|
|
 |
 |
 |
| Saturday, 7 August 2004 |
 |
|
 |
Features | |
| News Business Features Editorial Security Politics World Letters Sports Obituaries
|
Acupuncture - the art of alternative medicine by Aryadasa Ratnasinghe Acupuncture is an art of alternative medicine practised in China for over 3,000 years, which has now come to attract attention in the West. This art consists of the insertion, into the skin and under-lying tissues, of a hot or cold needle made of stainless steel. The site of insertion of the needle is chosen in relation to the spot or organ, believed to be not in good order, leading to dysfunction, and several hundred specific points are identified in the body maps or models. From a medical point of view, it has been said that it is difficult to obtain a clear idea of what disorder benefits from acupuncture, but neuralgia (paroxysmal intermittent pain along the course of a nerve), migraine (a pain affecting only one half of the head or face), sprains (over strain of muscles), asthma (chronic disorder of the organs of respiration) and similar illnesses are said to respond successfully to acupuncture treatment. Used as an analgesic Acupuncture is also used as an analgesic during surgery in the Far East. Research has shown that brain tissue contains morphine-like substance called endorphin', and they may be released in increased amounts when deep sensory nerves are stimulated by injury near the body surface. Acupuncture treatment means the approach to cure illnesses using procedures other than those recommended by orthodox medical science. Alternative medicine, in addition to acupuncture, is a form of thermal therapy (moxibustion). It is said that despite the current popularity over acupuncture, hardly any of the therapeutic methods used have been rigorously assessed, using the standard scientific techniques of critical assessment or comparison with the natural course of treatment by the use of drugs and mixtures. The opinion is that most of the claims for success of alternative medicine remains anecdotal. The word 'acupuncture' is derived from the Latin 'acus' (needle) and 'punctum' (puncture). According to Prof. Ho Peng Yoke, the earliest book extant on acupuncture is the Huang-ti nei-ching lingu-shu (The Yellow Emperor's Manual of Internal Medicine), which is known as the Ingenious and Fundamental Work on Medical Physiology and Anatomy, edited by Wang Ping in 762. There are nine types of acupuncture needles in use, the most common being the than needles. Acupuncture was introduced to Europe by a surgeon employed by the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oost-Indische Compagnie - VOC). He was Rhyne Wilhelm. In 1712, another Dutchman, Engelbert Kampfer, took an interest in acupuncture, and his book Amoenitatum Exoticarum, received wide publicity in Germany. Acupuncture was first performed in Europe in 1810, by a French physician Louis Berlios, by treating a neurotic patient. The China Medical Journal has reported that acupuncture can be used effectively against many diseases, such as bacillary dysentery,acute appendicitis, schistomiasis and deaf-mutism (deaf and dumb). According to Prof. Peng-Yoke, a 116 unselected patients, with accute appendicitis and appendicular abscess, have been treated with acupuncture, without any operation or antibiotics. What excited the medical world outside China most, however, was the recent discovery that acupuncture can be successfully used as anaesthesia in modern surgery, including caesarian section in childbirth. The successful use of electro-acupuncture, as a means of producing anaesthesia in tooth extraction and other maxillo-facial operations, has been reported in China in 1960. Electro-acupuncture or galvano-puncture, is the introduction of an electric current to the needles. It was first tried by Louis Berlioz in 1810. There was an acupuncture clinic at the Colombo South Hospital at Kalubowila, and I had the occasion to witness a woman being anaesthetised by the use of acupuncture needles. This was about ten years ago. Outside world Only during the past few decades, however, has the outside world been astonished by news stories and photograph of patients in Chinese hospitals undergoing major surgical operation, while fully conscious, through the help of acupuncture. The Americans were quick to want more knowledge of this revolutionary method. The work they had done remained a secret, but news leaked out in 1972, of two operations, one of skin-grafting and the other of hernia repair and they were performed under acupuncture anaesthesia in the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, US. It is also reported that several traditionally aloof and prestigious medical institutions, including Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of California Medical Centre and the Institute of Rehabilitation and Medicine in New York have shown keenness to study acupuncture. In 1972, the National Institute of Health in the US, has approved recommendations to study acupuncture not only as an anaesthetic but also for possible management of chronic pain caused by cancer, neuralgia and arthritis. In ancient days the needles were made of stone, later of wood and bamboo, and then of copper. Stainless steel, silver and bronze needles were later inventions. The needles now in common use are about two inches long. Anatomically, the points to puncture do not exist. The Chinese had noted for a very long time that when the function of a certain organ in the body was disturbed, a certain 'spot' on the body surface would become more sensitive to pain than normally when pressed lightly by the finger. The diameter of a spot is about two millimetres. Reports have confirmed that needling activates and increases the production of white cells fibrinogen in the blood. It has also been found out that acupuncture helps to stop bleeding by stimulating the nerves leading to the blood vessel concerned and making the blood vessel contract. Diverse opinion on acupuncture are held by the medical profession, because many are still sceptical about this ancient art of treating the sick, and rely on western treatment. Acupuncture points in the human body In the human body, acupuncture points vary in number, from about 300 to 600. Some say that there are 660 points, 52 in the mid-body line, and 300 to each side of the line. Some of these points, (e.g., point at the naval) are forbidden to acupuncturists, according to certain studies. Navel is said to be a vulnerable point and a dangerous spot for needling. Acupuncture in Sri Lanka is still in its infancy because very few people go for such treatment, for one thing that facilities are not widely available, and the other thing that people do not have much trust in such art of treatment. For the slightest sickness, people go to the doctor or the native physician, because their services are always available, during day and night. On the other hand, acupuncture treatment is a slow process, and unfit for an emergency, as in the case of cardiac failures, where intensive care is needed. |
|
News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
Produced by Lake House |
