BACKGROUND Clinical studies suggest that acupuncture can stimulate saliva production and reduce xerostomia (dry mouth). We were interested in exploring the neuronal substrates involved in such responses. METHODS In a randomized, sham acupuncture controlled, subject blinded trial, twenty healthy volunteers received true and sham acupuncture in random order. Cortical regions that were activated...

Acupuncture and related techniques are increasingly practiced in conventional medical settings, and the number of patients willing to use these techniques is increasing. Despite more than 30 yr of research, the exact mechanism of action and efficacy of acupuncture have not been established. Furthermore, most aspects of acupuncture have yet to be adequately tested. Therefore, considerable contro...

Chinese scalp acupuncture is a contemporary acupuncture technique integrating traditional Chinese needling methods with Western medical knowledge of representative areas of the cerebral cortex. It has been proven to be a most effective technique for treating acute and chronic central nervous system disorders. Scalp acupuncture often produces remarkable results with just a few needles and usuall...

In order to assess an objective measure for the outcome of ear acupuncture, we evaluated the effect of electrical ear acupuncture on areas of histamine-induced alloknesis in 32 healthy volunteers. In a first assessment 5 min after histamine application on both volar forearms, 16 subjects received right ear and 16 left ear acupuncture. Immediately before and 5 min after acupuncture, alloknesis a...

BACKGROUND Evidence for treating infantile colic with acupuncture is contradictory. AIM To evaluate and compare the effect of two types of acupuncture versus no acupuncture in infants with colic in public child health centres (CHCs). METHODS A multicentre, randomised controlled, single-blind, three-armed trial (ACU-COL) comparing two styles of acupuncture with no acupuncture, as an adjunct ...

Acupuncture has been introduced as one of the available therapies widely used in alternative medicine, but it has not achieved widespread acceptance with scientific evidence. Furthermore there are still many unanswered questions about the basic mechanisms of acupuncture. To investigate the neuropharmacological mechanisms of oriental acupuncture, we studied the acupuncture-induced changes of in ...

BACKGROUND Lateral epicondylitis is the most frequent cause of pain around the elbow joint. It causes pain in the region of the elbow joint and results in dysfunction of the elbow and deterioration of the quality of life. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of ipsilateral acupuncture, contralateral acupuncture and sham acupuncture on lateral epicondylitis. METHODS/DESIGN Forty...

Acupuncture has been proved to be effective in many diseases, but the effect of acupuncture on sciatica caused by lumbar disc herniation is not clear. Our aim was explore efficacy and safety herniation. A total 73 patients with our hospital were selected randomly divided into study group (acupuncture, n=37) control (sham acupuncture, n=36). The results showed that there no significant differenc...

Acupuncture has been accepted to effectively treat chronic pain by inserting needles into the specific "acupuncture points" (acupoints) on the patient's body. During the last decades, our understanding of how the brain processes acupuncture analgesia has undergone considerable development. Acupuncture analgesia is manifested only when the intricate feeling (soreness, numbness, heaviness and dis...

Worldwide, acupuncture is integral to everyday medical practice. In recent decades its practice has gained popularity in the United States. With increasing evidence of its clinical efficacy, acupuncture is now a widely practiced treatment modality in complementary and integrative medicine. According to the 2007 National Health Interview Survey, an estimated 3.1 million US adults and 150,000 chi...