Pain and Acupuncture in Eastern and Western Medicine Essay -- Acupunct

Pain and Acupuncture in Eastern and Western Medicine Acupuncture is an ancient medicinal art that has been practiced for thousands of years. Acupuncture today is mainly seen by Western medicine as a "new alternative" medicine (2). This basically means that while Western medicine acknowledges the value and positive medical research supporting acupuncture in many realms of medicine, for the most part it is not a practice that has been incorporated into 'modern' medical practices. One of the most consistently supported uses of acupuncture therapy is in pain treatment (14). Western medicine has often come up short when it comes to treatment of chronic pain. The dichotomy that is often suggested is that Western medicine is better at emergency situations and stabilizing patients in crisis, while Eastern medicine has more success with more long-term chronic issues such as pain (2). This difference mainly stems from the philosophy of both methods of practicing medicine. Eastern medicine, for the most part, is more interested in treating the wh ole person and finding the organic root of the problem instead of just treating the symptoms. While chronic pain is reaching epidemic proportions in Western society, few people are employing the benefits this type of medicine can bring. How does pain effect the nervous system? How does acupuncture help to alleviate this symptom? Is it possible to explain the effects of acupuncture through the language of Western medicine? Acupuncture Theory Acupuncture, very basically, is the insertion of very fine needles, sometimes in conjunction with electrical stimulus, on the body's surface, in order to influence physiological functioning of the body (1). At the basis of acupuncture, is the theory th... ...nism of Acupuncture http://www.acupuncture.com/Acup/Mech.htm 7)Neuronal Possibilities , Neuronal Diagram http://dubinserver.colorado.edu/prj/kcr/p07.html 8)Beyond Endorphins , Endorphins in Pain Mediation http://www.chiro.org/places/ABSTRACTS/Beyond_endorphins.shtml 9)Mechanism of Acupuncture: Beyond Neurohumoral Theory http://users.med.auth.gr/~karanik/english/articles/mechan.html 10)Dr. L. Soh , Beyond Endorphins in Acupuncture Analgesia http://www.ozacupuncture.com/drlsohs.htm 11)Pain Perception http://www.mhhe.com/biosci/ap/saladin/nervous/reading10.mhtml 12)Chronic Pain Solutions The Scientific Basis Of Acupuncture http://www.chronicpainsolutions.com/acupuncture.htm 13)Molecular Insights into the Problem of Pain http://www.painstudy.ru/pe3/molecular.htm 14)What We Know About Pain http://www.nidr.nih.gov/slavkin/pain.htm