole blood high-/low-sheared viscosity and plasma viscosity after treatment were obviously lower than those before treatment (P<0.05), where changes in observation group were far more obvious than those in control group (P<0.05), with no serious adverse reactions in both groups during the treatment. Conclusion: With a certain degree of safety, acupuncture combined with tDCS shows great clinical efficacy in the treatment of VD patients through ameliorating the cerebral circulation and neuron function, as well as improving their cognitive function and living ability.