The Effectiveness of Acupuncture - Research Paper Example

Acupuncture Acupuncture is way to cure diseases through with the help of inserting needles in skin. This techniqueof medical care originated more than 2000 years ago in China. At present, the American practice of acupuncture has been derived from Korean, Chinese and Japanese way of acupuncture treatment. This technique is practiced by the insertion of hair thin needles through the skin at several strategic points of the body (Mediline plus). This ancient technique was practice of the Chinese people to relieve pain. Acupuncture is an effective technique. It helps in reducing vomiting and feeling of nausea in patient after chemotherapy and surgeries. Researchers have failed to understand fully that how this ancient technique of acupuncture works. Many researchers believe that this technique mainly targets the areas that cause pain and initiates the release of pain killing substances present in the human body. It is also found that this technique controls the flow of blood pressure. Chinese describe this traditional technique as a mean of balance the flow of energy known as CHI. This energy flows through different routes in the human body. The insertions of hair thin needles help in the flow of energy and rebalance it. Many western researchers have proved that this techniques target points which stimulates the tissues muscles and body nerves. This results in improvement of activity of the body’s own pain killer alongside increasing the movement of the blood in the system (Staff). RESEARCH CONDUCTED TO STUDY THE EFFECTIVENESS OF ACUPUNTURE EVALUATING THE CLINICAL EFFICACY OF ACUPUNTURE In traditional Chinese medical history, acupuncture is considered as a technique of inserting needles in the human body. These insertions of needles then start governing the pain and direct the flow of energy from the universe into the human body, from those points where the needles are inserted. It is not necessary that the needles be inserted at the points where one experiences pain. The main function of acupuncture is that it re-harmonizes the balance of hormones found in the human body. It is considered as a medical solution having the potential to cure many diseases (Diane Joswick). The most important problem related to this technique is that its concept does not merge with the medical science. This technique is based more on philosophical side then on practical research. Researchers have failed to explain what actually makes this practice work. All the studies that have been conducted so far have shown that the advantage and the side effects related to this technique are almost same. There are many researchers that have proved the efficacy of acupuncture. They have proved this through the help of experiments and clinical trial. Following are the findings of some researchers. TESTING ACUPUNCTURE’S EFFICAY In the case of acupuncture it is difficult to design double blind test as it is a technique not a medicine. It was really difficult to design an experiment in which to double blind both the acupuncturist and the patient as well. Therefore in many cases an experiment was conducted by the help of retractable needle, which showed as if an acupuncturist was penetrating needles in the skin whereas actually he wasn’t (Glenn D. Braunstein). The positron emission tomography (PET) showed that when the actual needles were inserted in the body, it created some changes in the brain but when the placebo needles were inserted they too resulted in the same effect as the actual needles. When acupuncture started being adopted by medical care unit for the treatment of patients, some German researchers conducted trials to determine its efficiency. These trials were conducted for the patients suffering from chronic low back pain. The result showed that 15% patients who were getting actual acupuncture treatment wanted more medication compared to the ones who were receiving sham acupuncture (34%) and the ones who were given conventional therapy (59%) (Glenn D. Braunstein, Huff Post Los Angeles). USE OF ACUPUNCTURE FOR THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION A research was conducted to study the effectiveness of acupuncture for depression disorders. The purpose of this systematic study was to cure many depression related diseases by analyzing its effects when mixed with anti-depressants or when used alone, especially to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture as mono therapy. This research was conducted to analyze the usefulness of acupuncture, especially in the treatment of depression related disorders such as major depression disorder and post-stroke depression (Zhang-Jin Zhanga, , Hai-Yong Chena, Ka-chee Yipb, Roger Ngb & Vivian Taam Wongc pp. 9-21). The methodology consisted of systematic review of literature related to acupuncture, review of the patient’s medical history. The meta-analysis took place on the basis of advance controlled trials. 