http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_item&id=707

"Acupuncture 'cuts blood pressure'", BBC News, March 30, 2005,
Link: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4390755.stm

Acupuncture combined with electronic stimulation can lower high blood
pressure, US researchers say.

In tests on rats, the treatment lowered raised blood pressure by as
much as 50%, the University of California team at Irvine found.

They are now testing to see whether the technique will have the same
effect in people with high blood pressure, also known as hypertension.

Their early findings in animals appear in the Journal of Applied
Physiology.

Acupuncture is an ancient Chinese practice that involves inserting
needles at specific points on the body to help treat diseases and
symptoms such as pain.

Dr John Longhurst and his team applied the acupuncture to specific
points on the forelimbs of rats with artificially elevated blood
pressure.

The equivalent sites on humans are on the inside of the forearm,
slightly above the wrist.

When the acupuncture was applied on its own, it had no effect on blood
pressure.

However, when small, low frequency electrical currents were passed
through the needles, the blood pressure went down by between 40 and
50%.

A 30-minute session reduced blood pressure in the test rats by 25mmHg,
with the effect lasting for almost two hours.

Fruit and vegetables

Dr Longhurst said: "This suggests that acupuncture can be an excellent
complement to other medical treatments, especially for those treating
the cardiac system."

But he added: "This type of electro acupuncture 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."

He said that acupuncture triggered the release of chemicals in the
brain that in turn dampened the response of the cardiovascular system.

This decreased the heart's activity and its need for oxygen, which in
turn could lower blood pressure, and promoted healing for a number of
heart conditions including heart attacks and hypertension.

Belinda Linden, of the British Heart Foundation, said the research
would need to be supported by controlled clinical trials before being
applied as an accepted form of blood pressure control for humans.

"So our message remains the same - high blood pressure is best
controlled by keeping your weight down, eating plenty of fruit and
vegetables, cutting your salt intake, increasing physical activity and
if needed, taking appropriate medications."

Dr Mike Cummings, medical director of the British Medical Acupuncture
Society, said the study was interesting, but he would not recommend
patients sought acupuncture treatment for high blood pressure "at this
stage".