Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory disease characterized by functional disability and pain. Although acupuncture is widely used, western acupuncture studies on RA show no conclusive positive result. Acupuncture is regarded as a reflex therapy, and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) diagnosis was shown to be an individual neurovegetative state allowing to individually allocated acupoints. Positive results were reported using a classical diagnostic procedure to allocate acupoints to the patient according to the Shang Han Lun. The investigators are interested if acupuncture compatible with this ancient theory would be successful in improve hand function in RA patients. The investigators therefore developed a prospective randomized control trial in a three-armed parallel group design with a standardized treatment intervention. Only patients with the TCM diagnosis of a so-called Turning Point syndrome will be allowed in the experimental phase. This may harmonize TCM diagnosis and the standardized intervention, in order to optimize potential therapeutic effects.
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gene expression profiles (Assessment by microarray)
Timeframe: up to 19 months
Quality of life (Assessment by SF-36 scale)
Timeframe: up to 19 months