Can Tongue Acupuncture Enhance Body Acupuncture? First Results from Heart Rate Variability and Clinical Scores in Patients with Depression

Table 1

Changes in clinical scores and blood pressure values between the first (M1) and last (M2) treatment session. Values are given as mean ± SD (standard deviation).

	Body acupuncture			Body + tongue acupuncture
	M1	M2	𝑃	M1	M2	𝑃
HAM-A	18.9±3.9	16.6±3.5	0.008	24.4±7.9	19.0±7.1	<0.001
AIS	15.0±6.7	11.3±5.1	<0.001	13.9±4.0	8.3±3.2	0.002
HRSD	22.2±5.4	19.5±4.8	0.001	22.3±5.9	17.4±4.8	0.002
BPsys [mmHg]	105.3±9.8	103.6±9.8	n.s.	113.3±10.4	113.1±7.4	n.s.
BPdia [mmHg]	66.4±4.3	66.3±4.7	n.s.	69.2±6.4	69.5±6.0	n.s.

HAM-A: Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale [7]; AIS: Athens Insomnia Scale [8]; HRSD: Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression [9]; BPsys: systolic blood pressure; BPdia: diastolic blood pressure; and n.s.: not significant.