Uncle Sam Tips His Hat to the Yellow Emperor
by Al Stone L.Ac. |
"The data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies,'' the panel's report said.
"It's time to take it [acupuncture] seriously," said the panel's chairman, Dr. David J. Ramsey of the University of Maryland. "There are a number of situations where it really does, in fact, work--the evidence is very clear-cut. It has few side effects, and is less invasive than many other things we do."
NIH Consensus Development panelists acknowledged that the evidence may not demonstrate that acupuncture is efficacious in other conditions such as smoking cessation. However, acupuncture may be effective in smoking cessation if combined with a comprehensive medical program that involves behavioral modification techniques, panel member Dr. Leonard A. Wisneski of NIH said.
One focus of attention by the conference was the role of endogenous opioids in acupuncture analgesia. Evidence supports the claim that opioid peptides are released during acupuncture and that the analgesic effects of acupuncture are at least partially explained by these actions. The finding that opioid antagonists such as naloxone reverse the analgesic effects of acupuncture further strengthens this hypothesis, Wisneski said.
Stimulation by acupuncture could also activate the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland and result in a broad spectrum of systemic effects.
The experts presented data suggesting that acupuncture alters the secretion of neurotransmitters and neurohormones and regulation of blood flow, both centrally and peripherally. There is also evidence of immune function alterations associated with acupuncture. It is presently unclear which of these and other physiological changes mediate clinical effects, the panelists noted.
The NIH panel Panel members said there is no evidence that confirms the theory that acupuncture's efficacy is due to the existance of Qi energy, a concept central to the Traditional Oriental Medicine paradigm which appears to continue to allude scientific understanding.
"The acceptance of acupuncture as a reliable therapeutic choice in Western medicine will depend on such rigorous studies," Ramsey said. Though it is obvious that these hearings were fueled at least in part by the FDA's estimation that Americans spend $500 million annually on acupuncture treatments.
Local and national media rushed to include this story in their publications.
The abcnews.com web site took an on line poll of web surfers regarding their desires to use acupuncture.
Marlene Cimons of the Los Angeles Times writes:
San Diego Union Tribune Columnist, Logan Jenkins writes:
Scientists at the National Institutes of Health last week announced a stunner: Acupuncture works; it's a real science; inscrutable certainly, measurably beneficial for some complaints. This is like Oriental musicologists proclaiming with great fanfare that Brahms composed music.
Here's the news from the horse's mouth, the National Institutes of Health.
Acupuncture.com |