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Most patients use
acupuncture for musculoskeletal pain relief but there are many more conditions
in which acupuncture can be effective. Current
research demonstrates acupuncture
to be effective in treating nausea associated with pregnancy and post surgery or
chemotherapy administration. There is also good evidence to support the use of
acupuncture for dental pain as well. There have also been case reports and
other studies with mixed results in determining the effectiveness of acupuncture
for fibromyalgia, stroke, and drug addiction. The overall effects of acupuncture
are analgesia, sedation or calming effects, homeostasis, and immunity
improvement.
The following are
diseases for which acupuncture has been
proved-through controlled trials-to be an effective treatment according to WHO:
Respiratory
Diseases
Allergic rhinitis
(including hay fever), tonsillitis and bronchitis, asthma
Neurologic disorders
Conjunctivitis,
headache/Migraine, trigeminal neuralgia, facial paralysis, peripheral
neuropathy, toothache, gingivitis, pharyngitis, stroke
Musculoskeletal Disorders
Rheumatoid
Arthritis, tennis elbow, sciatica, low back pain, OA in the knee, dental pain,
temporomandibular dysfunction, periarthritis of shoulder, post operative pain
Gastrointestinal Disorders
Gastritis, acute and
chronic colitis, constipation, diarrhea, paralytic ileus, adverse reactions to
radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy, biliary colic, acute bacillary dysentary
Cardiac Disorders
Essential Hypertension,
primary hypotension
Urinary, menstrual, and
reproductive disorders
Urinary incontinence,
retention, dysmenorrhea, induction of labor, correction of malposition of the
fetus, morning sickness
Mental Disorders
Depression (including
depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
There is an extensive list of diseases
and disorders for which acupuncture has shown a therapeutic effect, but further
research is necessary. Here is an abbreviated list of some of the
disorders from the WHO website:
Abdominal pain (in acute
gastroenteritis or due to
gastrointestinal spasm)
Acne vulgaris
Alcohol dependence and detoxification
Cancer pain
Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute
exacerbation
Cholelithiasis
Competition stress syndrome
Craniocerebral injury, closed
Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
Earache
Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
Insomnia
Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
Obesity
Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
Osteoarthritis
Pain due to endoscopic examination
Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans
Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal
syndrome)
Postextubation in children
Premenstrual syndrome
Prostatitis, chronic
Pruritus
Radicular and pseudoradicular pain
syndrome
Raynaud syndrome, primary
Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection
Retention of urine, traumatic
Schizophrenia
Sjögren syndrome
Stiff neck
Tobacco dependence
Tourette syndrome
Ulcerative colitis, chronic
Urolithiasis
Vascular dementia
Whooping cough (pertussis)
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For
more information:
http://www.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js4926e/5.html
http://library.thinkquest.org/24206/acupuncture.html
http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/
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