Clarifying the intrinsic mechanisms of acupuncture's clinical effects has recently been gaining popularity. Here, we choose the Siguan acupoint (a combination of bilateral LI4 and Liv3) and its sham point to evaluate multiacupoint specificity. Thirty-one healthy volunteers were randomly divided into real acupoint (21 subjects) and sham acupoint (10 subjects) groups. Our study used a single bloc...

BACKGROUND The effect of electroacupuncture (EA) is affected by both the acupuncture point selection and the frequency of stimulation. However, little is known regarding acupuncture point and simulation frequency selection. Neuronal activation of the nucleus of the solitary tract (NTS) is one of the important targets of EA for modulating gastrointestinal function. This study investigated the ef...

normal 0 false false false en-us x-none ar-sa microsoftinternetexplorer4 background: preoperative anxiety has become more frequent in preoperative patients and can bring negative impact on operation outcomes. many studies have reported the effect of body acupuncture in reducing anxiety syndromes. the aim of this study is to compare the treatment effect of body acupuncture and auricular acupunct...

OBJECTIVE To apply the real-time data collection and demonstration system for acupuncture manipulation to quantitative analysis of acupuncture manipulation for acupuncture teaching and research. METHODS The real-time observation and analysis of parameter changes of acupuncture manipulation were implemented by this system. RESULTS During the course of lifting and thrusting manipulation, the ...

BACKGROUND Recent evidence shows that acupuncture is effective for chronic pain. However we do not know whether there are characteristics of acupuncture or acupuncturists that are associated with better or worse outcomes. METHODS An existing dataset, developed by the Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration, included 29 trials of acupuncture for chronic pain with individual data involving 17,922 ...

Methodological problems of acupuncture trials focus on adequate placebo controls. In this trial we evaluated the use of sham laser acupuncture as a control procedure. Thirty-four healthy volunteers received verum laser (invisible infrared laser emission and red light, 45 s and 1 J per point) and sham laser (red light) treatment at three acupuncture points (LI4, LU7 and LR3) in a randomized, dou...

OBJECTIVE While needle acupuncture is a well-accepted technique, laser acupuncture is being increasingly used in clinical practice. The differential effects of the two techniques are of interest. We examine this in relation to brain effects of activation of LR8, a putative acupuncture point for depression, using functional MRI (fMRI). METHODS Sixteen healthy participants were randomised to re...

In the West, hundreds of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) have been performed testing acupuncture. They include two types: those that compare acupuncture to other therapies, usual care or no treatment (pragmatic trials), and those that have placebo controls (efficacy trials). Acupuncture has generally performed well against other therapies or no treatment, but until recently, the evidence fr...

OBJECTIVE To assess the efficacy of acupuncture in migraine prophylaxis. METHODS Thirty-seven patients with migraine were enrolled in a randomized control trial at the Headache clinic located in a University Hospital. Real and sham acupuncture groups received 16 acupuncture sessions over 3 months. Treatment was individualized in the real acupuncture group and minimal acupuncture was used in t...