Stimulated by Ben-Arie et al 2024.[1] ICU – intensive care unitSR – systematic reviewMV – mechanical ventilationRCT – randomised controlled trialEA – electroacupunctureMA – manual acupunctureUS – ultrasoundRR – relative riskCI – confidence interval key to acronyms This paper was published online in November 2023, but I could not access the full text. Eventually I ..read more

Inspired by Xian et al 2022.[1] Photo by NCI on Unsplash. SR – systematic reviewEA – electroacupunctureRCT – randomised controlled trialAPACHE – acute physiology and chronic health evaluationAPACHE II – a score applied to patients on admission to ICU for risk stratificationICU – intensive care unitMD – mean differenceCI – confidence intervalkey to acronyms I ..read more

Inspired by Lv et al 2022.[1] MC's favourite protocol for prophylaxis of systemic inflammation. Frequencies vary with the device used: Cefar Acus 4 – 2Hz burst; AS Super 4 Digital – 2/15Hz dense dispersed; ITO ES130 – 10Hz. EA – electroacupunctureLPS – lipopolysaccharide (derived from bacterial cell membranes)TNFα – tumour necrosis factor alphaIL-1β – interleukin ..read more

Inspired by Lui et al 2021.[1] Diagramatic representation of the genetic manipulation used to make cells expressing both prokineticin receptor 2 and advillin produce and thus fluoresce with tdTomato – redrawn by MC on Adobe Illustrator. EA – electroacupunctureIF – impact factor (2-year)Prokr2Adv – a set of nerves expressing both Prokr2 and advillinProkr2 – prokineticin ..read more

Inspired by Liu et al 2020.[1] Photo by Markus Spiske on Pexels.com ST36 – an acupuncture point location in upper tibialis anterior (L4/L5 myotome)ST25 – an acupuncture point location in rectus abdominis (T10 myotome)EA – ElectroacupunctureLPS – lipopolysaccharide (basically this is chopped up E coli cell walls)LD – lethal doseLD80 – dose at which 80 ..read more