Any decision you make about your health care is important–including deciding whether to use acupuncture. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) has developed this fact sheet to provide you with information on acupuncture. It includes frequently asked questions, issues to consider, and a list of sources for further information. Terms that are underlined are defined at the end of this fact sheet.
Definition
Complementary and alternative medicine (CAM): A group of diverse medical and health care systems, practices, and products that are not presently considered an integral part of conventional medicine. Complementary medicine is used together with conventional medicine, and alternative medicine is used in place of conventional medicine. Some health care providers practice both CAM and conventional medicine.
Conventional medicine: A whole medical system practiced by holders of M.D. (medical doctor) or D.O. (doctor of osteopathy) degrees and by their allied health professionals, such as physical therapists, psychologists, and registered nurses. Other terms for conventional medicine include allopathy; Western, mainstream, and orthodox medicine; and biomedicine.
Fibromyalgia: A complex chronic condition having multiple symptoms, including muscle pain, fatigue, and tenderness in precise, localized areas, particularly in the neck, spine, shoulders, and hips. People with this syndrome may also experience sleep disturbances, morning stiffness, irritable bowel syndrome, anxiety, and other symptoms.
Meridian: A traditional Chinese medicine term for each of the 20 pathways throughout the body for the flow of qi, or vital energy, accessed through acupuncture points.
Placebo: An inactive pill or sham procedure given to a participant in a research study as part of a test of the effects of another substance or treatment. Scientists use placebos to get a true picture of how the substance or treatment under investigation affects participants. In recent years, the definition of placebo has been expanded to include such things as aspects of interactions between patients and their health care providers that may affect their expectations and the study's outcomes.
Preclinical study: A study done to obtain information about a treatment's safety and side effects when given at different doses to animals or to cells grown in the laboratory.
Qi: A Chinese term for vital energy or life force. In traditional Chinese medicine, qi (pronounced "chee") is believed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance, and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin and yang.
Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM): A whole medical system that was documented in China by the 3rd century B.C. TCM is based on a concept of vital energy, or qi, that is believed to flow throughout the body. It is proposed to regulate a person's spiritual, emotional, mental, and physical balance and to be influenced by the opposing forces of yin (negative energy) and yang (positive energy). Disease is proposed to result from the flow of qi being disrupted and yin and yang becoming unbalanced. Among the components of TCM are herbal and nutritional therapy, restorative physical exercises, meditation, acupuncture, and remedial massage.
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References
1. Culliton PD. Current utilization of acupuncture by United States patients. Abstract presented at: National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture; 1997.
2. Barnes PM, Powell-Griner E, McFann K, Nahin RL. Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. CDC Advance Data Report #343. 2004.
3. American Academy of Medical Acupuncture. Doctor, What's This Acupuncture All About? A Brief Explanation. American Academy of Medical Acupuncture Web site. Accessed at www.medicalacupuncture.org/acu_info/articles/aboutacupuncture.html on December 14, 2004.
4. Lao L. Safety issues in acupuncture. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1996;2(1):27-31.
5. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Acupuncture needles no longer investigational. FDA Consumer. 1996;30(5). Also available at: www.fda.gov/fdac/departs/596_upd.html.
6. Lytle CD. An Overview of Acupuncture. Rockville, MD: U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Center for Devices and Radiological Health; 1993.
7. Berman BM, Lao L, Langenberg P, et al. Effectiveness of acupuncture as adjunctive therapy in osteoarthritis of the knee: a randomized, controlled trial. Annals of Internal Medicine. 2004;141(12):901-910.
8. National Institutes of Health Consensus Panel. Acupuncture: National Institutes of Health Consensus Development Statement. National Institutes of Health Web site. Accessed at odp.od.nih.gov/consensus/cons/107/107_statement.htm on December 14, 2004.
9. Eskinazi DP. NIH Technology Assessment Workshop on Alternative Medicine: Acupuncture. Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, April 21-22, 1994. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. 1996;2(1):1-256.
10. Tang NM, Dong HW, Wang XM, et al. Cholecystokinin antisense RNA increases the analgesic effect induced by electroacupuncture or low dose morphine: conversion of low responder rats into high responders. Pain. 1997;71(1):71-80.
11. Cheng XD, Wu GC, He QZ, et al. Effect of electroacupuncture on the activities of tyrosine protein kinase in subcellular fractions of activated T lymphocytes from the traumatized rats. Acupuncture and Electro-Therapeutics Research. 1998;23(3-4):161-170.
12. Chen LB, Li SX. The effects of electrical acupuncture of Neiguan on the PO2 of the border zone between ischemic and non-ischemic myocardium in dogs. Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. 1983;3(2):83-88.
13. Lee HS, Kim JY. Effects of acupuncture on blood pressure and plasma renin activity in two-kidney one clip Goldblatt hypertensive rats. American Journal of Chinese Medicine. 1994;22(3-4):215-219.
14. Okada K, Oshima M, Kawakita K. Examination of the afferent fiber responsible for the suppression of jaw-opening reflex in heat, cold, and manual acupuncture stimulation in rats. Brain Research. 1996;740(1-2):201-207.
15. Takeshige C. Mechanism of acupuncture analgesia based on animal experiments. In: Pomerantz B, Stux G, eds. Scientific Bases of Acupuncture. Berlin, Germany: Springer-Verlag; 1989.
16. Lee BY, LaRiccia PJ, Newberg AB. Acupuncture in theory and practice. Hospital Physician. 2004;40:11-18.
17. White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy: Final Report. March 2002. White House Commission on Complementary and Alternative Medicine Policy Web site. Accessed at www.whccamp.hhs.gov/finalreport.html on December 14, 2004.
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For More Information
NCCAM Clearinghouse
The NCCAM Clearinghouse provides information on CAM and on NCCAM, including publications and searches of Federal databases of scientific and medical literature. The Clearinghouse does not provide medical advice, treatment recommendations, or referrals to practitioners.
Toll-free in the U.S.: 1-888-644-6226
TTY (for deaf and hard-of-hearing callers): 1-866-464-3615
Web site: nccam.nih.gov
E-mail: [email protected]
CAM on PubMed®
CAM on PubMed, a database on the Web developed jointly by NCCAM and the National Library of Medicine, offers abstracts of articles in scientifically based, peer-reviewed journals on complementary and alternative medicine. Some abstracts link to the full text of articles.
Web site: www.nlm.nih.gov/nccam/camonpubmed.html
ClinicalTrials.gov
ClinicalTrials.gov is a database of information on clinical trials, primarily in the United States and Canada, for a wide range of diseases and conditions. It is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Web site: www.clinicaltrials.gov
Key Points
* Acupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago, making it one of the oldest and most commonly used medical procedures in the world.
* It is important to inform all of your health care providers about any treatment that you are using or considering, including acupuncture. Ask about the treatment procedures that will be used and their likelihood of success for your condition or disease.
* Be an informed consumer and find out what scientific studies have been done on the effectiveness of acupuncture for your health condition.
* If you decide to use acupuncture, choose the practitioner with care. Also check with your insurer to see if the services will be covered.
