MINDFUL LIVING

HERE’S HOW TRADITIONAL CHINESE MEDICINE EASES PAIN AND BOOSTS IMMUNITY WITH PAINLESS PINPRICKS.

ACUPUNCTURE — THE HEALING POINT

Here’s how Traditional Chinese Medicine eases pain and boosts immunity with painless pinpricks.

On July 26, 1971, many Americans encountered the term “acupuncture” for the first time. That’s when The New York Times published journalist James Reston’s account of the emergency appendectomy he received while part of the team preparing for President Nixon’s first China visit.

To alleviate his severe post-operative discomfort, Reston’s physician “inserted three long, thin needles into the outer part of my right elbow and below my knees,” Reston wrote. This led to “a noticeable relaxation of the pressure and distension within an hour and no recurrence of the problem thereafter.”

Forty-seven years later, the traditional Chinese medical protocol known as acupuncture has become, if not mainstream, at least widely known and commonly used in the U.S. and the rest of the Western world. An estimated 14 million Americans have undergone acupuncture. Surveys suggest they use it both to address a specific medical condition and as a preventive measure to promote overall health. ONE THERAPY, MANY THEORIES

Since its origin in China more than 2,500 years ago, acupuncture has been used to treat disease and promote health. The traditional explanation for its mechanism of action is that it modifies and restores the

MODERN BIOMONITORING TECHNOLOGY OFFERS AN ALTERNATIVE EXPLANATION FOR ACUPUNCTURE’S PAINRELIEVING EFFECTS.

flow of energy, known as chi or qi, along channels (“meridians”) in the body.

This explanation makes some scientists uncomfortable, as there is no known way to measure chi, leading some to assert it does not exist.

Modern biomonitoring technology offers an alternative explanation for acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects. The insertion of needles stimulates the release of adenosine, an amino acid with painrelieving properties. This suggests that the tiny lesions caused by needle insertion could stimulate a large pain-relieving chemical response in the body.

Other research has found the needles stimulate the release of nitric oxide, a wellknown pain reliever.

The fact that there’s a straightforward biochemical explanation for acupuncture’s pain-relieving effects may help explain why Westerners typically study its effects and endorse it only when it comes to treating pain. For example, The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health concluded:

Results from a number of studies suggest that acupuncture may help ease types of pain that are often chronic such as low-back pain, neck pain, and osteoarthritis/knee pain. It also may help reduce the frequency of tension headaches and prevent migraine headaches. Therefore, acupuncture appears to be a reasonable option for people with chronic pain to consider.

This rather narrow view of what acupuncture can do stands in sharp contrast to its uses and reputation in China, where physicians use it to treat:

• emotional disorders such as depression and anxiety

• digestive problems such as nausea, vomiting and irritable bowel syndrome

• neurological conditions including migraine, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and cerebral palsy

… and much more; indeed, a shorter list would be of those conditions the Chinese don’t feel are appropriate for acupuncture treatment.

So is acupuncture just for pain relief, or can it do more?

MY TAKE:

Aside from directing chi or stimulating the body’s own painkillers, a third possible mechanism for acupuncture’s healing power is that it’s an active placebo.

A placebo is any treatment that a patient believes facilitates healing — that belief, rather than the placebo itself, activates the body’s healing response. An active placebo is one that has a real physical effect on the body, such as the sharp sting of an acupuncture needle. Some research suggests active placebos are more effective than inactive ones (like sugar pills), because we are psychologically more invested in remedies that really do something to us.

I believe that none of these routes to healing needs to be regarded as mutually exclusive. It’s possible — and, I believe, likely — that acupuncture heals via all three mechanisms: optimizing energy flow, releasing analgesic chemicals and activating a patient’s belief.

So who should receive it? Anyone wrestling with intractable pain is an obvious candidate. But I’ve seen positive results in conditions as varied as stroke, asthma, sinusitis addictions, autoimmune conditions and even infertility.

To find a licensed practitioner, visit the website of the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine ( NCCAOM) and use the “Find a Practitioner” function.

The bottom line is that acupuncture has an admirable safety profile with a very low incidence of negative side effects and a solid record of therapeutic success. There is little reason not to employ it for any condition that is not life-threatening.