Acupuncture Analgesia
Over forty years of research have been devoted to Acupuncture Analgesia. On November 3rd 1997, the National Institute of Health sponsored a NIH Consensus Development Conference to evaluate the scientific and medical data on the uses, risks, and benefits of acupuncture procedure for a variety of conditions. Most of the research was on diverse pain conditions. Since 1965 the research team of Professor Jisheng Han, of Beijing Medical University Health and Science, has devoted themselves to the clarification of the neurochemical mechanisms of pain relief by acupuncture. Over 300 scientific papers have been published in the past 4 decades.
The ancient healing art of acupuncture seems to be revitalized in the era of modern medical sciences due to the identification of its high costeffectiveness and the partial unraveling of its scientific mechanisms of action. Hubei Science and Technology Press has published in 1998, in English, the summary of the research achievements on the Neurochemical Basis of Pain relief by Acupuncture obtained in the years 1987-1997 by Professor Jisheng Han. The use of modern scientific methodology is absolutely essential for the clarification of the scientific basis of acupuncture therapy. Research on the physiology of acupuncture has been contributing to the development of neuroscience from the molecular level to the behavioral. High-quality scientific research will certainly pave the way for the acceptance and more popular use of acupuncture and related techniques for the benefit of patients suffering from chronic pain and many other functional disorders.
