Evaluation of Laser Acupuncture on Health Promotion of Sub-health People

Background: Suboptimal health status (SHS) is a dynamic state wherein people have not been diagnosed with a disease but tend to develop diseases. People with SHS often experience fatigue and other nonspecific symptoms. Early TCM-based interventions in people with SHS can prevent them from developing chronic diseases, thereby reducing the burden on health insurance systems. No study has explored the effects of laser acupuncture (LA) on people with SHS. Material and Methods: Thirty SHS subjects with pre-hypertension or/and insomnia or/and obesity will be enrolled and assigned into a experiment group and a control group randomly in the first year protocol. One week before the start of the experiment, we will use questionnaires and mobile cloud-based devices to assess the physical status, such as blood pressure, body mass index, waist girth, hips girth, blood oxygen saturation, physical activity, pulse signal, autonomic nervous function, and sleep patterns. The subjects in the treatment groups received LA and those in control group received sham LA for 15 minutes per session twice a week for 8 weeks (16 sessions totally). All questionnaires, physical status and objective sleep parameters will be assessed in treatment group and control group after the 16th session. In the second year protocol, seventy SHS subjects will be enrolled and same procedure will be performed as the first year protocol.