Acupuncture has been around for over 2000 years. While many say the ancient therapy of acupuncture works, research now backs them up.

There have been many studies on acupuncture and the potential health benefits it has for
a wide range of ailments. As acupuncture has been propelled into the mainstream, increasing number of studies are showing the wide range of benefits acupuncture has. Conditions ranging from rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, posttraumatic stress disorder, infertility, chronic low back pain and fibromyalgia have shown to benefit from acupuncture.

A sample of scientific and medical research on Acupuncture

Testing with modern diagnostic equipment

• Neural Structures and their response to acupuncture
  • In 1976 Dr. C. Gunn had identified 70 acupuncture points by using an ohm-meter which measure skin resistance and classified the outcome to known neural structures.
  • These neural structures include the nerve plexi, superficial nerves to the skin as well as where the segmental nerves coming off the spinal cord and meets in the midline of the body, joining of muscles and tendons at ‘motor points (1).
  • Several researchers have played a role in describing and quantifying the correlation between acupuncture points and known neural structures.
  • A paper published in 1977, by Professor Ronald Melzack had claimed that 71% of the muscle trigger points could be accounted for (2) tissues that can harbor trigger points include muscles, ligament, fascia, periosteum and skin. .

• MRI Studies (Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging Studies
  • Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging studies have shown brain activity in the areas of the brain that control sight and sound response in the insertion of acupuncture needles in the legs, has shown positive response in the brain that have been associated with the eye and ear (3, 4) .
• Neurohormone Effect
  • Acupuncture has also been explained as inducing a chain of events in various parts of the nervous system which release neurohormone’s (hormone produced and released by the nerve [neuron]).
  • In 1976 a studied done by the University of Toronto had shown that acupuncture can block morphine in cats who were given morphine (5). This was described by one writer as “home-brewed narcotics” (6), implying that the effects were mediated by endogenous peptides (naturally occurring protein molecules, which can block morphine).
    

Arthritis

• Rheumatoid Arthritis
  • A study from China showed that both traditional and electroacupuncture (pulsates electrical currents to stimulate target areas), has shown that after 20 treatments throughout a 10 week period had reduced the tenderness and pain associated with rheumatoid arthritis.

• Osteoarthritis
  • In Germany 304,674 people with osteoarthritis o the knee received 15 sessions of acupuncture, reported less pain and stiffness, improved mobility and quality of life compared to those who received routine care alone.
  • Improvements were generally seen after a three-month course of treatment and lasted on average for another three months.

  Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

• In June, 2007 Dr. Michael Hollifield, and colleagues conducted clinical trial examining the effect of acupuncture on PTSD patients.
  • 73 participants were enrolled in total. Participants received either traditional group cognitive-behavioral therapy or received acupuncture treatments for a period just over 12 weeks (7).
  • It was found that acupuncture provided treatment effects similar to the group cognitive-behavioral therapy and maintained the results 3 months after treatment ended (7).

Pregnancy

• The British Medical Journal in February 2008 reviewed seven clinical trials of acupuncture with embryo transfer in women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) (8).
  • According to Eric Manheimer systematic review, it was found that acupuncture given as a compliment to IVF increased the odds of achieving pregnancy.

Chronic Low Back Pain and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

• Chronic Low Back Pain.
  • The Archives of Internal Medicine, had published a study showing that those who received acupuncture treatments fared better than those who did not receive acupuncture.
  • According to the National Health Interview Survey (USA), 3 million American adults used acupuncture for back pain.

References

1. 1. Gunn CC. Acupuncture loci: a proposal for their classification according to their relationship to known neural structures. Am J Chin Med, 4-2(1976): 183-195.
   2. Melzack R et al. Trigger points and acupuncture points for pain. Correlations and implications. Pain, 3(1977): 3-23.
   3. Cho ZH, Chung SC, Jones JP, Park JP, Park HJ, Lee HI, Wong EK, Min BI. New findings of the correlation between acupoints and corresponding brain cortices using functional MRI. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 95, pp. 2670–2673, March 1998.
   4. Cho ZH, Lee SH, Hong IK et al (1999) Further evidence for the correlation between acupuncture stimulation and cortical activation. Proceedings, New Directions in the Scientific Exploration of Acupuncture, University of California, Irvine
   5. Pomeranz B, Chiu D. (1976) Naloxone blocks acupuncture analgesia and causes hyperalgesia: endorphin is implicated. Life Sci 19:1757-1762.
   6. Lewis, J. Home-Brewed Narcotics. The Canadian, Toronto Star Magazine, July 14,1979
   7. Michael Hollifield, Nityamo Sinclair-Lian, Teddy D. Warner, and Richard Hammerschlag, "Acupuncture for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial." The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, June 2007.