Current Tracking on Effectiveness and Mechanisms of Acupuncture Therapy: A Literature Review of High-Quality Studies

This study summarized the dominant diseases of acupuncture focusing on of acupuncture efficacy and mechanisms, and discussed the existing problems, highlighting the direction of future developments. Most clinical studies were published in journals with journal impact factor (JIF) score of 10 or above, and majority of the basic researches had JIF scores of 5 to 10. The above literature were further divided according to the International Classification of Diseases (ICD). The most concerned diseases in these articles were neurological diseases, musculoskeletal system and connective tissue diseases, tumor and digestive system diseases. The therapeutic effect and mechanism of acupuncture on each kind of disease were summarized. The results showed that the therapeutic effect of acupuncture on nerve injury focused on the anti-oxidation pathway, neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory processes. The antiinflammatory effect also played an important role in the treatment of musculoskeletal diseases. The analgesic effect was underlined in most of these studies. Clinical trials were well carried out on acupuncture curative effect of tumor complications and side effects of chemo-radiotherapy, but the potential mechanisms have not been clarified. Somato-visceral reflex was suggested to be strongly associated with the effects of acupuncture changing the motor activity of the gastrointestinal tract. Functional magnetic resonance imaging studies indicated that non-specific effects play importan...
Source: Chinese Journal of Integrative Medicine - Category: Internal Medicine Source Type: research