Table Of ContentACUPUNCTURE IN
MODERN MEDICINE
Edited by Lucy L. Chen and Tsung O. Cheng
ACUPUNCTURE IN
MODERN MEDICINE
Edited by Lucy L. Chen and Tsung O. Cheng
Acupuncture in Modern Medicine
http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/46017
Edited by Lucy L. Chen and Tsung O. Cheng
Contributors
Takashi Seki, Hsieh, Ping-Chung Leung, Wen-Long Hu, Yu-Chiang Hung, I-Ling Hung, Yutaka Takaoka, Yoichiroh
Hosokawa, Aki Sugano, Akihiko Ito, Mika Ohta, Zhonghua Fu, Stephen Meyer, Yoshimasa Koyama, Ting Bao, Lizhen
Wang, Peter Chin Wan Fung, Sungchul Kim, Sandra Silvério Lopes, Irmgard Simma, Tsuchiya, Lucy L Chen, Raheleh
Khorsan, Tsung O. Cheng, Alexandra York
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First published February, 2013
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Acupuncture in Modern Medicine, Edited by Lucy L. Chen and Tsung O. Cheng
p. cm.
ISBN 978-953-51-1020-0
Contents
Preface IX
Section 1 Acupuncture Research 1
Chapter 1 Current Trends in Acupuncture Research: From Analgesia to
Physiological Function of Brain 3
Chen Wei-Liang and Hsieh Ching-Liang
Chapter 2 Nitric Oxide in Acupuncture Mechanism 35
Masahiko Tsuchiya
Chapter 3 Acupuncture in Modulation of Immunity 51
Sandra Silvério-Lopes and Maria Paula Gonçalves da Mota
Chapter 4 Acupuncture Effects on Bladder Activity and State of Vigilance
Through GABAergic Neuronal Systems 77
Yoshimasa Koyama and Hui Wang
Chapter 5 Plausible Biomedical Consequences of Acupuncture Applied at
Sites Characteristic of Acupoints in the
Connective-Tissue-Interstitial-Fluid System 95
Peter Chin Wan Fung
Section 2 New Developments in Acupuncture 133
Chapter 6 High-Tech Equipment for Moxibustion in Modern
Medicine 135
Takashi Seki, Junnosuke Okajima, Akiko Kikuchi, Shin Takayama,
Masashi Watanabe, Hiroko Kusuyama, Ayane Matsuda, Soichiro
Kaneko, Tetsuharu Kamiya, Atsuki Komiya, Minami Fujiwara,
Nobuo Yaegasi, Tomoyuki Yambe and Shigenao Maruyama
VI Contents
Chapter 7 New Development in Sham Acupuncture Needle 161
Sungchul Kim
Chapter 8 Fu's Subcutaneous Needling, a Modern Style of Ancient
Acupuncture? 179
Zhonghua Fu and Ryan Shepherd
Chapter 9 Explore Laser Acupuncture’s Role 205
Wen-Long Hu, Yu-Chiang Hung and I-Ling Hung
Chapter 10 New Technology: Femtosecond Laser May be Used for Future
Acupuncture Therapy 221
Yutaka Takaoka, Mika Ohta, Aki Sugano, Akihiko Ito and Yoichiroh
Hosokawa
Section 3 Acupuncture Therapy for Clinical Conditions 233
Chapter 11 The Role of Acupuncture in Pain Management 235
Lucy Chen
Chapter 12 Acupuncture in Cardiology 255
Tsung O. Cheng
Chapter 13 Acupuncture for Cancer Patients: Practice and Research 277
Lizhen Wang and Ting Bao
Chapter 14 Acupuncture for Addictions 297
P.C. Leung, L. Zhang, L.Y. Eliza Wong and S.Y. Ellie Pang
Chapter 15 Immediate Effects of Microsystem Acupuncture in Patients
with Oromyofacial Pain and Craniomandibular Disorders
(CMD): A Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial 317
Irmgard Simma, Jochen M. Gleditsch, Leopold Simma and E.
Piehslinger
Chapter 16 Acupuncture in Military Medicine 327
Alexandra M. York, Kevin G. Berry, Rick C. Welton, Joan A. G.
