Acupuncture and the WSJ

     The Wall Street Journal ran an article in March 2010 about acupuncture. Please go online and look at it. I think I’m summarizing it correctly to say that the gist of the article was, and you may quote me here, “there may be something to that acupuncture stuff.”
     As fanciful as that seems, acupuncture does have real effects on the human body, which scientists are documenting using high-tech tools. Neuroimaging studies show that it seems to calm areas of the brain that register pain and activate those involved in rest and recuperation. Doppler ultrasound shows that acupuncture increases blood flow in treated areas. Thermal imaging shows that it can make inflammation subside.
     Scientists are also finding parallels between the ancient concepts and modern anatomy. Many of the 365 acupuncture points correspond to nerve bundles or muscle trigger points. Several meridians track major arteries and nerves. "If people have a heart attack, the pain will radiate up across the chest and down the left arm. That's where the heart meridian goes," says Peter Dorsher, a specialist in pain management and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. "Gallbladder pain will radiate to the right upper shoulder, just where the gallbladder meridian goes."
     Neuroimaging, Doppler ultrasound, thermal imaging - who knew!

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In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted. - Bertrand Russell