Huang, Bing, Geng, Yining, Liu, Lanlan · Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology · 2025 · DOI
This study looked at whether adding acupuncture to a sleep medication (eszopiclone) could help people with ME/CFS who struggle with sleep. Researchers compared 57 patients who received both the medication and acupuncture to 50 patients who received only the medication. The combined treatment group had better sleep quality, higher levels of chemicals in the blood that support mood and brain health, and fewer side effects.
Sleep disturbance is a cardinal feature of ME/CFS and significantly impacts quality of life and symptom severity. This study suggests that integrating acupuncture with pharmacotherapy may improve sleep outcomes and reduce medication side effects while potentially modulating neurobiological markers (5-HT and BDNF) relevant to CFS pathophysiology.
This retrospective, non-randomized observational study does not establish causation or prove that acupuncture is the active component responsible for improvements—differences may reflect selection bias, uncontrolled confounders, or non-specific effects. The marginal significance of overall response rate (P=0.063) and lack of sham acupuncture control limits confidence in acupuncture-specific efficacy. The study does not address whether improvements persist long-term or generalize to other ME/CFS populations.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
The first block is for the primary paper and is the citation you should use in research work. The atlas-snapshot line only applies if you are specifically referring to this atlas’s reading of the paper on the date shown.
Primary citation
Huang, Bing, Geng, Yining, & Liu, Lanlan (2025). Efficacy of Eszopiclone Plus Acupuncture Therapy by Dispersing the Stagnated Liver-Qi and Regulating the Spirit for Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Related Sleep Disorders.. Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology. https://doi.org/10.5152/pcp.2025.251106
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-huang-2025-efficacy-eszopiclone,
author = {Huang, Bing and Geng, Yining and Liu, Lanlan},
title = {Efficacy of Eszopiclone Plus Acupuncture Therapy by Dispersing the Stagnated Liver-Qi and Regulating the Spirit for Treating Chronic Fatigue Syndrome-Related Sleep Disorders.},
journal = {Psychiatry and clinical psychopharmacology},
year = {2025},
doi = {10.5152/pcp.2025.251106},
note = {PubMed: 41247165},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/huang-2025-efficacy-eszopiclone},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-30. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/huang-2025-efficacy-eszopiclone
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