CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA

Background: Acupuncture is an component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used for three thousand years to treat diseases and relieve pain. Pain is found to be the most common reason for people to use acupuncture. Due to recent scientific findings, acupuncture treatment has been a...

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Main Authors: Eman S. Mansour, Xu J. Nian, Eman B. Salah
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: IJPHY 2015-12-01
Series:International Journal of Physiotherapy
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.ijphy.org/index.php/journal/article/view/192
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spelling doaj-1b71139f80814f228add17b56f876b182020-11-25T00:09:01ZengIJPHYInternational Journal of Physiotherapy2349-59872348-83362015-12-012610.15621/ijphy/2015/v2i6/80765CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIAEman S. Mansour0Xu J. Nian1Eman B. Salah2Tongji University, Siping Rd 1239, Shanghai, 200092, ChinaShanghai Tenth people’s hospital, 301 Yanchang Rd., Yáncháng, Shanghai, 20072, China.MISR University for Science and Technology, Al-Motamayez District, 6th October city, P.O. Box: 77, Egypt. Background: Acupuncture is an component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used for three thousand years to treat diseases and relieve pain. Pain is found to be the most common reason for people to use acupuncture. Due to recent scientific findings, acupuncture treatment has been accepted worldwide. Numerous trials have been conducted especially in analgesia. The mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia has been widely investigated, however, the underlying mechanism still not clear. This article summarizes the central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia and reviews recent studies on the topic. Method: We have focused on examining the recent literature on acupuncture analgesia. The central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia and reviews recent studies on the topic. We focused on the studies related to central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia from these aspects: (neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neuroanatomy). Result: The result revealed that acupuncture act on various parts of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, brain stem, cerebral ganglia and cerebral cortex to alleviate pain. The central mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture include neurohumors and neurotransmitters, which are involved in analgesia. At spinal level, Spinal opioids, glutamate, norepinephrine and serotonin are the key elements acupuncture-induced analgesia. At brain level, Endogenous opioid peptides, limbic system play essential roles in mediating the analgesia. Conclusion: Acupuncture is an effective approach to pain management. There is good evidence in both experimental and clinical research that supports acupuncture efficacy in management of chronic pain through central nervous system. Acupuncture should be strongly used as a part of pain management plans. This work helps in improving our understanding of the scientific basis underlying acupuncture analgesia. https://www.ijphy.org/index.php/journal/article/view/192AcupunctureTraditional Chinese MedicineAnalgesiaChronic painCentral nervous systemSpinal cord.
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Eman S. Mansour
Xu J. Nian
Eman B. Salah
spellingShingle Eman S. Mansour
Xu J. Nian
Eman B. Salah
CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
International Journal of Physiotherapy
Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Analgesia
Chronic pain
Central nervous system
Spinal cord.
author_facet Eman S. Mansour
Xu J. Nian
Eman B. Salah
author_sort Eman S. Mansour
title CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
title_short CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
title_full CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
title_fullStr CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
title_full_unstemmed CENTRAL MECHANISMS OF ACUPUNCTURE ANALGESIA
title_sort central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia
publisher IJPHY
series International Journal of Physiotherapy
issn 2349-5987
2348-8336
publishDate 2015-12-01
description Background: Acupuncture is an component of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used for three thousand years to treat diseases and relieve pain. Pain is found to be the most common reason for people to use acupuncture. Due to recent scientific findings, acupuncture treatment has been accepted worldwide. Numerous trials have been conducted especially in analgesia. The mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia has been widely investigated, however, the underlying mechanism still not clear. This article summarizes the central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia and reviews recent studies on the topic. Method: We have focused on examining the recent literature on acupuncture analgesia. The central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia and reviews recent studies on the topic. We focused on the studies related to central mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia from these aspects: (neurophysiology, neurochemistry and neuroanatomy). Result: The result revealed that acupuncture act on various parts of the central nervous system, including the spinal cord, brain stem, cerebral ganglia and cerebral cortex to alleviate pain. The central mechanisms underlying the effects of acupuncture include neurohumors and neurotransmitters, which are involved in analgesia. At spinal level, Spinal opioids, glutamate, norepinephrine and serotonin are the key elements acupuncture-induced analgesia. At brain level, Endogenous opioid peptides, limbic system play essential roles in mediating the analgesia. Conclusion: Acupuncture is an effective approach to pain management. There is good evidence in both experimental and clinical research that supports acupuncture efficacy in management of chronic pain through central nervous system. Acupuncture should be strongly used as a part of pain management plans. This work helps in improving our understanding of the scientific basis underlying acupuncture analgesia.
topic Acupuncture
Traditional Chinese Medicine
Analgesia
Chronic pain
Central nervous system
Spinal cord.
url https://www.ijphy.org/index.php/journal/article/view/192
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AT xujnian centralmechanismsofacupunctureanalgesia
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