Clinical study on electro-acupuncture treatment for 30 cases of mental depression.

To observe the clinical therapeutic effects of electro-acupuncture therapy for mental depression, 30 cases were treated by electro-acupuncture on Baihui (GV20), Yintang (EX-HN3) and the differential points. Maprotiline was used in the control group of 31 cases. After the treatment, the scores in HAMD for both groups were found to be obviously decreased as compared with those before the treatment (P < 0.01), without significant between-group differences (P > 0.05). The total effective rate in the treatment group was 96.7%, and that of the control group was 90.3%, showing no significant between-group differences (P > 0.05). After the treatment, the two groups all showed obvious decrease in the TCM symptomatic integrals (P < 0.01), with significant between-group differences (P < 0.05), the integral of the treatment group showing obvious superiority to that of the control group. And the decrease of the Asberg scores testing the side effect of antidepressants of the treatment group was obviously superior to that of the control group. After the treatment, the cortisol (CORT) content and the endothelin-1 (ET-1) content of the two groups were all obviously decreased (P < 0.01), and basically turned to normal, without significant between-group differences (P > 0.05).Electro-acupuncture, therapy can produce the same clinical therapeutic effect as that produced by the tetracyclic drug maprotiline, giving less side effect and better symptomatic improvement.