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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.

Methodological guidance for comparative effectiveness research

Categories: Acupuncture research

An international team, consisting of acupuncturists, doctors, patients, researchers and medical insurance company representatives has produced a consensus document aimed at those conducting comparative effectiveness research (CER) trials in acupunctu ...

Acupuncture for chronic pain is good value for money

Categories: Acupuncture research

Acupuncture is cost-effective for the treatment of chronic pain, according to a systematic review carried out by UK researchers.

Acupuncture has clinically relevant benefits in chronic conditions

Categories: Miscellaneous disorders, Acupuncture research

A UK-based study looking at acupuncture carried out in a busy GP practice by an experienced traditional acupuncturist, found that it resulted in clinically relevant improvements in patients

Acupuncture at Zusanli ST-36 increases efficiency of functional brain networks

Categories: Neurological, Acupuncture research

Using fMRI, Chinese researchers have shown that the organisation of functional brain networks is altered after acupuncture and that these alterations exhibit point specificity.

Moxibustion fights chronic fatigue through 'antioxidant' activity

Categories: Fatigue, Acupuncture research

Researchers from South Korea have found clinical evidence for an anti-fatigue effect of indirect moxibustion and suggest that the effect could be because the technique acts like an antioxidant. An RCT was performed with 44 patients who had idiopathic chronic fatigue. Subjects were treated with either moxibustion (indirect moxibustion on Guanyuan REN-4 and Shenque REN-8) or a placebo procedure, thr ...

Evidence for acupuncture point specificity

Categories: Acupuncture research

A review article from American authors focuses on clinical and laboratory studies supporting the existence of point specificity in acupuncture, but also addresses studies that do not support this concept.

The 'neural acupuncture unit'

Categories: Acupuncture research

The concept of the ‘neural acupuncture unit’ (NAU) has been put forward by an international team of authors as a new way of interpreting the effects and mechanisms of acupuncture.

Acupuncture may regulate physiology via its effect on heart rate

Categories: Acupuncture research

A discussion paper by a team of American authors argues that the ability of acupuncture to affect heart rate variability (HRV) might explain how it is able to regulate complex physiological systems.

Acupuncture points are large fields

Categories: Acupuncture research

A study by German and US authors has revealed a high degree of variation in the localisation of acupuncture points, and suggests that the term 'acupuncture field' may in fact be more appropriate.

Patients' experience of acupuncture for low back pain

Categories: Acupuncture research

A group of UK authors has used a qualitative approach to examine in detail how participants in an RCT, conducted in the USA, conceptualised placebos.

Effect of expectancy on acupuncture outcomes

Categories: Acupuncture research

A systematic review has investigated the effect of patient expectancy on treatment responses to acupuncture.

Non-specific effects of treatment benefit patients and should be optimised

Categories: Acupuncture research

A systematic review has concluded that the non-specific effects of sham acupuncture are likely to bring tangible benefits to patients, compared with no treatment.

Overview of acupuncture fMRI studies

Categories: Acupuncture research

An international team of authors has conducted a systematic overview of studies that have used fMRI to investigate brain responses to acupuncture, concluding that it can affect a broad network of regions involving somatosensory, affective and cogniti ...

Needling Taixi KID-3 increases activity in memory networks of impaired brains

Categories: Acupuncture research

Acupuncture at Taixi KID-3 can enhance activity in brain areas associated with memory in patients suffering from mild cognitive impairment (MCI).

Acupuncture at REN-4 and REN-12 affects brain's emotion and pain networks

Categories: Acupuncture research

A Chinese fMRI study has found that stimulation of the acupuncture points Guanyuan REN-4 and Zhongwan REN-12 has an effect on functional brain networks associated with emotional and cognitive regulation.

Acupuncture at Zusanli ST-36 and Neiguan P-6 affects gastric motility

Categories: Acupuncture research

Manual stimulation of the acupoints Zusanli ST-36 and Neiguan P-6 can influence gastric myoelectrical and cardiac activities in healthy volunteers.

Acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 decreases pain sensitivity of jaw

Categories: Acupuncture research

Electro-acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 can specifically decrease the pain sensitivity of the mandibular area, according to Japanese researchers.

Dermal spread of breast cancer following acupuncture

Categories: Cancer, Acupuncture research

A case report from Taiwan warns that direct puncture of a metastatic lymph node by an acupuncture needle has led to cutaneous spread of the tumour.

Proof that acupuncture works for chronic pain

Categories: Miscellaneous, Acupuncture research

An international collaboration, involving some of the UK's top acupuncture researchers, has provided definitive evidence that acupuncture is effective for chronic pain.

Self-care advice is co-constructed between patient and acupuncturist

Categories: Acupuncture research, General discussion, Lifestyle research

A qualitative study from the UK has analysed how self-care advice is constructed in traditional acupuncture consultations.