de Carvalho JF, Lerner A, Benzvi C. Foot reflexology in autoimmune diseases: Effectiveness and mechanisms. World J Clin Cases 2025; 13(7): 97403 [DOI: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i7.97403]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Jozélio Freire de Carvalho, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Doenças Crônicas não Transmissíveis, Federal University of Bahia, Av. Reitor Miguel Calmon, s/n - Canela, Salvador 40231-300, Bahia, Brazil. jotafc@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Integrative & Complementary Medicine
Article-Type of This Article
Editorial
Open-Access Policy of This Article
This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
World J Clin Cases. Mar 6, 2025; 13(7): 97403 Published online Mar 6, 2025. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v13.i7.97403
Foot reflexology in autoimmune diseases: Effectiveness and mechanisms
Jozélio Freire de Carvalho, Aaron Lerner, Carina Benzvi
Jozélio Freire de Carvalho, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Doenças Crônicas não Transmissíveis, Federal University of Bahia, Salvador 40231-300, Bahia, Brazil
Aaron Lerner, Carina Benzvi, Department of Research, Chaim Sheba Medical Center, The Zabludowicz Research Center for Autoimmune Diseases, Ramat Gan 52621, Israel
Author contributions: de Carvalho JF conception, literature search, writing, supervision; Lerner A analysis, writing, interpretation, revision, supervision; Benzvi C analysis, writing, figure design.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors declare no conflict of interest.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Jozélio Freire de Carvalho, MD, PhD, Adjunct Professor, Núcleo de Pesquisa em Doenças Crônicas não Transmissíveis, Federal University of Bahia, Av. Reitor Miguel Calmon, s/n - Canela, Salvador 40231-300, Bahia, Brazil. jotafc@gmail.com
Received: May 29, 2024 Revised: October 21, 2024 Accepted: November 14, 2024 Published online: March 6, 2025 Processing time: 179 Days and 22.1 Hours
Abstract
Foot reflexology (FR) is a Chinese-originated and non-invasive complementary therapy increasingly used by functional, alternative and para-medical professionals. Enhance attempts are made to study FR in non-functional organic conditions. The present invited Editorial discusses the application of FR in autoimmune diseases (AD), highlighting a few successful studies demonstrating symptomatic relief and objective improvements. Despite promising results, the FR domain remains under-investigated and an urgent need to confirm and understand the effect of FR in chronic diseases, including AD, is highly recommended.
Core Tip: Reflexology is an ancient Chinese technique largely used although with few scientific evidence. The present Editorial reviews reflexology effects in autoimmune disorders and comments on a recent clinical case of successful use of reflexology in a sensorineural hearing loss.
