Acupuncture may show effect in treating Parkinson's
Mice, at least, could benefit from therapeutic use of needles.
Acupuncture, used for thousands of years in the Far East to treat pain and illness, has many followers but little scientific rigor to explain whether it works or not. Now, an unusual study suggests that acupuncture has a marked effect on the type of brain inflammation seen in Parkinson's disease — in mice, that is.
Read the story here.
Comments
Acupuncture implications beyond Parkinson’s disease
Sir - The interesting study (J. M. Kang et al. Brain Res. 1131, 211, 2007) that was described by Kerri Smith (Nature News, 22 January, 2007) could have great implications for mankind.
Acupuncture appears to normalise levels of dopamine in the brain. However, from other studies we know that this is not the only brain chemical which levels seem to be restored by acupuncture. Strong indications exist for endorphin and melatonin (J. S. Han et al. Trends Neurosci. 26, 17, 2003; D. W. Spence et al. J. Neuropsychiatry Clin. Neurosci. 16, 19, 2004). Furthermore, it was found that acupuncture normalises levels of among others norepinephrine, dopamine, ACTH and corticosterone (S. H. Han et al. Physiol. Behav. 66, 217, 1999).
These findings are of particular interest not only for patients with Parkinson’s disease, but also indicate that acupuncture could have a positive influence on other patient groups as well. There is, for instance, a growing body of literature pointing to a dysregulation of the dopaminergic and stress systems in schizophrenia (L. J. Phillips et al. Aust. N. Z. J. Psychiatry 40, 725, 2006; M. Laruelle et al. Ann. N. Y. Acad. Sci. 1003,138, 2003). Further scientific research based on thorough western methods is therefore necessary, and promising.
Peggy Bosch and Maurits van den Noort
Posted by: Peggy Bosch | February 7, 2007 04:30 PM
When acupuncture has been used on stroke patients within the first year ...i got supprized on that treatmentAcupuncture
Posted by: Debra Arko | March 13, 2007 06:17 AM
(Acupuncture has) "little scientific rigor to explain whether it works or not"
There is no question whether acupuncture works. Acupuncture for postoperative nausea has so much scientific backing, it has been included in guidelines for managing post operative nausea.
The biggest issue with acupuncture research is that from Chinese medicine perspective individual approach is desired for every individual patient. It makes the design of controlled trials very tricky.
Treatment of postoperative nausea was easy to research, because we often only use one acupuncture point to relieve nausea. There is no need of individual approach.
Research on treatment of infertility with acupuncture is obviously a lot more complicated issue.
The other obvious issue is funding. Why would you invest in research of acupuncture if you can not patent it?
Posted by: Dr. Vitalis Acupuncturist in Auckland NZ | June 13, 2007 02:40 AM
I have been getting marked improvements with accupuncture. It has improved my tremor, sense of smell, facial masking, mood, and energy level. This article's reference to the brain inflamation and chemicals explain my results. I have been going weekly for 5 weeks, I am a teacher and this has made a real difference for me and increases with each additional vist.
Posted by: Deborah Flores | April 25, 2009 05:31 AM