How does acupuncture fever start in the US ?

Many people know Mr Henry Kissinger's secret trip from Pakistan to Beijing in 1971 paving the way for President Nixon's visit to China in 1972. To report this, the first U.S. reporter James Reston (1909e1995) was invited by Chinese government to visit China. When he arrived at Beijing at 12th July 1971 and it was too late because Mr Henry Kissinger has already left a day before. He missed a golden chance to cover the breaking news of Kissinger’s visit to China.

A few days later after his arrival, he was told this news. James Reston suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his groin. He went to see doctors in Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Anti-Imperialist Hospital and was diagnosed as acute appendicitis. Next day after an appendectomy surgery, he was in considerable uncomfortable and received acupuncture from Dr Zhangyuan Li. The needles were inserted into his right elbow and below his knees. The needles sent twinges of pain through Reston’s limbs and diverted his attention from the distress in his stomach. Meanwhile he also received moxibustion on his abdomen. There was noticeable relaxation of the pressure and distension within an hour and no recurrence of the problem thereafter. Reston wrote an article entitled Now, About My Operation in Peking in his hospital bed in China and this article appeared on the front page of the New York Times the next day along with the Apollo 15 lift-off on July 26,1971.

What a wonderful story for millions of Americans who were so curious about what was happening in China after its doors have been closed for more than twenty years. Reston's article was the first genuine American acupuncture experience in P. R. China to appear in the mainstream Western media. His story of the ‘Oriental Apollo’ unintentionally sparked widespread ‘acupuncture fever’ across the United States in the coming years. In early 70s, acupuncture stories appeared in many major American media and publications, including Time, People, Life, Newsweek and many more.

Since then acupuncture has become more and more popular. In 1997 a Consensus Development Conference on Acupuncture reported that acupuncture is widely practiced by thousands of physicians, dentists, acupuncturists, and other practitioners. In 2007 NIH Survey estimated that 3.7 US adults and 150 000 children had used acupuncture in 2006 and that between 2002 and 2007, acupuncture use among adults increased by approximately one million people.

The numbers would speak themselves. Acupuncture is one of the most utilized forms of complementary integrative medicine interventions in the United States. During the past 40 years, more than 10 million acupuncture treatments are administered annually in the United States alone. This can be attributed to its effectiveness for pain relief which is proved by scientific studies. Acupuncture for pain management has changed so many people's lives for the better.

References
Yongming Li Journal of traditional Chinese medical sciences 2014 1:81-83
Jason Jishun Hao, and Michele Mittelman, Glob Adv Health Med. 2014 Jul; 3(4): 6–8.

Acupuncture is effective for ulcerative colitis

The colon is the large intestine (bowel) and the rectum is the end of the bowel where stools are stored. Ulcerative colitis is a chronic condition where the colon and rectum become inflamed and small ulcers can develop on the colon's lining and can bleed and produce pus. The main symptoms of ulcerative colitis are: recurring diarrhoea with or without blood, mucus or pus, abdominal pain, urgency and frequency of needing to empty the bowels, especially after meals. Other common nonspecific symptoms include extreme tiredness (fatigue), loss of appetite and weight loss. The severity of the symptoms varies, depending on how much of the rectum and colon is inflamed and how severe the inflammation is.

Acupuncture has traditionally been used in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease in China and is increasingly applied in Western countries. This is a study investigated the effect of acupuncture in the treatment of ulcerative colitis. 29 patients with mild to moderately active UC (mean age 37.8 +/- 12.0 years) were recruited. They received treatments of 10 sessions over a period of 5 weeks and followed-up for 16 weeks. The results suggested that acupuncture seem to offer an additional therapeutic benefit in patients with mild to moderately active UC.

References
Stefanie Joos Scand J Gastroenterol. 2006 Sep;41(9):1056-63.

A study suggested that absorbed plant MIR2911 in honeysuckle decoction inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and accelerates the negative conversion of infected patients

A plant microRNA, MIR2911, which is enriched in honeysuckle decoction (HD), was proved previously that it directly targets influenza A viruses (IAV), including H1N1, H5N1, and H7N9 subtypes by binding to their mRNA and blocking protein translation. These microRNAs after being taken can self-assemble into exosomes and go into the circulation and be delivered into target tissues or specific cells, including the liver, lung, spleen, pancreas, and T cells.

A new study indicated that this absorbed MIR2911 directly and sufficiently inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication which causes Covid-19. The clinical study assessed the antiviral effect of MIR2911 in HD on COVID-19 patients. This study were involved in seventy-five moderate type COVID-19 patients who received routine antiviral therapy (RT) at Nanjing Second Hospital from January 2020 to March 2020. Their result suggest that absorbed plant MIR2911 in HD inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication and accelerates the negative conversion of infected patients. HD treatment might greatly help cure infected patients and stop the COVID-19 pandemic.

References
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41421-020-00197-3

Consultation of NICE in draft guideline for commonly used treatments for chronic pain.

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) provides national guidance and advice to improve health and social care in England.

NICE guidelines are evidence-based recommendations for health and care in England.

They set out the care and services suitable for most people with a specific condition or need, and people in particular circumstances or settings.

The guidelines help health and social care professionals to: prevent ill health, promote and protect good health, improve the quality of care and services, adapt and provide health and social care services.

Chronic pain is often difficult to treat and can have a significant impact on individuals and their families and carers. Chronic pain may affect between 30% and 50% of the population.

A number of commonly used drug treatments for chronic primary pain have little or no evidence that they work and shouldn’t be prescribed.

A draft clinical guidance for Chronic primary pain was published on 3 August 2020 for public consultation until 14th September 2020. Acupuncture is recommended as an option for some people with chronic primary pain, provided it is delivered within certain, clearly defined parameters.

What is your opinions about acupuncture? Get involved and have your say by making comment of consultation.

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10069/consultation/html-content-2

In this draft of Chronic pain: assessment and management, 240 research papers were analysed to provide evidence review for the effectiveness of acupuncture for chronic pain. Acupuncture for chronic primary pain was assessed here. What is the clinical and cost? effectiveness of acupuncture or dry needling for the management of chronic primary pain? These questions are answered.

The committee’s opinions:

The committee discussed the applicability of the evidence to clinical practice, and noted that there was variation among the interventions included within the review. They agreed that this was reflected in current practice, which showed a similarly wide variation in terms of type of acupuncture, length of sessions and duration of treatment programme. The committee considered the overall benefit of acupuncture, particularly for reducing pain and improving quality of life, in combination with the lack of harm, other than discontinuation from the therapy. The committee agreed that although there was some uncertainty within some of the outcomes (with a small proportion of outcomes crossing the line of no effect), there was generally a benefit of acupuncture seen within the evidence when compared to both usual care and sham. The committee considered that the evidence base was large enough to justify a recommendation, and therefore agreed to recommend the use of acupuncture in clinical practice for people with chronic primary pain.

References

https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/commonly-used-treatments-for-chronic-pain-can-do-more-harm-than-good-and-should-not-be-used-says-nice-in-draft-guidance

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/indevelopment/gid-ng10069/consultation/html-content-2

https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/GID-NG10069/documents/evidence-review-7