The Traditional View if Acupuncture Therapy
Acupuncture treats the human body as a whole and involves several “systems of function” that are in many cases associated with physical organs and this is from a traditional Chinese medical view. Disease is understood as a loss of the body’s natural regulatory mechanisms among these systems of function. The treatment of disease is attempted by modifying the activity of one or more systems of function through the application of needles, pressure, or heat on sensitive parts of the body traditionally called “acupuncture points” in English, or “xue” in Chinese.

Traditional Chinese medical theory says that acupuncture works by normalizing the balance of ”vital energy” throughout the body. It is by attempting to remedy local or systemic accumulations or deficiencies of qi that pain or illnesses are treated by. Pain or disease is indicates blockage or stagnation of the flow of qi.

Many patients claim to experience the sensations of stimulus known in Chinese as “deqi” or obtaining the “qi”. This kind of sensation was considered in history to be evidence of effectively locating the desired point. A lot of electronic devices are now available that will make a noise when what they have been programmed to describe as the “correct” acupuncture point is pressed. An acupuncturist will decide which points to treat by thoroughly questioning the patient and utilizing a variety of diagnostic skills.

The Layman’s View of Acupuncture
The traditional view of acupuncture utilizes the concept of qi to define the processes involved in acupuncture treatment. The nature of qi is highly controversial and the controversy in Chinese philosophy as to the nature of qi still exists. Due to this, perhaps the easiest way to envision how acupuncture works is by analogy.

Electrical circuits are something most people are familiar with. Consider a light switch and the light itself. Although a light switch is located on a wall, it is capable of controlling a light on the ceiling. It can do this because there are wires inside the wall running from the switch to the light. When the switch is off, there is no light; when the switch is flipped on, the light turns on. Similarly, one might consider the body as having the same types of switches all over to control the body’s functions. The “switches” are called acupuncture points.

Some of these points function much like a light switch and they do only one thing. For instance, some points are very good at relieving pain. Using the right points in combination, pain can often be turned off like a switch.

Another type of acupuncture point may act more like a thermostat that controls the temperature in a house. A thermostat allows one to set a temperature that is the most comfortable to them, and a heater goes on and off to adjust the heat or cold. Similarly, certain acupuncture points adjust things like stress response, energy and insomnia.

The patients were subjected to pain in a form of a small prick inside or outside their upper lip. The fMRI showed that all 12 patients reacted to the pain stimulus since there was an increased blood flow to their parietal areas and brain stems.

At the same time with being pricked with the filament, seven patients received the traditional acupuncture at the Hegu point, an acupoint that is located between the forefinger and thumb. The rest of the five patients received electroacupunture Hegu point with the use of low-level electrical current that travels through the needle.

During 30 minutes of the treatment process, each patient were asked to rate the pain level on a scale of one to 10 every five minutes while the fMRI was continually monitoring their brains. Four out of the seven patients who received traditional acupuncture showed considerably decreased levels of brain activity associated with pain in their fMRI.

The response was even greater with those patients who were receiving electroacupunture. Five patients who were receiving electrical stimulation showed a decrease in their pain-related brain activity. Plus these patients showed a much higher tolerance to pain than those patients receiving the traditional acupuncture treatment.

The study’s lead author, Dr. Huey-Jen Lee said, “We could see the brain activity associated with the pain subsiding even as the patients reported they were experiencing relief.” He also added that the increase tolerance to pain was not due to placebo effect since the MRI since showed different brain activity. “The brain actually shows differences and that is convincing,” Lee said.

The results were favorable to those who have been looking for proof that acupuncture really works. But as a precaution, it is wise not to jump to conclusions since the study is still premature and they are still gathering more data to support this.

Together with his team, Dr. Lee is foreseeing to conduct more studies in the future to determine if acupuncture can help relieve chronic pain in cancer patients. Although a lot of researchers are reasonable enough to think that acupuncture may not be the solution to chronic pain but at least the study can eventually help in reducing the dosage of certain pain medications and NSAIDs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. This way, drug side-effects can be lessened or even avoided.

Dr. Lee concluded, “It is important for Western medicine to recognize that these acupoints really mean something in regard to pain relief. So many people with pain, whether from cancer, headache or a chronic, unexplained condition, rely on medications such as morphine, which can become addicting. Acupuncture as no side effects and other studies have shown the pain relief it provides can last for months.”