Scientists Discover How Acupuncture Works

A team of university scientists have discovered how acupuncture works to reduce or eliminate pain. The scientists who come from the University of Rochester Medical Center found that a molecule called adenosine is responsible for the pain reducing effects as well as other benefits that acupuncture brings.
 
Adenosine is a natural compound found in the body that influences the sleep pattern, heart health and possesses anti inflammatory qualities. It is also known to be an effective natural pain killer by inhibiting nerve signals in damaged skin.

The researchers focused their attention on the peripheral nervous system and how adenosine works within it after stimulation by acupuncture needles. Previous research by other institutions has revealed how acupuncture stimulates the production of pain killing endorphins by the brain due to stimulation of the central nervous system.
 
Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc. is a co-director of the University's Center for Translational Neuromedicine and is the neuroscientist that led the research. She said "Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained sceptical," adding that, "In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body."

From the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, its director Josephine P. Briggs, M.D said, "It's clear that acupuncture may activate a number of different mechanisms," and that "This carefully performed study identifies adenosine as a new player in the process. It's an interesting contribution to our growing understanding of the complex intervention which is acupuncture."
 
The National Institutes of Health and the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Program funded the study the results of which are due to be presented in Barcelona, Spain during a scientific meeting. Nature Neuroscience has already published the paper.