Acupuncture Politics & Science

Acupuncture has been on the receiving end of more scientific research and trials than any other “complimentary” medicinal therapy.

It is a form of medical treatment that has been practiced in China for over 2000 years with some historians believing that acupuncture was widely practiced in China as early as 4000 years ago. The first recorded attempt at conceptualizing and treating disease dates back to about 1500 BC during the Shang dynasty with inscribed tortoise shells, and it is thought that these were used for divination in the art of healing. The philosophical basis of much of very early Chinese medicine seems to have been to seek harmony between the living and their dead ancestors, and the good and evil spirits that inhabited the earth.

Fast forwarding many years…

Acupuncture came to the West in the early 1900s to France. By the 1950s acupuncture was well known throughout Europe, with several publications, usage and developments, but had yet to be “discovered” in America.

It was President Nixon’s visit to China in the early 1970’s that sparked intense research and curiosity. During this visit, a member of the U.S. delegation was given an emergency appendectomy. The only anesthesia that was used was acupuncture. The President was both curious and impressed and when he returned to the US, he called for further study of the procedure. Shortly thereafter,  thirty acupuncturists from China were invited to participate in a program at the University of California, Los Angeles Medical School.

The first clinic, the Acupuncture Center of Washington, opened in 1972. The news coverage was immense. Soon hundreds of people a day came to be treated with this “new” medicine- up to 250 patients a day. It wasn’t long before the medical establishment stepped in to try to close it down by taking the city of Washington, D.C. to court. They lost and the rest is history, thus acupuncture was introduced to conventional medicine in the United States.

With the advent of modern testing abilities, we are just now cracking some of the secrets to the ways acupuncture works in our systems. Scientifically thus far has been demonstrated:

*Acupuncture triggers the brain to release neuropeptides such as endorphin, enkephalin and serotonin - all helpful in pain control.

*Upon insertion, acupuncture needles have the ability to"jam" the neuronal pathways and thereby prevent pain signals from reaching the brain.

*Acupuncture has been shown (via NMRI) to sedate aspects of the limbic system and termed effective for management of stress and pain. The limbic system, which includes numerous structures within the brain, is activated by motivated behavior and arousal, and influences the endocrine and autonomic nervous system.