In this study, we investigated the effect of acupuncture at the Zusanli acupoint (ST36) on the nigrostriatal dopaminergic neuronal cell death in the rats with Parkinson's disease. Two weeks after unilateral injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) into the striatum, an apomorphine-induced rotational behavior test showed significant rotational asymmetry in the rats with Parkinson's disease. Immun...

Background. The specificity of acupuncture points (acupoints) is one of the key concepts in traditional acupuncture theory, but the question of whether there is adequate scientific evidence to prove or disprove specificity has been vigorously debated in recent years. Acupoint laterality is an important aspect of acupoint specificity. Data is particularly scarce regarding the laterality of the s...

OBJECTIVES To assess the effect of acupoint stimulation with electrodes combined with acupressure using an aromatic essential oil (lavender) as an add-on-treatment on pain relief and enhancing the physical functional activities among adults with sub-acute or chronic non-specific low back pain. DESIGN Randomised controlled trial. SETTING The community centre, Old-Aged Home and Women Workers ...

Objectives. To evaluate the effectiveness of acupressure on the Taichong acupoint in lowering systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) in hypertensive patients. Methods. Eighty patients with hypertension attending a cardiology outpatient department in central Taiwan were included in this randomized clinical trial. Acupressure was applied to the Taichong acupoint in the experimental group (n =...

Smoking represents a serious worldwide public health problem because of its close association with the development of chronic disease and cancer. Acupoint stimulation has been used as treatment mode for smoking cessation but its efficacy remains controversial. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to determine the effects of acupoint stimulation on smoking cessation rate and daily ciga...

The expression of the anti-apoptotic molecules Bcl-2 and transforming growth factor-beta 1 is known to confer protective effects on the cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury. The current study investigated the expression levels of Bcl-2 and transforming growth factor-beta 1 in response to multiple pre-ischemia electro-acupuncture at acupoints Zusanli (ST36) and Fengchi (GB20) stimulation. Rats w...

Aquapuncture is a modified acupuncture technique and it is generally accepted that it has a greater therapeutic effect than acupuncture because of the combination of the acupoint stimulation and the pharmacological effect of the drugs. However, to date, the mechanisms underlying the effects of aquapuncture remain unclear. We hypothesized that both the change in the local spatial configuration a...

Purpose Primary dysmenorrhea is highly prevalent among adolescent women and a major cause of activity restriction. Standard pharmaceuticals for dysmenorrhea have side effects that may limit their use. Acupoint injection of vitamin K has been used to treat dysmenorrhea at the Obstetrics & Gynecology Hospital in Shanghai, China since at least 1985. The purpose of this study was to examine feasibi...

Bee venom (BV) has traditionally been used in Oriental medicine to relieve pain and to treat in ̄ammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA). While several investigators have evaluated the anti-in ̄ammatory effect of BV treatment, the anti-nociceptive effect of BV treatment on in ̄ammatory pain has not been examined. Previous studies in experimental animals suggest that the therapeutic eff...

PURPOSE To evaluate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS), postvoid residual urine (PVR), and maximum urinary flow rate (Qmax), and explore the difference between EA at acupoints and non-acupoints in patients with moderate to severe benign prostate hyperplasia (BPH). SUBJECTS AND METHODS Men with BPH and IPSS ≥8 were enrolled. Participants w...