Acupuncture is known to influence autonomic nervous activity. Acupuncture on Zusanli points has been shown to enhance the regularity of gastric myoelectrical activity and accelerate gastric emptying, partly through the vagal pathway, in dogs. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether atropine-induced autonomic nervous alteration, measured by heart rate variability (HRV), could be amended by...

Objective To compare the efficacy of combined electroacupuncture and metoclopramide treatment with that of metoclopramide only in improving gastric emptying in critically ill neurosurgical patients. Methods In this prospective case-control pilot study, a total of 16 adult critically ill mechanically ventilated patients who were treated in the surgical intensive care unit were enrolled. Electr...

Decorticate rigidity is a type of abnormal posturing that can make it difficult to move a patient and to change the patient's position to prevent a decubitus ulcer. This condition poses a latent risk of bed sores. To prevent those complications, we used electroacupuncutre for decorticate rigidity of the upper limbs in a patient with anoxic brain damage. A 51-year-old man complained of rigidity ...

Applying a stimulating current to acupoints through acupuncture needles – known as electroacupuncture – has the potential to produce analgesic effects in human subjects and experimental animals. When acupuncture was applied in a rat model, adenosine 5’-triphosphate disodium in the extracellular space was broken down into adenosine, which in turn inhibited pain transmission by means of an adenos...

This study was designed to investigate the effect of long-term electroacupuncture at Baihui (DU20) and Zusanli (ST36) on cerebral microvessels and neurons in CA1 region of hippocampus in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). A total of 45 male Wistar rats and 45 SHR were randomly grouped, with or without electroacupuncture (EA) at DU20 and ST36, once every other day for a period of 8 weeks. Th...

BACKGROUND Acupuncture is safe and may be effective for severe chronic constipation. The World Gastroenterology Organisation recommends prucalopride for patients for whom previous laxative use failed to provide satisfactory relief. METHODS/DESIGN In this prospective, multi-centre, randomised controlled trial, five hundred sixty patients with severe chronic constipation (two or less spontaneou...

OBJECTIVE To observe the effects of electroacupuncture treatment on nitrergic neurotransmitter in bladder neck and detrusor of rats with unstable bladder. METHODS Rat models of unstable bladder were established by operation to induce urethral obstruction. Electroacupuncture treatment was given by acupuncturing Huiyang and Zhonglushu points for a week. Then the neuronal nitric oxide synthase (...

Some reports have demonstrated that deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a promising treatment for patients who suffer from intractable anorexia nervosa. However, the nature of DBS may not be viewed as a standard clinical treatment option for anorexia nervosa because of the unpredictable outcome before DBS. Just like DBS in the brain, electroacupuncture at acupoints is also efficient in treating ref...

Acupuncture is emerging as an alternative therapy for rheumatoid arthritis (RA). However, the molecular mechanism underlying this beneficial effect of acupuncture has not been fully understood. Here, we demonstrated that electroacupuncture at acupoints Zusanli (ST36), Xuanzhong (GB39); and Shenshu (BL23) markedly decreased the paw swelling and the histologic scores of inflammation in the synovi...

OBJECTIVE To summarise the existing evidence on acupuncture as a therapy for depression. METHODS RCTs were included, in which either manual acupuncture or electroacupuncture was compared with any control procedure in subjects with depression. Data were extracted independently by two authors. The methodological quality was assessed. Pre and post means and SDs for depression specific measures w...