An
interesting trend is happening with some of today's primary
care physicians. Spurned on no doubt by the public's affinity
for alternative medicine, 4000 physicians have already taken
courses in becoming trained in acupuncture at the UCLA School
of Medicine.
Thought
to help cure everything from back pain to depression, it is
reported that more than one million Americans currently receive
acupuncture each year. With recent articles in JAMA (Journal
of the American Medical Association), acupuncture has become
mainstream, and some physicians have decided to add acupuncture
to the repertoire in aiding the healing process.
HISTORY
In
North America, awareness of acupuncture began in 1971, when
writer James Reston described in a front-page article in the
New York Times how his postoperative pain from an emergency
appendectomy was alleviated by three acupuncture needles. Three
months later, a team of respected physicians from the US observed
the use of acupuncture as a single analgesic technique in Chinese
hospitals and wrote up their report in JAMA.
The
explosion continued after President Nixon trip to China in 1972,
where Nixon's personal physician witnessed several surgeries
using acupuncture analgesia. The NIH (National Institute of
Health) then sponsored a team of physicians to study the health
care system in China, and offered research grants to evaluate
acupuncture's mode of action as well as its clinical efficacy.
They continue to do research today.
THEORIES
There
are many theories on how acupuncture works. The traditional
Chinese description of acupuncture (and I am oversimplifying
here) is that the body has patterns of energy flow (known as
Qi) that are essential for health. Disease represents disruptions
in this energy flow. Acupuncture corrects these imbalances of
flow at identifiable points close to the skin.
Stimulation
of anatomical locations on the skin are done by a variety of
techniques, but the most used mechanism involves penetration
of skin by metallic needles which are manipulated manually or
by electrical stimulation. Some Western scientists believe acupuncture
facilitates the release of transmitters in the body that affect
the pain response, thus explaining acupuncture's role in pain
relief. The NIH are currently funding many research projects
explaining acupuncture and its effects.
WHAT
CAN IT TREAT?
Promising results have emerged for the use of acupuncture in
treating the nausea and vomiting related to chemotherapy, adult
postoperative surgery pain, and postoperative dental pain. Addiction,
stroke rehabilitation, headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow,
fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain,
carpal tunnel syndrome, and asthma -- acupuncture may be useful
as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or may
be included in a comprehensive management program. Further research
may likely uncover additional areas where acupuncture may be
useful.
THE
FUTURE
There have been many studies of the potential usefulness of
acupuncture. However, many of these studies provide equivocal
results because of design, low sample size and other factors.
To be more readily accepted, larger and more reliable studies
need to be conducted. There is also a long list of acupuncturists
with differing levels of expertise, and there has been a call
for stronger regulation of the practice. As the public's demand
for acupuncture services continues into the millennium, some
physicians are ready to be on the forefront of this centuries
old healing art..
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