It's official: acupuncture really works

Study reveals health benefits of ancient healing art

By Jo Revill, health editor
The Observer
Sunday, May 1, 2005

Judith Ritchie slowly eases a fine steel needle into the
back of her patient at a point marked out in felt-tip
ink. As the needle is gently tapped, Judith explains:
'This point lies over the organ I want to strengthen, her
liver. I want to improve the quality of her blood and her
yin, which affects the energy balance.'

Acupuncture relies on a different language and different
tools from Western medicine, but however strange it seems
at first, this patient, Louise Shelver, is a convert. For
years she has had debilitating migraines and pre-
menstrual tension.

'The doctor told me that I could go on the Pill or have
anti-depressants,' said Shelver, from Reading, Berkshire,
who is treated fortnightly. 'I didn't want that, so I
came here and it has totally altered my life.

'The migraines come maybe every three months now, but
they are not so bad and I feel like a different person.
My husband has noticed a huge change because I don't get
so low. Some days I feel on top of the world.'

Controversy has raged for years over whether acupuncture
has only a placebo effect that makes people feel
psychologically and physically better but changes nothing
physiologically.

However, this weekend a new study reveals for the first
time that it provokes a specific response in the brain,
shedding light on how it might affect the body's pain
pathways. This helps to explain why both patients and
health professionals trained in Western medicine are
increasingly turning to this ancient form of Chinese
healing.

Ritchie is a qualified children's nurse who has spent the
last nine months learning this complementary therapy.

'I began to realise acupuncture's use goes far beyond
pain relief. In the West you treat a disease. With
acupuncture you're treating the whole person - the root
of the problems, not just the symptoms.

'I can spend an hour or more with a patient. In the NHS
you never get that time. Acupuncture can benefit so many
adults and children.'

More than two million treatments will be given this year.
Most practitioners work in private clinics, charging
around £30 a time.

Increasingly, however, acupuncture is becoming
mainstream, and it is being offered in the NHS because of
patient demand. The profession is heading towards self-
regulation on the recommendation of a House of Lords
committee. This will protect patients more by preventing
just anyone calling themselves acupuncturists.

The latest study is from researchers at Southampton
University and University College London, who devised a
clever trial to determine whether acupuncture worked by
carrying out brain scans on patients receiving it.

The patients, all with painful osteoarthritis in their
thumbs, were divided into three groups. The first group
were touched by blunt needles which did not pierce the
skin and had no therapeutic value.

The second had 'sham acupuncture' they believed was real.
Their scans showed that one area of the brain associated
with the production of natural opiates lit up.

In the third group, who received real acupuncture, the
scans showed that, as well as the opiate centre, another
region of the brain, the ipsilateral insular, was
activated. This region appears to be involved in pain
modulation.

Dr George Lewith, a research team member from
Southampton, said: 'This shows us that real acupuncture
produces a demonstrable physiological effect over and
above a simple skin prick.

'We still don't fully understand how pain works, but we
do know that after patients receive acupuncture there are
changes in the way they manage their problems that last
for up to two years.'

Acupuncturists believe there are 12 energy pathways in
the body, each associated with a different organ, and the
treatment re-establishes the energy balance in organs
when it goes awry.

To treat an illness, practitioners take a full view of
the patient, asking how their body functions, about their
character and even their childhood. Treatment is varied
accordingly. Fine needles are inserted into different
points, either to stimulate or reduce the flow of energy
along pathways.

It is said to work for an increasing number of
conditions. Its worth for depression, migraines, chronic
pain, rheumatism, eczema, multiple sclerosis and high
blood pressure has been subjected to clinical studies.
Yet a growing number of patients have it simply because
they say that acupuncture makes them feel happier and
more fulfilled.

The patients' profile is also changing. Gwyneth Paltrow
and Cherie Blair are at the celebrity end of the scale,
but such patients as retired firefighter John Thurston
show how widespread acceptance of the therapy has become.

Thurston, at 79, is one of the oldest patients at the
College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading,
Berkshire, where he has been treated fortnightly for
several months.

A stroke last year left him with difficulty in walking,
numbness in one hand and unable to lift one of his arms.
'It has made a remarkable difference,' said a delighted
Thurston. 'I can dress myself now, whereas after the
stroke I couldn't do a button up. I used to find it hard
to lift my left leg up and I'm now walking more or less
straight. I have got a lot more movement back.

'When the doctors signed me off at the hospital, they
said cheerio and that was it. I did have a a bit of
physiotherapy, but it's coming here that has really
helped. I wish everyone could have it. It's done me a
world of good.'

Pinpoint prowess

Researchers in Sweden have found that acupuncture is
effective at relieving pelvic pain, a common complaint
during pregnancy. Another clinical trial at Stanford
University in the US showed it could help alleviate
depression in pregnant women.

A study in the British Medical Journal showed that
patients with osteoarthritis in the knee who received
acupuncture a well as an anti-inflammatory painkiller
suffered less pain and stiffness than those who received
the drug plus sham acupuncture, where the needle did not
penetrate the skin.

Children with hay fever and nasal allergies had fewer
sneezing bouts and congestion after acupuncture compared
with a placebo group, in research carried out in Hong
Kong.

A study of rats showed that acupuncture lowered their
blood pressure by as much as 50 per cent. Researchers in
California are trying to establish if the technique will
have the same effect on humans.

Special reports
Medicine and health

Useful links
British Medical Association
Department of Health
General Medical Council
Health on the Net Foundation
Institute of Cancer Research
Medical Research Council
NHS Direct
Royal Institute of Public Health
World Health Organisation

More at:
http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,6903,1474216,00.html

Jai Maharaj
http://www.mantra.com/jai
Om Shanti

Hindu Holocaust Museum
http://www.mantra.com/holocaust

Hindu life, principles, spirituality and philosophy
http://www.hindu.org
http://www.hindunet.org

The truth about Islam and Muslims
http://www.flex.com/~jai/satyamevajayate

The terrorist mission of Jesus stated in the Christian bible:

    "Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not so send
peace, but a sword.
    "For I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the
daughter against her mother, and the daughter in law against her mother in
law.
    "And a man's foes shall be they of his own household.
- Matthew 10:34-36.

    o  Not for commercial use. Solely to be fairly used for the educational
purposes of research and open discussion. The contents of this post may not
have been authored by, and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the
poster. The contents are protected by copyright law and the exemption for
fair use of copyrighted works.
    o  If you send private e-mail to me, it will likely not be read,
considered or answered if it does not contain your full legal name, current
e-mail and postal addresses, and live-voice telephone number.
    o  Posted for information and discussion. Views expressed by others are
not necessarily those of the poster who may or may not have read the article.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This article may contain copyrighted material the use of
which may or may not have been specifically authorized by the copyright
owner. This material is being made available in efforts to advance the
understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic,
democratic, scientific, social, and cultural, etc., issues. It is believed
that this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as
provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title
17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without
profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included
information for research, comment, discussion and educational purposes by
subscribing to USENET newsgroups or visiting web sites. For more information
go to:  http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml
If you wish to use copyrighted material from this article for purposes of
your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the
copyright owner.

Since newsgroup posts are being removed
by forgery by one or more net terrorists,
this post may be reposted several times.