A Clinical Study On Medical Cupping For Metabolic Syndrome With Abdominal Obesity

Objective: To observe the clinical effects of medical cupping for metabolic syndrome (MetS) with abdominal obesity. Methods: In total, 75 patients with MetS with abdominal obesity were randomly divided into three groups: medical cupping, acupuncture, and waiting. Patients in the medical cupping group received smearing of Chinese medicine and cupping twice a week for 8 weeks. Patients in the acupuncture group received acupuncture on regulating the Dai meridian three times a week for 8 weeks. The waiting group was observed without any intervention. Changes in metabolic indices, including waist circumference (WC), blood pressure, fasting triglyceride (TG), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), fasting blood glucose (FBG), 2-h blood glucose (2hBG), and subcutaneous fat thickness were observed and compared before and after treatment among the three groups. Results: After the treatment, the WC, TG, FBG, and 2hBG in the medical cupping and acupuncture groups were lower than those in the waiting group. No difference was observed between the medical cupping and acupuncture groups. The subcutaneous fat thickness at the upper umbilicus, right side of the umbilicus, and waist in the medical cupping and acupuncture groups were lower than those in the waiting group. The subcutaneous fat thickness at the upper umbilicus and waist in the medical cupping group was lower than that in the acupuncture group. The MetS prevalence in the medical cupping and acupuncture groups was lower than that in the waiting group. Conclusion: medical cupping treatment can effectively alleviate metabolic indices and subcutaneous fat thickness at the abdomen in patients with MetS and abdominal obesity and decrease the MetS prevalence. Its efficacy was better than that of waiting and similar to that of acupuncture. The frequency of medical cupping is lower than that of the acupuncture. Meanwhile, it circumvents some patients fear of acupuncture. medical cupping should be clinically promoted.