The concept of inflammation and its relationship to acupuncture

Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients,  May, 2005  by Honora Lee Wolfe

• E-mail
• Print
• Link

The Western medical term inflammation has very specific meanings, classically involving 'calor,' 'rubor,' and 'dolor' as part of the definition. This older definition has been expanded in recent years to include changes in blood markers such as C-reactive proteins and leukotrienes. In Chinese medicine and acupuncture, when patients present with Western medical inflammatory diseases, we must still do a pattern discrimination and treat based on the pathomechanisms described by Chinese medicine. By basing treatment upon the patterns presented, we often find that the patient's inflammatory symptomology has been significantly relieved.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

The research studies described below are good examples of how acupuncture and supporting modalities such as heat therapy and tuina (Chinese therapeutic massage) can interfere with or completely reverse inflammatory processes in both organic diseases (in this case colitis) and musculoskeletal diseases (arthritis of the shoulder).

"A Report on the Treatment of 20 Cases of Chronic Colitis with Spirit Damp Illumination Combined with Electro-acupuncture" by Dr. Ma Hai-ying. This study appeared on page 37 of issue #9, 2004 of Gan Su Zhong Yi (Gansu Chinese Medicine)

Cohort description: There were 11 males and nine females enrolled in this study. The youngest was 21 years old and the oldest was 65. These patients had suffered from colitis for from 1-5 years. No other description of these patients was offered.

Treatment method: Patients were needled at Tian Shu (St 25), Zhong Wan (CV 12), Guan Yuan (CV 4), and Zu San Li (St 36, bilaterally). These needles were inserted 1.5 inches deep. After obtaining the qi, they were attached to a BT701-B type electro-acupuncture machine and stimulated with a continuous wave to the degree that the patient could bear. At the same time, Shen Jue (CV 8) was treated with "spirit lamp illumination." My assumption is that this is a form of infra-red heat lamp, although indirect moxibustion could also be used to produce the same effect. The lamp was positioned 30cm above Shen Jue. Treatment lasted 30 minutes each time, was done once per day, and 12 treatments equaled one course.

Study outcomes: Cure was defined as complete disappearance of symptoms as well as a return to normal. Improvement was defined as disappearance of abdominal pain and normal bowel movements after three courses of treatment. Based on these criteria, 16 cases were cured and four cases improved. Therefore, the total effectiveness was 100%.

Discussion: According to Dr. Ma, the purpose of the electro-acupuncture and the heat therapy at Shen Jue were to supplement vacuity and support the righteous, regulate the spleen and stomach and rectify the lower burner, boost the fire of the life-gate, warm the center and scatter cold, thus improving the rottening and ripening of water and grains. Readers should note, however, that Dr. Ma did have to treat every day for at least 12 days and, in some cases, for 36 days in order to achieve these impressive results.

Translator's discussion: While Dr. Ma uses only the terminology of Chinese medicine to describe his treatment and its outcomes, colitis is an inflammatory process disease according to the Western medical paradigm. Since we can see that the combination of acupuncture and heat therapy has a positive impact on these colitis sufferers, we can posit that the inflammatory process that Western medicine says causes the colitis has been successfully reversed.

"The Treatment of 80 Cases of Arthritis of the Shoulder by Acupuncturing Zu San Li (St 36)," by Bao Tie-zhou. This article appeared on pages 604-605 of issue #10, 2004 of the Shan Dong Zhong Yi Za Zhi (Shandong Journal of Chinese Medicine).

Cohort description: Altogether, there were 130 patients in this two-wing comparison study. These 130 patients were randomly divided into two groups, an acupuncture group and a tuina group. There were 80 patients in the acupuncture group, 41 males and 39 females 20-65 years of age, with an average age of 43 years. These patients had been suffering from this condition for 1-12 months. There were 50 patients in the tuina group, 26 males and 24 females 22-68 years of age, with an average age of 46 years. These patients had had arthritis of the shoulder for 2-12 months. Therefore, in terms of sex, age, and disease duration, it was judged that these two groups were statistically comparable. In addition, these patients' disease was divided into three stages, early, middle, and late. In the early stage, there was mainly aching and pain of the shoulder region, but movement and use were not affected, even though use may have made the pain worse. In the middle stage, the aching and pain of the early stage had remitted. However, there was pressure point and function was affected by adhesions. This was also called the joint stiffness stage. In the late stage, also called the frozen and bound stage, there was drooping of the shoulder and both motion and use or function were definitely affected to the point of causing disability in lifestyle and work.