Clinical Acupuncture: Scientific Basis

ISBN-13: 9783540640547 / Angielski / Miękka / 2000 / 227 str.

Richard Hammerschlag; Gabriel Stux; R. Hammerschlag

Opis

In 1988, when "Scientific Bases of Acupuncture" was published, its edi- tors noted that 12 years had passed since the acupuncture endorphin hypothesis was first postulated, an event that marked the start of serious basic research on acupuncture. The editors also suggested that more was known about the mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia than many pro- cedures of conventional medicine and, in consequence, it was time to stop referring to acupuncture as an "experimental procedure. " Now another 12 years have passed. Acupuncture research, both basic and clinical, has greatly expanded. Modern biomedical techniques, including those of molecular biology and medical imaging, have revealed increasingly detailed physiological correlates of acupuncture action. Clinical researchers from Europe, North America, and Asia have devised a variety of protocols to test acupuncture efficacy according to generally accepted standards for randomized controlled trials. A critical review of acupuncture research by the United States Food and Drug Administra- tion resulted in the label "experimental" being legally removed from the packaging of acupuncture needles in 1996, just as the editors of "Scien- tific Bases of Acupuncture" had proposed. A year later, again in large part a result of increased and improved acupuncture research, a consen- sus conference on acupuncture convened by the U. S. National Institutes of Health concluded its panel report with the endorsement " . . . there is sufficient evidence of acupuncture's value to expand its use into conven- tional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value" (JAMA 280:1518-24).

Recenzje

 

If you have any interest in how effective your acupuncture may be, in carrying out research, or in supporting the ever-growing momentum of the acupuncture research movement, this book is an essential vade-mecum. Do read it. David F. Mayor, Clinical Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine

 

Practitioners of Chinese medicine, teachers, students, researchers, and health policy makers alike will benefit form reading this stimulating collection of essays. Highly recommended! Velia Wortman, Anglo-Dutch Institute for Oriental Medicine, Duinlust, Overveen, the Netherlands

Spis treści

1 Acupuncture Analgesia - Basic Research.- 2 Mechanisms of Acupuncture Analgesia Produced by-Low Frequency Electrical Stimulation of Acupuncture Points.- 3 Opioid and Antiopioid Peptides: A Model of Yin-Yang Balance in Acupuncture Mechanisms of Pain Modulation.- 4 The Past, Present, and Future of Meridian System Research.- 5 Functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging of the Brain in the Investigation of Acupuncture.- 6 Neurophysiological Basis of Auricular Acupuncture.- 7 Assessing Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture: What Has Been Learned from Systematic Reviews of Acupuncture?.- 8 An Overview of Acupuncture in the Treatment of Stroke, Addiction, and Other Health Problems.- 9 Beyond Numbers: Qualitative Research Methods for Oriental Medicine.- 10 Proposed Standards of Acupuncture Treatment for Clinical Studies.- 11 Assessing Clinical Efficacy of Acupuncture: Considerations for Designing Future Acupuncture Trials.- 12 Future Directions for Research on the Physiology of Acupuncture.

Blurb

There is a large increase in interest in acupuncture by health care consumers. The three main reasons for this are medical effectiveness, cost effectiveness and the credibility that clinical trials and physiological research have provided. Acupuncture is rapidly moving out of the arena of "alternative" medicine, in large part again because it is grounded more firmly than other alternative treatments in research. The book provides the reader with the up-to-date information on the clinical bases of acupuncture.