• Corpus ID: 16856672

Science-based Mechanisms to Explain the Action of Acupuncture

@inproceedings{Wong2010SciencebasedMT,
  title={Science-based Mechanisms to Explain the Action of Acupuncture},
  author={Man C. Wong and Hui Jun Shen},
  year={2010}
}

• M. Wong, H. Shen
• Published 2010
• Biology

Although acupuncture has been practiced for thousands years in China, it is still not recognized by and incorporated in the conventional (Western) medicine in many countries. One of the reasons is lack of clear science-based mechanistic explanation for the action of acupuncture. There are some hypotheses on how acupuncture works: local mechanotransduction, neurohumoral theory and morphogenetic singularity theory, etc. Needling in the skin elicits a local mechanical deformation and body’s reaction results in a self-healing process. According to the neurohumoral theory, acupuncture stimulates the release of various neurochemical substances, which have an analgesic and overall relaxing effect. The gate-control theory, believes that acupuncture blocks pain signals from reaching the brain by generating a competing stimulus in the spinal cord. The morphogenetic singularity theory states that acupuncture points and meridians originate from the organizing centers in the developing embryo. The rationale and plausibility of each theory is briefly discussed.