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USA Notes

What is it?

Acupuncture has over 3,500 years' history in China, which is used to prevent and treat disease. Now, this ancient techinique has been greatly popularized and developed and is becoming an increasingly important component of world medicine.

In less than 25 years, Acupuncture has bceome a form of medicine licensed and regulated in most 50 states in America. Today, acupunctre is practiced in hospitals and clinics nationwide and coverd by government and private health insurance providers. Health Insurance Companies are becoming more and more aware of the cost effectiveness of acupuncture as a form of healthcare.

How does it works?TOP

Acupuncture is an important component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, which views health as constantly changing flow of energy, or "Qi". Qi flows through the whole body via certain routines. when human body become sick, the flow of Qi also changed. The flow energy of human body is also affected by the natural enviroment. Windy, injury, working stress... all these factors can rebel or prohibit the smoothly flow of Qi. Therefor, acupunture practitioner inserts hair-thin needles into specific points (which there are over 400 points in the body) to stimulate and regulate the flow of Qi. Acupuncturists believe that the therapy stumulates the body's internal regulatory system and nurtures a natural healing response.

"Although Western science has neither proven or accepted the notion of Qi, a large body of evidence is accumulating incidicating that acupuncture leads to real physiologic changes in the body. Numerous studies have shown, for example, that inserting needles into the skin stimulates nerves in the underlying muscles. This stumulation, researchers feel, sends impulses up the spinal cord to a relatively primitive part of the brain known as the limbic system, as well as to the midbrain and the pituitaly gland. Somehow that signaling leads to the release of endorphins and monoamines, chemicals that block pain signals in the spinal chord and brain.

In one study, researchers using brain scans discovered that acupuncture can alter blood circulation within the brain., increasing the blood flow to the thalamus, the area of the brain that relays pain and other sensory mesages. " ---Whole Healthmd

Health BenefitsTOP

Acupuncture has been cited by the World Health Organization to treat over 43 conditions, including postoperative pain after dental sergery and for nausea induced by chemotherapy, pregnancy("morning sickness"), and anesthesia. The National Institutes of Health panel also called acupuncture a useful adjunct and acceptable treatment for a variety conditions, including fibromyalgia, stroke rehabilitation, asthma, headache, and carpal tunnel syndrome. Using acupuncture to treat health problems of people has been growing in popularity; a Kaiser study conducted in 1996 found that 57.2 percent of primary care physicians in Northern California used or recommended acupuncture in the previous year. And according to the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine, nearly one out of every 10 adults in the United States has tried acupuncture.

How to choose a Practitioner ?TOP

There are an estimated 14,000 licensed and certified acupuncturists in the United States. Most states allow physicians to perform this procedure (the basic level of acupuncture training for medical acupuncturists is a 200- to 300-hour couse). It's best to look for a physician acupuncturist who meets specific state acupuncture requirements, and/or is certified by the American Board of Medical Acupuncture.

Kevin, Dai, California Licensed Acupuntruist, graduated from University of Chinese Traditonal Medicine, with 5 years' academy study (over 6,000 hours), including over 2,000 hours Western Medicine training. More than 10 years practical experience in China, Japan and USA with good experience. Now, he is also teaching Chinese Internal Medicine, Herb, and Herb Pharmacology at the University of East-West Medicine.

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