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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.

CINNAMON INDUCES BLOOD VESSEL FORMATION

Categories: Herb research

Cinnamon extract, which has been used in Chinese medicine to improve blood circulation, can induce angiogenesis (formation of blood vessels). Korean researchers observed the effect of ethanol extract of Cinnamomum cassia (Gui Zhi) on angiogenic processes and found that it induced endothelial cell proliferation, migration and the formation of tubule-like structures in vitro. In in vivo studies, the ...

PATIENT EXPERIENCE OF PLACEBO ACUPUNCTURE

Categories: Acupuncture research

Qualitative analysis of the experiences of patients who underwent placebo treatment as part of the above Harvard IBS trial reveals the complexity of the phenomenon and the effect of taking part in such a study. Almost all subjects reported improvement ranging from dramatic psychosocial changes to clear, progressive symptom improvement, as well as tentative impressions of benefit. In addition they ...

QUALITY OF PATIENT-PRACTITIONER INTERACTION INFLUENCES PLACEBO RESPONSE

Categories: Acupuncture research

The quality of patient-practitioner interaction may be important in eliciting a strong placebo response to acupuncture. Harvard researchers performed an analysis of videotape and psychometric data from a clinical trial of patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) who were treated with placebo acupuncture in either a warm empathic interaction (augmented group), a neutral interaction (limited gro ...

Anxiety influences physiological effects of acupuncture

Categories: Acupuncture research

Patient anxiety could have an important influence on the physiological response to acupuncture and modify physiological outcomes in acupuncture research. Australian researchers studied the influence of acupuncture on the balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic regulation of the heartbeat, using analysis of heart rate variability (HRV). Sixty healthy female subjects were divided into a no-t ...

SAFETY OF ACUPUNCTURE

Categories: Acupuncture research

German researchers have pooled the results of several large trials of acupuncture to evaluate its safety. A total of 229,230 patients received an average of ten acupuncture treatments. Altogether 19,726 patients (8.6%) reported experiencing at least one adverse effect and 4,963 (2.2%) reported one that required treatment. Common adverse effects were bleeding or haematoma (6.1% of patients, 58% of ...

Acupuncture enhances recovery from exercise

Categories: Acupuncture research

Acupuncture can reduce blood lactic acid and enhance recovery from muscle fatigue after exercise, according to Taiwanese scientists. Thirty male university basketball players were randomly assigned to three groups: acupuncture, sham and no treatment. Acupuncture was carried out at Neiguan P-6 and Zusanli ST-36 beginning 15 minutes prior to exercise and continuing until exhaustion of the subject. I ...

New model for acupuncture analgesia

Categories: Acupuncture research

An Australian author has presented a new model for acupuncture anaesthesia. According to his hypothesis, C fibre tactile afferent axons bifurcate at acupuncture points and then diverge, running along acupuncture meridians, to subsequently communicate with Merkel cells. These are sensory cells which are essential for light touch responses. Each Merkel cell is intimately associated with an afferent ...

Real acupuncture turns up the heat

Categories: Acupuncture research

German scientists have used infrared thermography to distinguish between the effect of needling Hegu L.I.-4 and sham acupuncture (needling at a non-acupoint). Thermographic imaging was performed on 50 healthy volunteers randomly assigned to four procedures: acupuncture at Hegu L.I.-4 with needle manipulation, needling of a cutaneous non-acupuncture point, needling of a muscular non-acupuncture poi ...

EAR ELECTRO-ACUPUNCTURE INCREASES VAGAL ACTIVITY

Categories: Acupuncture research

Electrostimulation of auricular acupuncture points can increase the activity of the vagus nerve, according to the results of a Swiss experiment. Fourteen healthy men participated in four examinations: a no-intervention control, a placebo control and manual and electro-acupuncture (EA) on the concha of the ear (where there is neuroanatomical evidence for vagal afferents). EA, but not manual acupunc ...