Acupuncture
(from Lat. acus, "needle", and pungere,
"prick") or in Standard Mandarin, zhen bian (a related
word zhen jiu refers to acupuncture together with moxibustion)
is a technique of inserting and manipulating
filiform needles into points on the body with the aim of relieving
pain and for therapeutic purposes. Acupuncture is thought to
have originated in China and is most commonly
associated with Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Different types of acupuncture
(Classical Chinese, Japanese, Tibetan, and Korean acupuncture)
are practiced and taught throughout the world.
The effectiveness of acupuncture remains controversial
in the scientific community, according to a review by Edzard Ernst
and colleagues in 2 007, which found that
the body of evidence was growing, research
is active, and that the "emerging clinical evidence
seems to imply that acupuncture is effective for some but not all conditions".
Researchers using the protocols of evidence-based
medicine have found good evidence that acupuncture
is moderately effective in preventing nausea. There is conflicting evidence
that it can treat chronic low back pain, and moderate
evidence of efficacy for neck pain and headache.
For most other conditions reviewers have found
either a lack of efficacy (e.g., help in
quitting smoking or have concluded that there is insufficient evidence
to determine whether acupuncture is effective (e.g., treating
shoulder pain. While little is known about
the mechanisms by which acupuncture may act, a review of neuroimaging
research suggests that specific acupuncture points have
distinct effects on cerebral activity in
specific areas that are not otherwise predictable anatomically.
The WHO, the Nationa l Center for
Complementary and Alternative Medicine
(NCCAM), the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the American
Medical Association (AMA) and various government reports have also studied
and commented on the efficacy of acupuncture. There is also general agreement
that acupuncture is safe when administered by well-trained practitioners,
and that further research is warranted.
Traditional Chinese medicine's acupuncture
theory predates the use of the modern scientific method,
and has received various criticisms based on modern scientific thinking.
There is no generally-accepted anatomical or
histological basis for the existence of acupuncture
points or meridians. Acupuncturists tend to perceive TCM concepts in
functional rather than structural terms, i.e.
as being usefu l in guiding evaluation
and care of patients.Scientists have reported a cultural
bias in scientific studies of acupuncture.
