Women's Health in the News

Self-applied therapy keeps them alert in class, study found

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 28 (HealthDay News) -- Drowsy students can keep themselves more alert in class by using self-applied acupressure, a new study reports.

"Our finding suggests that acupressure can change alertness in people who are in classroom settings for a full day -- which would be very good news for students who have trouble staying alert at school," Richard E. Harris said in a prepared statement. He is a research investigator in the rheumatology division at the University of Michigan Medical School's Department of Internal Medicine, and a researcher at U-M Health System's Chronic Pain and Fatigue Research Center.

Harris' team's study of 39 student volunteers found that those who were taught to self-administer acupressure to stimulation points on their legs, feet, hands and heads were less likely to be sleepy during class. The acupressure consisted of light tapping of fingers or using thumbs or forefingers to lightly massage the stimulation points.

"The study showed that a stimulation acupressure regimen leads to a statistically significant reduction in sleepiness compared to an acupressure regimen that focuses on relaxation," Harris said.

The study was published in the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine.

"The idea that acupressure can have effects on human alertness needs more study, including research that can examine the scope of influence acupressure can have on alertness and fatigue," Harris noted. "Ideally, research in the future will help us determine whether acupressure also can have an impact on performance in the classroom as well."

SOURCE: University of Michigan Health System, news release, Sept. 15, 2005

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