A Chinese medical technique, acupuncture has been practiced for more than 4,000 years. It is used primarily for the relief of pain but also for curing disease and improving general health.

Modern Research

Acupuncture appears to be undeniably effective in relieving pain. Western observers have witnessed ordinarily painful surgical operations carried out on fully conscious Chinese patients who were locally anesthetized only by acupuncture and who exhibited no signs of discomfort. The reasons for acupuncture's success, however, are not understood. One theory suggests that the needle insertions stimulate the body's production of such natural pain-killing chemical substances as endorphins and enkephalins. Another theory suggests that acupuncture blocks the transmission of pain impulses from parts of the body to the central nervous system.

Although still regarded legally in the United States as an experimental medical procedure, acupuncture has been used extensively in research projects in hospitals and medical centers throughout Asia, Europe, and North and South America for the relief of pain during and after dental procedures and in some surgical operations. It has also been used to control blood pressure, to relieve muscle spasms and arthritic pain, and to alleviate symptoms associated with withdrawal from drug addiction, with appetite control, and with many other conditions. In some people and in certain medical conditions, it is not always effective. At one time it was believed that acupuncture was related in some way to hypnosis, but extensive experiments in animals undergoing surgery in veterinary hospitals has disproven that assumption.

Ancient Theory and Modern Revival

It has been difficult for modern physicians to accept acupuncture as an effective procedure for the treatment of certain conditions. This is primarily because of the elaborate systems of fanciful theories that were developed thousands of years ago by the early practitioners of acupuncture to explain its mechanisms of action. For example, the ancient Chinese designated the master force that coordinates and controls the fundamental activities of different organs in the body as vital energy, or ch'i. Modern science teaches that the nervous system and various chemical and hormonal substances (neurotransmitters) perform the functions that the ancients attributed to ch'i.

Ancient theorists also held that two opposite forces in the body, called yin and yang, could be kept in balance by acupuncture, thereby promoting health and controlling disease. They believed that ch'i flowed through the body along a system of channels, or meridians, on which more than 500 acupuncture points were located. Acupuncture is said to affect the distribution of yin and yang in these channels, bringing them into balance so that the ch'i could flow freely and so bring both physical and emotional health. Modern scientific studies have failed to demonstrate an anatomic meridian system. They have shown, however, that acupuncture points are more richly supplied with nerve endings than are the surrounding skin areas. (See also Yin and Yang.)

In 1972 acupuncture received great publicity, particularly in the United States, as an indirect result of President Richard M. Nixon's trip to China. A newspaper correspondent who had accompanied Nixon reported on the pain relief provided by acupuncture after his emergency appendectomy. Since that time many United States physicians and dentists have been trained to administer acupuncture in courses authorized by state governments, and modern research is revealing more and more of the physiological basis for its effects. In the late 1980s, 47 states had laws or regulations governing the practice of acupuncture.