How Does Acupuncture Work?
In the ancient Chinese healing discipline of acupuncture, thin needles are inserted at specific locations throughout the body along invisible channels called meridians. The needles are usually kept in place for less than one-half hour, but there are many different systems of acupuncture taught worldwide. Dr. Mae-Wan Ho of the Bioelectrodynamics Laboratory at the Open University and Dr. David P. Knight at the Department Biological Services at King Alfred's College in the United Kingdom have proposed an elegant theory that "the acupuncture system and the direct current physical body field that has been detected by Western scientists are both involved in a continuum of liquid crystalline collagen fibers that make up the bulk of the connective tissues in our body." They theorize that "bound water layers on the collagen fibers provide proton conduction pathways for rapid intercommunication throughout the body, enabling the organism to function as a coherent whole, and that this liquid crystalline continuum mediates hyperreactivity to allergens and the body's responsiveness to different forms of subtle energy medicine. It constitutes a 'body consciousness' working in tandem with the 'brain consciousness' of the nervous system." This is perhaps the most plausible potential explanation of how needling certain points in the system of meridians leads to changes in the health to date, yet there is much research to be done to validate these ideas.
So What Is Chinese Medicine Good For?
Rather than focus on the very complex system of ideas that underlie TCM such as viewing the body as a microenvironment or climate with rhythm, cycles, polarity, energy flow & balance, and the concepts of: Yin/Yang; Five Elements theory: Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, Wood; Inner, Connecting and Outer energy meridians; causation of disease as energy (Chi) Deficiency, Stagnation or Excess; the use of Pulse, Tongue and Facial diagnosis; the theory of Acupuncture and related techniques; Moxabustion and Chinese Herbal Medicine, I thought it would be more appropriate to review those conditions for which there is enough evidence to recommend the use of TCM as adjunctive therapy, and in some cases primary therapy.
In the most recent National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture, a variety of problems were identified that have been shown to benefit from acupuncture to some extent, and these include:
Acute Pain
AIDS
Arthritis
Asthma and COPD
Back Pain
Bell's palsy
Breast Lumps
Bursitis, Tendonitis and other musculoskeletal disorders
Cancer therapy (chemotherapy and radiation related anorexia, alopecia, marrow suppression, nausea and vomiting)
Cerebral palsy
Chronic Fatigue
Chronic Pain
Drug Detoxification
Fibromyalgia
Head and spinal cord injury
Headache
Hepatitis B & C
Infertility
Insomnia
Menopausal symptoms
Obesity
Ulcerative colitis and other forms of colitis
From a TCM perspective, this is, of course, but a partial list of potential problems that would benefit from acupuncture. In fact, most of the well-educated and well-trained acupuncturists and practitioners of TCM that I have had the fortune to know tell me that there is no situation that would not benefit from treatment using the principles of TCM. After over 30 years of experience with these techniques, both in study and practice, I am inclined to agree.
