China
Africa
Explore chapters and articles related to this topic
The Healing Benefits of Acupuncture
Published in Mehwish Iqbal, Complementary and Alternative Medicinal Approaches for Enhancing Immunity, 2023
Insertion of IM needle and excitation causes a certain afferent activity pattern in peripheral nerves (Kagitani et al., 2005). Different types of fibre, thin myelinated (Aδ), thick myelinated (Aβ) and thinner C fibres (unmyelinated), have all been documented to be activated by stimulation caused by acupuncture needles (Sato et al., 2002). Subsequent to insertion, the needles of acupuncture can then be triggered by electrical (electroacupuncture) or by manual stimulation for around 20 to 40 minutes. In the case of electroacupuncture, needles are connected to electrodes for the passage of electric current. It has been proposed that around 1 to 15 Hz (low frequency) electroacupuncture along with recurrent contractions of muscle stimulates physiological pathways identical to those resulting from contraction of muscle during physical activity (Andersson & Lundeberg, 1995; Kaufman et al., 1984).
Alternative Therapies in the Treatment of Uterine Leiomyoma
Published in John C. Petrozza, Uterine Fibroids, 2020
Acupuncture, having been practiced in Asia for more than 4000 years, is primarily a TCM treatment, involving needling particular points of the body. Variations of this practice have arisen and include acupressure (applying pressure on acupuncture points with fingers or devices) and electroacupuncture (utilizing electrical current to enhance the effects of traditional acupuncture) [52]. In TCM terms, acupuncture works by normalizing energy flow through the body's meridians. According to this theory, symptoms arise from obstruction of these energy pathways [53]. In terms of Western science-based mechanisms, it has been proposed that acupuncture may modulate immune system activity through an impact on cytokines. In addition, acupuncture may affect the release of neurohormones such as endorphins [52]. Although the use of acupuncture to treat fibroid disease may not be uncommon (16% of surveyed subjects in one study [1]), very limited data exist on its effectiveness. A Cochrane review published in 2010 sought to include all randomized controlled trials on the topic. After reviewing available literature, no trials met the inclusion criteria [54]. A few case reports have demonstrated beneficial results of acupuncture on fibroid size and bleeding [55,56]; however, clinical trials are needed to confirm these findings.
Delivering the evidence
Published in Mark Baker, Neal Maskrey, Simon Kirk, Allen Hutchinson, Clinical Effectiveness and Primary Care, 2018
Mark Baker, Neal Maskrey, Simon Kirk, Allen Hutchinson
2 A community health council had received an enquiry from a patient with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). The patient was concerned that electroacupuncture for her condition was not available locally and wanted to know why her GP was reluctant to send her for what he had allegedly told her was ‘unproven treatment’. Was there any evidence that electroacupuncture was of benefit in CFS?
Warm acupuncture therapy alleviates neuronal apoptosis after spinal cord injury via inhibition of the ERK signaling pathway
Published in The Journal of Spinal Cord Medicine, 2023
Li-Li-Qiang Ding, Song-Feng Hu, Xing-Wei He, Peng Zhang, Fen-Fen Zhao, Li-Hong Cheng, Bing-Lin Huang, Ting-Ping Liu, Qin Zhang, Fan He, Sha-Sha Hu, Ya-Jing Zhang, Ying Yu, Peng Xiong, Chang-Kang Wang
Although alternative complementary medicine acupuncture and moxibustion have been used to treat SCI in clinical, the underlying mechanism is unclear. Acupuncture is a therapy method of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) used to treat and prevent diseases by penetrating the needles to stimulate certain special places (acupoints) on the body. Moxibustion is also a therapy of TCM through applying burning moxa to stimulate the human body surface, which is always combined with acupuncture to promote a curative effect. Warm acupuncture (WA) therapy is the combination therapy of acupuncture and moxibustion that burn moxa to stimulate the acupoints that have been penetrated with the needles in order to promote the therapeutic effect. Electroacupuncture is another way to promote the therapeutic effect of acupuncture by connecting save pulse voltage to the needle handle. Studies showed that electroacupuncture combined with moxibustion could promote the proliferation of nerve cells and accelerate the improvement of motor function in SCI.11,12 Another study has demonstrated that electroacupuncture diminishes the brain neuronal apoptosis of ischemic stroke rats through the intervention of the ERK/JNK/p38 signal pathway.13 However, the effect and mechanism of the WA therapy are rarely studied.
Targeted treatment for osteoarthritis: drugs and delivery system
Published in Drug Delivery, 2021
Liwei Mao, Wei Wu, Miao Wang, Jianmin Guo, Hui Li, Shihua Zhang, Jiake Xu, Jun Zou
Acupuncture is a non-pharmaceutical treatment of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Acupuncture plays a certain role in relieving pain and restoring function for OA treatment. The therapeutic effect of acupuncture may come from the regulation of inflammatory factors (Lin et al., 2020; Shi et al., 2020). However, evidence showed incertitude of acupuncture in treating OA, in particular the obvious difference between electroacupuncture and manual acupuncture (Wang et al., 2020; Tu et al., 2021), and in a small sample study, no difference was observed in the eight-week (three sessions per week) acupuncture intervention (Lin et al., 2018). In addition, non-pharmaceutical strategies include health education, lifestyle changes such as diet, physical activity, and weight control, and Self-management is an important measure to prevent OA (Figure 3).
Electroacupuncture-induced cannabinoid receptor expression in repair of abducens nerve
Published in International Journal of Neuroscience, 2019
Lei Wang, Yi Zhang, Xudong Wang, Zi Ye
Acupuncture and moxibustion is an ancient rehabilitation therapy for healing pain. Good analgesic effect and repair function have been confirmed in clinical studies [9–11]. Electroacupuncture which has been improved on the basis of traditional manual acupuncture has been widely used as a substitute for classical acupuncture [12, 13]. Many studies suggest that electroacupuncture stimulation can significantly promote the recovery of injured nerve, but the mechanism is not yet clear [14, 15]. Studies have shown that microglia is activated in the stress-damaged environment as M2-type regulatory immune-inflammatory injury response, while cannabinoid 2 receptor (CB2R) on microglia can regulate microglia. Cell proliferation, differentiation, and migration can also reduce neurotoxicity through activation of CB2R, and have neuroprotective effects [16–18]. Then, it is the anti-injury effect of the electroacupuncture after the activation of CB2R, or the activation of CB2R after electroacupuncture treatment, which in turn affects the repair of the abducens nerves. Based on the above mentioned background, we took electroacupuncture as the core and cells as the entry point, using Western Blot analysis, immunofluorescence analysis techniques, and the CB2R antagonist AM630 to investigate whether electroacupuncture is mediated by CB2R to adjust the expression of M2 type in microglia and promote the repair of damaged nerves.