Acupuncture
Interesting discussion about how scientists are studying acupuncture to determine how it works:
"Hundreds of thousands of Americans attain pain relief through acupuncture each year, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and many, these days, seek the treatment at their doctor's suggestion. Mainstream medical interest in acupuncture has grown as the studies pile up: A National Institutes of Health statement, published in 1997, concluded that the procedure appeared most promising in treating nausea, then pain.
Yet despite this growing Western faith in an ancient Chinese practice, scientists and doctors understand remarkably little, in modern medical terms, about how the procedure works to provide lasting pain relief.
In recent years scientists have begun studying the body's biological responses to the treatment in hopes of shedding light on how a handful of needles and some heat lamps can perform as well as, or better than, Western medicine's strongest pain-killing drugs. They have come up with an array of theories to explain the technique's effectiveness, some of them widely accepted, others too new to assess.
"We're still in the early stages of understanding how it works," said Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the Center for East-West Medicine at UCLA. Already, he adds, studies on the topic are raising interesting questions about the body's physical and emotional responses to pain — and might someday force Western medicine to reassess its understanding of the nauseous sensation."
"Hundreds of thousands of Americans attain pain relief through acupuncture each year, according to a recent national survey conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — and many, these days, seek the treatment at their doctor's suggestion. Mainstream medical interest in acupuncture has grown as the studies pile up: A National Institutes of Health statement, published in 1997, concluded that the procedure appeared most promising in treating nausea, then pain.
Yet despite this growing Western faith in an ancient Chinese practice, scientists and doctors understand remarkably little, in modern medical terms, about how the procedure works to provide lasting pain relief.
In recent years scientists have begun studying the body's biological responses to the treatment in hopes of shedding light on how a handful of needles and some heat lamps can perform as well as, or better than, Western medicine's strongest pain-killing drugs. They have come up with an array of theories to explain the technique's effectiveness, some of them widely accepted, others too new to assess.
"We're still in the early stages of understanding how it works," said Dr. Ka-Kit Hui, founder and director of the Center for East-West Medicine at UCLA. Already, he adds, studies on the topic are raising interesting questions about the body's physical and emotional responses to pain — and might someday force Western medicine to reassess its understanding of the nauseous sensation."
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