Unanticipated Insights into Biomedicine from the Study of Acupuncture

Abstract

Research into acupuncture has had ripple effects beyond the field of acupuncture. This paper identifies five exemplars to illustrate that there is tangible evidence of the way insights gleaned from acupuncture research have informed biomedical research, practice, or policy. The first exemplar documents how early research into acupuncture analgesia has expanded into neuroimaging research, broadening physiologic understanding and treatment of chronic pain. The second describes how the acupuncture needle has become a tool to enhance biomedical knowledge of connective tissue. The third exemplar, which illustrates use of a modified acupuncture needle as a sham device, focuses on emergent understanding of placebo effects and, in turn, on insights into therapeutic encounters in treatments unrelated to acupuncture. The fourth exemplar documents that two medical devices now in widespread use were inspired by acupuncture: transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulators for pain control and antinausea wrist bands. The final exemplar describes how pragmatic clinical trial designs applied in acupuncture research have informed current general interest in comparative effectiveness research. In conclusion, these exemplars of unanticipated outcomes of acupuncture research comprise an additional rationale for continued support of basic and clinical research evaluating acupuncture and other under-researched therapies.

Peripheral and Spinal Mechanisms of Pain and Dry Needling Mediated Analgesia: A Clinical Resource Guide for Health Care Professionals

“…Interestingly, despite significant evidence to the contrary, many within the profession have confined their use of DN to only targeting trigger points in muscle. Importantly, this narrow philosophy is likely due to the general exclusion of the acupuncture literature from the PT Profession [217] which ironically is conducted in the main by physiotherapists, [218] medical physicians [219][220][221][222] and PhDs, [223,224] not traditional Chinese acupuncturists. Certainly the terminology, theoretical constructs, and underlying science surrounding the insertion of needles without injectate is different among traditional Chinese acupuncture and Western-based DN communities; however, the actual technical delivery and the analgesic mechanisms underpinning such have many similarities between professions [2,225].…”

Inter-Rater Reliability in Traditional Chinese Medicine: Challenging Paradigmatic Assumptions

“…22,23 MacPherson et al suggest that acupuncture research has advanced biomedical insights in a number of key areas, including the therapeutic importance of the individual patient encounter. 24 In the long run, it may be that biomedicine itself can benefit from complexity-oriented research into the TCM diagnostic process, as long as such research is well informed by experts on TCM practice as well as clinimetrics and biostatistics.…”

Acupuncture for Infertility in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: What Does It Add?

“…The control situation in acupuncture trials is under continuous debate, and the main reason is because the nonpenetrating and the superficial acupuncture needle techniques are not completely inert as they result in modulation of limbic structures, suggesting that control or sham acupuncture evokes physiological responses. 52 Two of the previous trials evaluating the effect of acupuncture on menstrual function in women with PCOS did not use any sham-acupuncture procedure. 10,11 Of note, the ovulation rate for both active acupuncture and control acupuncture groups is similar to what observed in previous acupuncture trials, [10][11][12] and higher than in a trial comparing clomiphene citrate with metformin.…”

“…This is because there is no acupuncture control situation that is inert and also when placebo pharmacological treatment is given it activates central mechanisms. [52][53][54] Another factor that may affect the effect of acupuncture is patient's own expectations, as there is a strong psychological component in it. 55,56 Of interest, patient's expectation of the intervention with focus on acupuncture credibility was stronger for active acupuncture when rated after three treatments.…”