The Effects of Acupuncture

Although acupuncture has been around for two millennia, our understanding of the effect it has on the body grows and changes with each new study. These studies have shown that acupuncture:

-Enhances blood circulation by increasing nitric oxide concentrations, Nitric oxide is in the blood and is essential for the dilation of blood vessels and for nerve transmission.

-Balances the immune system by increasing numbers of beneficial immune cells and lowering the overactive aspects of the system.

-Increases endorphin and serotonin levels.We list this one last because, while this was an important research finding, it does not explain the long lasting effects of treatment which extend well beyond the time span of the endorphin release.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the following conditions that can be treated effectively by acupuncture:

• low back pain
• neck pa
• sciatica
• tennis elbow
• joint pain
• sprains
• headache
• tempromandibular joint (TMJ) dysfunction
• arthritis
• induction of labor
• correction of malposition of fetus (breech presentation)
• nausea and vomiting
• stroke
• kidney stones
• pain and other adverse reactions to radiation or chemotherpay
• diabetic peripheral neuropathy
• allergic rhinitis and sinusitis
• gallbladder pain
• depression and anxiety
• painful menses
• digestive disorders and acid reflux
• peptic ulcer

Click on the following link to read an article on how acupuncture and Oriental Medicine are making inroads into mainstream medicine; Integrating acupuncture & western medicine.

One of the advantages of acupuncture is that the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted procedures used for the same conditions.”

-- Acupuncture NIH Consensus Statement 15(5) (1997) 1-34.

More information on acupuncture research can be found on the PubMed database: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez.

For information on integrating acupuncture with oncology click on the following link:

http://www.mesothelioma.com/treatment/alternative/acupuncture.htm

Articles on various topics on acupuncture and Oriental Medicine can be found on http://www.gancao.net/.

Additional articles and blogs can be viewed on the TCM Directory: http://www.tcmdirectory.com