Acupuncture for Hypertension?

Link: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41196245/

Hypertension remains one of the most persistent health challenges among older adults. While medications are effective, elderly patients often face issues such as drug intolerance, dizziness, fatigue, or concerns about taking too many medicines. Integrative medicine—combining conventional treatment with acupuncture—has been gaining attention as a potentially safer and more holistic approach. A new study published in Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics in 2025 by Huiqi Lv and colleagues examines exactly that question: can acupuncture improve blood pressure control when added to standard antihypertensive therapy?

The researchers conducted a network meta-analysis, a sophisticated research method that allows comparisons across multiple interventions even when direct head-to-head trials are limited. They searched multiple international and Chinese databases, including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and CNKI, from their inception until March 2025. After screening the available literature, the authors included 24 randomized controlled studies involving a total of 3,044 elderly patients diagnosed with hypertension. The trials compared several approaches, such as acupuncture alone, electroacupuncture, auricular acupressure, and combinations of acupuncture or acupressure with different classes of antihypertensive drugs. Their primary measures of effectiveness were changes in systolic and diastolic blood pressure, along with safety outcomes.

The Results

The results were striking. Across all modalities, the combination of acupuncture plus calcium-channel blocker medication consistently performed better than other interventions in lowering both systolic and diastolic blood pressure. It outperformed acupuncture alone, electroacupuncture, auricular acupressure, and even combinations of acupuncture with other types of antihypertensive drugs, including ACE inhibitors. In terms of overall efficacy and safety, the ranking analysis indicated that acupuncture combined with calcium-channel antagonists was likely the most beneficial treatment strategy for elderly patients in the included studies. The authors concluded that acupuncture used alongside pharmacotherapy enhances blood pressure reduction more effectively than medication alone. However, they also acknowledged that many of the included trials had varying methodological quality, so further high-quality, standardized research is necessary to reinforce these findings.

There are still limitations. Because acupuncture research varies widely in point selection, treatment duration, frequency, and practitioner skill, there is still no universal standard for hypertension protocols in the elderly. The included studies also spanned different regions and healthcare contexts, which may limit how broadly the results can be applied. Yet despite these challenges, the study offers strong encouragement for continued integration. It suggests that clinicians may confidently consider acupuncture—especially when combined with calcium-channel blockers—as part of a safe and potentially more effective treatment plan for elderly hypertensive patients.

All in all, we need more studies to prove this conclusively, but this is very encouraging.

Source:
Lv H, et al. Acupuncture as Adjuvant Therapy for Hypertension in the Elderly: A Network Meta-Analysis. J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2025. PMID: 41196245.