Table 1

- Effect of a 3-wet-cupping therapy (hijama) sessions at 3 weeks interval on TPO and TG levels in Hashimoto’s thyroiditis by comparison to usual care.

Markers/timeHijama group (n=13)Control group (n=13)Mean differencep-value
 Mean±SDRangeMean±SDRangePar.Npar.
TPO       
 Baseline153.00±264.550.15-813.58301.93±304.827.14-1000-148.930.2190.047*
 Outcome86.20±185.630.01-662.86397.76±396.237.42-1000-311.570.026*0.015*
 Change-60.47±129.61-98.95±173.95--159.430.030*0.067
TG       
 Baseline314.06±349.753.85-1078.00199.09±365.574.30-444.30114.970.4920.177
 Outcome84.99±106.581.83-338.08227.48±349.534.69-486.50-142.860.2160.492
 Change-229.06±273.38 28.39±27.27-257.450.017*<0.001*
  • TPO: thyroid peroxidase, TG: thyroglobulin, SD: standard deviation, Par: parametric (independent t-test), Npar: nonparametric (Mann Whitney-U test), *statistically significant result (2-tailed p-value of <0.05)