The biology of acupuncture - George A Ulett

Acupuncture, with its 3500-year-old history, is one of the most widely used methods of alternative medicine. Despite great advances in scientific knowledge, however, it is still performed as a mystical ritual explained in pre-scientific terms of hypothesised meridians, Qi, Yin/Yang and pulse diagnosis. THE BIOLOGY OF ACUPUNCTURE is a scientifically supported explanation of the basic biological mechanisms and processes underlying the practice of traditional Chinese acupuncture. It is also a teaching manual by which an evidence-based, no-needle, no-drug method of treatment can be easily learned in a very short time. There is no longer any need for hours of studying ancient Chinese metaphysical theories and complex rituals. Modem Chinese scientists working at Beijing Medical University have broken through the veil of mystery surrounding traditional Chinese acupuncture. This book reviews their thirty years of stringent neurophysiological and neurochemical research through which they discovered the real meaning of such hypothetical constructs as Qi, body energy and meridians. It also discusses the effect of electrical stimulation on specific neuropeptides in the central nervous system. Here presented for the first time is a treatment method with the benefits of acupuncture in a form compatible with the teachings of Western medicine. It is a method that should become available in the office of every practitioner of medicine. It is a simple but highly effective 'no drug' method for treating patients with pain, psychiatric problems and other chronic illnesses.