Am J Acupunct. 1999 ; 27(1-2): 15-21.

The treatment of chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy with acupuncture: a clinical case study.

Elgert G, Olmstead L.

Research Centre for Alternative Medicine, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP), also referred to as chronic relapsing Guillain-BarrÃ© syndrome, is a rare neurological disease characterized by progressive symmetrical motor and sensory loss. Current biomedical treatments for this disease are often only short term in nature and have limitations with respect to side-effects and cost. The authors review CIDP from the perspectives of Western biomedicine and traditional Chinese medicine. A case report of a 17-year-old female diagnosed with CIDP and treated successfully with acupuncture is reviewed.