207 clinical reports were studied, out of which 113 were on major depression disorder and 76 were on the post-stroke depression. It was analyzed that acupuncture as mono therapy is effective for major depression disorders but its effects were same as that of sham acupuncture. There was no evidence related to the fact that when acupuncture as mono therapy is mixed with anti-depressant, it could yield better result, than the implication of anti-depressant alone, in the treatment of major depression disorder. However, In the case of post-stroke depression, acupuncture proved to be more efficient than anti-depressants. The results showed that other chemical means can be replaced by acupuncture as mono therapy, because they showed effective results. It is also an effective way of healing the depression without the use of anti-depressants and other chemical medicines. It is a traditional technique and is being used for 2000 years to cure people diseases (Zhang-Jin Zhanga, , Hai-Yong Chena, Ka-chee Yipb, Roger Ngb & Vivian Taam Wongc. 9-21). RESEARCH ON COMBINE AFFECTS OF TRADITIONAL AND EAR ACUPUNCTURE. A research was carried out to determine the effectiveness of both the methods of technical acupuncture and ear acupuncture combines. Traditional and ear acupuncture has been use in since years to treat headache and other pains. In this research the sample was divided into two groups, the experimental group which consisted of the Traditional acupuncture treatment and the control group which was based on the combined acupuncture treatment. Patients were scheduled up to six mandatory treatment sessions over a three week period, and later on the treatment session was increased to 12 sessions. Pain in this experiment was recorded by using a visual analogue scale. When both the groups were compared there was not much difference between the two. The finding of this experiment concluded that pain was relieved in both the cases and especially headache was effectively treated along with many other diseases (Chang-Beohm Ahna, Sang-Ju Leeb, Jang-Cheon Leec, Fossiond & Antonio SantAnae 29-43). COCHRANE’S REVIEW Cochrane reviewed certain literature and medical reports to understand the effectiveness of acupuncture in acute back pain. His mission was to give evidence to prove that acupuncture can be very successful in curing low back pain. He studied that acupuncture is more effective in treatment of back pain when used with conventional therapy. It can be used for short term pain relief (Acupuncture Efficacy). He concluded that acupuncture was to an extent effective in improving the condition of nausea and vomiting after surgery and that too without any side effects. He concluded that the use of acupuncture can be better than antibiotic drugs. Due to some publications issues of unknown nature, Cochrane later changed his result stating the technique of acupuncture is equal to the medical treatment by drugs. Cochrane also mentioned many diseases, for which there is not sufficient evidence present, that acupuncture could help in their treatment. Some of them were epilepsy, insomnia, asthma, etc. NIH STATEMENT ABOUT ACUPUNCTURE In 1997, a statement was issued by national institution of health. This statement said that, despite of the fact that it is difficult to conduct a research about the effective of the procedure of acupuncture, in many cases it has proved and showed positive results. There is sufficient evidence regarding the effectiveness of this technique. They said that further study and research about this phenomenon should be encouraged. They also concluded that this technique has proved to be without any side effects & therefore it is better than many others. The use of acupuncture on medical level should only be allowed in the case when the clinician who is applying it, has complete knowledge about the procedure. CONCLUSION Acupuncture is a traditional technique, which as much effective as it was in the past. It is a cost effective technique that should be used in clinics and on the medical level. In a book by Miles Belgrade the following conclusion was drawn about the effectiveness of acupuncture. “It is not necessary that acupuncture is effective in all the cases. Acupuncture is a safe procedure but it must be applied by a skilled acupuncturist, with sterile needles. Acupuncture has shown superior result than sham acupuncture in the treatment of headache, in both children and adult. It has also shown satisfactory results in the treatment of back pain. Its side effects are lower than any other chemical and anti-biotic treatment; therefore it is a harmless procedure to try” (Belgrade). Works Cited "Acupuncture Efficacy." News medical 6 feburary 2013. Belgrade, Miles. Acupuncture for Chronic Osteoarthritis Pain, Headache, and Low Back Pain. Bloomington, Minn.: Institute for Clinical Systems Integration, 1997. Print. Chang-Beohm Ahna, Sang-Ju Leeb, Jang-Cheon Leec, Jean Pierre J. Fossiond, Antonio SantAnae. "Journal of Acupuncture and Meridian Studies." Elsevier 2011 march: 29-43. Diane Joswick, L.Ac., MSOM. "learning and resource article." acufinder.com 2013. Glenn D. Braunstein, M.D. Huff Post Los Angeles. 11 october 2010. 7 february 2013 . —. Huff Post Los Angeles. 11 october 2010. 7 february 2013 . Mediline plus. 11 september 2012. 6 february 2013 . Staff, Mayo clinic. Mayo Clinic. 2 august 2011. 6 february 2013 . Zhang-Jin Zhanga, , Hai-Yong Chena, Ka-chee Yipb, Roger Ngb, Vivian Taam Wongc. "The effectiveness and safety of acupuncture therapy in depressive disorders: Systematic review and meta-analysis." Elsivier july 2010: 9-21. Read More