POSTER PRESENTATION ABSTRACTS
Please note: All posters will be displayed in
Salons 10-12.
THURSDAY, 10:15-11:00 AM
Shang C.
Biology of acupuncture: from observations to confirmed
predictions.
Department of Medicine, Brockton Hospital Cshang9@yahoo.com
PURPOSE: To understand the biological basis
of acupuncture.
METHODS: Compare and validate different modern
biological models of acupuncture mechanism by reviewing their consistency
with the evidence in clinical and basic sciences.
RESULTS: The biological effects of acupuncture
include the regulation of a variety of neurohumoral factors and growth
control factors. The neurophysiology model of acupuncture has been instrumental
in establishing the scientific validity of acupuncture and explained
the short-term neurohumoral, analgesic and cardiovascular effects of
acupuncture. The connective tissue model offered explanation of the
mechanical effect of acupuncture and certain distribution pattern of
acupuncture points. The growth control model encompasses the neurophysiology
model and suggests that a macroscopic growth control system originates
from a network of organizing centers in embryogenesis. The activity
of the growth control system is involved in the formation, maintenance
and regulation of all the physiological systems. The organizing centers
and acupuncture points share common features and the acupuncture points
are likely to originate from organizing centers. Several phenomena of
acupuncture such as distribution of auricular acupuncture points, the
long term effect of acupuncture and the response to multimodal nonspecific
stimulation have been difficult to explain by the neurophysiology or
connective tissue model but are consistent with the growth control model.
The predictions of the growth control model have been confirmed by multiple
research results in both acupuncture and conventional biomedical sciences.
CONCLUSIONS: The growth control model encompasses
the neurophysiology of acupuncture and is supported by the research
results on connective tissue at acupuncture points. This model is more
consistent with the facts in acupuncture research than other models.
The growth control model set the first example of a model with significant
predictive power in acupuncture research and integrative medicine by
successful prediction of multiple research results in both acupuncture
and conventional biomedical sciences. The growth control model also
suggests a unified biological basis of the meridian system and chakra
system.
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