Walter, Richard C. Niemtzow and Wayne B. Jonas
Contents VII
Section 4 Assessment and Accessibility in Acupuncture Therapy 347
Chapter 17 The Evolution of Patient-Based Outcome Assessment
Instruments in Acupuncture Research: Choosing Patient-Based
Outcomes 349
Raheleh Khorsan, Alexandra York, Ian D. Coulter, Remy R. Coeytaux,
Rachel Wurzman, Joan A. G. Walter and Kevin Berry
Chapter 18 Evaluating the Geography and the Visibility Tendencies of
Acupuncture Treatment Locations in
Metropolitan Toronto 371
Stephen P. Meyer
Preface
Acupuncture has been one of the most significant components of the healthcare system in
East Asia for thousands of years. It has rapidly evolved as a therapeutic modality in the
modern west medicine system over the last few decades. In the United States, acupuncture
has gained much interest since President Nixon’s trip to China in 1972. A nationwide survey
in 1998 showed that office visits seeking alternative therapies are twice as many as those for
primary care and there are estimated five million visits to acupuncture practices alone. Acu‐
puncture needles have been classified as medical equipment, subject to the same standards
for medical needles, syringes, surgical scalpels since 1996. The National Institutes of Health
(NIH) organized a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture in 1997. The Con‐
ference recognized that acupuncture has been extensively practiced by many healthcare pro‐
viders to treat a wide variety of medical problems including pain conditions. A major
benefit of acupuncture therapy is that adverse events are substantially lower than that of
many medications and commonly accepted medical procedures. In the meantime, scientific
research has lead to the increasing understanding of acupuncture’s mechanisms, physiolog‐
ic impacts, and therapeutic effects. These promising developments in research and clinical
application of acupuncture therapy have established a new field of integrative medicine that
combines complementary and alternative medicine including acupuncture with western-
style medical practice.
Despite the progress in acupuncture therapy as an alternative treatment modality, current
clinical research on acupuncture still faces a number of challenges. For example, although
many studies on acupuncture treatment have been published, their scientific merits may be
limited by the study design and non-standardized acupuncture practices. It remains difficult
to maintain true blindness to patients and, in some cases to investigators, in clinical trials.
Non-specific needling (i.e. placing an acupuncture needle at an unintended acupoint) or
sham needling may elicit some response similar to that of active acupuncture treatment,
making it difficult to interpret trial outcomes because it is difficult to separate the placebo
effect from the actual acupuncture effect.
With regard to the practice of acupuncture, a plan for acupuncture treatment is often highly
individualized for a given condition and varies from one practitioner to another. As such, it
is rather difficult to compare treatment outcomes if a given clinical condition is treated with
different settings including acupoints, needling techniques (e.g., electrical versus manual),
duration of treatment for each session, and between-session intervals. Therefore, concerted
efforts should be made to standardize acupuncture clinical trials in order to improve scien‐
tific merits of such trials. Nonetheless, it can be anticipated that complementary medicine,
including acupuncture, will play a growing and positive role in pain management.
X Preface
This book offers comprehensive updates of current knowledge in acupuncture practice and
research. 18 chapters are divided into four categories: 1) Acupuncture Research; 2) New De‐
velopments in Acupuncture; 3) Acupuncture Therapy for Clinical Conditions and 4) Assess‐
ment and Accessibility of Acupuncture Therapy. The book is intended for physicians,
acupuncturists, medical students and other healthcare providers who are interested in acu‐
puncture therapy and research. These chapters are written by experienced and well-recog‐
nized acupuncture practitioners, clinicians and researchers from both private and academic
settings. The topics discussed in this book provide 1) a unique look at the current status and
new trends of acupuncture research, 2) comprehensive and analytic reviews of acupuncture
therapy for clinical disorders and conditions, and 3) up-to-date developments reviewed by
both scientists and clinicians.
Finally we sincerely thank the authors for their dedication and enormous contributions to
this project. We are also grateful to InTech Publisher for their support which made it possi‐
ble to publish this important book. As physicians and researchers, we hope the renewed in‐
terest in acupuncture therapy and research will take a deep root in the minds and practices
of many physicians and healthcare providers in order to accelerate the integration of acu‐
puncture into modern medicine.
Dr. Lucy L. Chen, M.D.
Massachusetts General Hospital,
Harvard Medical School,
Boston, MA, USA
Dr. Tsung O. Cheng, M.D.
George Washington University
Medical Center,
Washington, D.C., USA
Dedication
I dedicate this book to my family for their love and support. I also dedicate this book to my pa‐
tients for allowing me to do the most rewarding job in the world as a physician: to care for those
who are suffering.
Lucy L. Chen
