http://today.uci.edu/news/release_detail.asp?key=1290

Acupuncture found to lower elevations in blood pressure  

Procedure combined with electronic stimulation can lower rates by as
much as 50 percent, according to UCI study  

Irvine, Calif., March 28, 2005

Acupuncture treatments using low levels of electrical stimulation can
lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, researchers
at the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at UC Irvine have
found.

In tests on rats, the researchers found that electroacupuncture
treatments provided temporary relief from the conditions that raise
blood pressure during hypertensive states. Such treatments, they
believe, potentially can become part of a therapeutic regimen for
long-term care of hypertension and other cardiovascular ailments in
people.

?This study suggests that acupuncture can be an excellent complement to
other medical treatments, especially for those treating the cardiac
system, said Dr. John C. Longhurst, director of the Samueli Center and
study leader. ?The Western world is waiting for a clear scientific basis
for using acupuncture, and we hope that this research ultimately will
lead to the integration of ancient healing practices into modern medical
treatment.

The study appears in the March issue of the Journal of Applied
Physiology.

Acupuncture is a 3,000-year-old form of Chinese medicine that involves
inserting needles at specific points on the body to help cure disease or
relieve pain. In previous studies, Longhurst and his UCI colleagues have
identified at the cellular and molecular level how acupuncture excites
brain cells to release neurotransmitters that either inhibit or heighten
cardiovascular activity.

They have found that when an acupuncture needle is inserted at specific
sites on the wrist, inside of the forearm or leg, this triggers the
release of opioid chemicals in the brain that reduce excitatory
responses in the cardiovascular system. This decreases the heart?s
activity and its need for oxygen, which in turn can lower blood
pressure, and promotes healing for a number of cardiac ailments, such as
myocardial ischemia (insufficient blood flow to the heart) and
hypertension.

In this study, the Longhurst team applied acupuncture to specific points
on the forelimb of test rats with artificially elevated blood pressure
rates; these same sites on humans are on the inside of the forearm
slightly above the wrist. The researchers found that acupuncture alone
had no effect on blood pressure.

Next, they added electrical stimulation to the acupuncture treatment by
running an electrical current through the needles. High frequencies of
stimulation also had no effect, but low frequencies lowered increased
blood pressure by as much as 40 to 50 percent. Overall, the researchers
found that a 30-minute treatment reduced blood pressure rates in these
test rats by 25 mmHg ? with the effect lasting almost two hours.

?This type of electroacupuncture is only effective on elevated blood
pressure levels, such as those present in hypertension, and the
treatment has no impact on standing blood pressure rates, said
Longhurst, a cardiologist who is also the Lawrence K. Dodge Professor in
Integrative Biology. ?Our goal is to help establish a standard of
acupuncture treatment that can benefit everyone who has hypertension and
other cardiac ailments.

Longhurst and his colleagues currently are testing this
electroacupuncture treatment method in an ongoing human study.

Drs. Wei Zhou, Liang-Wu Fu, Stephanie C. Tjen-A-Looi and Peng Li of the
UCI Department of Medicine participated in the study, which was funded
by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, and the Larry K. Dodge
Endowed Chair.

The Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine in the UCI School of
Medicine is focused on scientific research and education in the broad
field of complementary and alternative medicine. The center, which was
established in early 2000 through a gift from Henry and Susan Samueli,
is dedicated to public and professional education and scientific
research on the use of complementary and integrative approaches in
wellness and prevention as well as health care. For more information,
see: www.ucihs.uci.edu/com/samueli.

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