COVID-19 and Acupuncture: is there a new line of therapeutic research?

Abstract

The pandemic produced by COVID-19 has surprised almost all health and socio-economic systems worldwide with its high degree of infectivity and mortality. In short time we have learned many aspects of the epidemiology, pathophysiology and clinic of the virus responsible, SARS-Cov-2, and the disease it induces. COVID-19 is known to produce in some patients the development of an excessive immune response and hyper inflammation, damaging various organs and sometimes causing death. There is no effective treatment available at the moment, other than life support, and for this reason different revealing therapeutic options are being tested but pending confirmation of their effectiveness and safety in well-designed clinical trials. We describe the anti-inflammatory and immunomodulatory effects of Acupuncture, as well as its preclinical and clinical effectiveness in different conditions that have similar COVID-19 immunological disorders. The proven biological plausibility of Acupuncture, together with its acceptable level of clinical effectiveness and safety, make this medical technical procedure an option to try in this health emergency situation. We propose an adjusted classification of the clinical presentation of COVID-19 and an appropriate adjuvant Acupuncture protocol for each phase of the disease.