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Research Archive

Welcome to our Chinese medicine and acupuncture research news pages. We add to the content of these pages continuously as more research news comes in. Browse through the complete archive below or use the category links on the right.

Please note that the most twenty recent research archive items are free to view but access to the thousands of items in the archive require a journal subscription.

Qi, acupuncture and the fascia

Categories: Acupuncture research

A review by two authors from the USA discusses the ‘fascia acupuncture hypothesis’, which suggests that fascial planes are the basis of the acupuncture channels. The article considers the concept of qi in light of recent studies expanding the role of the fascia in human health, and suggesting that stimulation of the fascia by needling is capable of affecting every aspect of physiology. ...

Blinding in acupuncture studies is effective

Categories: Acupuncture research

Authors from the USA have carried out a systematic review showing that the protocols for blinding in acupuncture studies are generally effective, and that patients cannot determine if they have received verum acupuncture or a different procedure.

Acupuncture with deqi can improve muscle recovery in Bell's palsy

Categories: Neurological, Acupuncture research, Nose and mouth

Acupuncture that elicits the sensation of deqi can improve facial muscle recovery, disability and quality of life for patients with Bell’s palsy. In a randomised controlled trial, Chinese researchers compared the efficacy of weak versus strong acupuncture stimulation in a group of 338 patients presenting with unilateral facial-nerve weakness within 168 hours of symptom onset. Patients were r ...

Pain relief is rewarding

Categories: Acupuncture research

Relief of pain is rewarding, according to a researchers from the USA. They demonstrated that treatments that relieve the unpleasant feeling of pain also activate reward circuits in the brain and thus reinforce behaviors that result in relief of pain. Presumably this is what keeps people coming back for acupuncture treatment... (Pain relief produces negative reinforcement through activation of meso ...

Deqi and sharp pain produce different brain activity patterns

Categories: Acupuncture research

Another Chinese study has found that acupuncture needle sensations of deqi and sharp pain are associated with different patterns of activations and deactivations in the brain.

Designing the control group in acupuncture RCTs

Categories: Acupuncture research

Taiwanese authors have compared the advantages and limitations associated with different control group designs in acupuncture RCTs.

Different autonomic response at wood and metal acupoints

Categories: Acupuncture research

Investigators from South Korea have found that the effect of acupuncture on the autonomic nervous system differs between the wood and metal points of the Pericardium and San Jiao channels.

Nitric oxide may be involved in acupuncture mechanism

Categories: Acupuncture research

An experimental study carried out in Korea has found that the skin at acupuncture points contains higher levels of the signaling molecule nitric oxide (NO) than surrounding areas.

Needling Yintang N-NH-3 and Baihui DU-20 has lasting effects on brain activity

Categories: Psychological / emotional, Acupuncture research

An fMRI study from China has found changes in brain activity following electro-acupuncture (EA) at acupoints Yintang N-NH-3 and Baihui DU-20, both of which are used in the treatment of psychiatric disorders.

Acupuncture specifically affects brain area involved in itch response

Categories: Acupuncture research

American scientists have investigated the brain circuitry involved in the antipruritic effects of acupuncture.

Acupuncture triggers increases in interstitial adenosine in humans

Categories: Acupuncture research

Experimental studies carried out in humans have shown that acupuncture triggers local increases in interstitial adenosine concentrations.

Acupuncture's emerging evidence base

Categories: Acupuncture research

Acupuncture is now supported by a broad range of surveys of safety, clinical trials and basic science studies of physiological action.

Acupuncture is cost-effective

Categories: Acupuncture research

Acupuncture is a cost-effective treatment modality, according to Korean authors who performed a systematic review of economic evaluations carried out alongside randomised controlled trials.

Acupuncture for exercise enhancement

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders, Acupuncture research

An Australian systematic review has found preliminary support for the use of acupuncture as a means to enhance exercise performance and post-exercise recovery.

Placebo effect makes evolutionary sense

Categories: Acupuncture research

Up until now, the placebo effect has seemed to make no sense…if people are able to heal themselves unaided, why does the body wait for a sugar pill to prompt recovery?

The placebo effect and how therapeutic rituals affect the brain

Categories: Acupuncture research

A review by an Italian author has examined the placebo effect in terms of the 'therapeutic ritual' created around the patient and how this plays a crucial role in the therapeutic outcome.

Acupuncture as a mechanical activation and signalling process

Categories: Acupuncture research

A review paper from authors based in Hong Kong gives an overview of research into the mechanisms of acupuncture and proposes a new theory of the channels and the flow of qi and blood, based on the latest findings in medical imaging, cell biology and ...

Neiguan P-6 stimulation affects cardiovacular system via brain reflexes

Categories: Heart / Cardiac, Acupuncture research

A review paper by Chinese authors has focused on the neurophysiological basis of the effects of Neiguan P-6 stimulation on cardiovascular mechanisms.

Blood flow changes due to acupuncture follow traditional point indications

Categories: Acupuncture research

Japanese investigators have used colour doppler ultrasound imaging (CDI) to non-invasively evaluate haemodynamic changes caused by acupuncture.

Needling Hegu L.I.-4 on one side stimulates contralateral point

Categories: Acupuncture research

Blood perfusion at the acupoint Hegu L.I.-4 increases when the contralateral Hegu L.I.-4 is stimulated by acupuncture, according to Chinese team.