Clinical observation on acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise in the treatment of simple obesity

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical efficacy of acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise in the treatment of simple obesity, and to provide an effective new method for the clinical treatment of simple obesity. METHODS: Sixty subjects with simple obesity who met the inclusion criteria were randomly assigned to a treatment group and a control group. The treatment group received acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise; catgut embedding was performed once a week, for a total of 8 sessions. Aerobic exercise was performed 3-4 times a week, for more than 30 min each time, with the heart rate reaching 50%-70% of the maximum heart rate during exercise, together with dietary guidance; the control group was treated with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise. After the course of treatment, efficacy was evaluated within and between groups using body weight, body mass index, chest circumference, waist circumference, hip circumference, waist-to-hip ratio, upper and lower limb circumferences, degree of obesity and quality of life score before and after treatment, and the difference in efficacy between the two groups was compared. RESULTS: (1) Before treatment, there were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in sex, age, disease duration and degree of obesity (p>0.05), so the groups were comparable. (2) After treatment, the overall efficacy of the treatment group was better than that of the control group (p<0.05). (3) The treatment group was superior to the control group in reducing body weight (including body mass index and degree of obesity) and in reducing waist and hip circumferences and the waist-to-hip ratio, with statistically significant differences (p<0.05). (4) After treatment, the upper and lower limb circumferences of both groups showed no statistically significant differences compared with before treatment (p>0.05). (5) Body weight rebounded to varying degrees in both groups at follow-up; the rebound in the treatment group was smaller than in the control group, and the difference in weight rebound between the two groups was statistically significant (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise is superior to dietary guidance combined with aerobic exercise in overall efficacy, in reducing body weight, body mass index and degree of obesity, and in reducing waist and hip circumferences and the waist-to-hip ratio; in addition, acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary adjustment and aerobic exercise tends to inhibit weight rebound. In summary, acupoint catgut embedding combined with dietary guidance and aerobic exercise is an effective method for the treatment of simple obesity and can serve as a clinical reference.