Activating the body's natural opioids through acupuncture

The American College of Acupuncture advocates the use of acupuncture to ease the symptoms and treat a wide variety of diseases. There have been numerous studies pointing to the health benefits of using this ancient Chinese procedure. Among the conditions that acupuncture is known to help with is pain and science now knows how.

A paper written by researchers from the University of California Irvine's Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine discovered that electroacupuncture—a type of acupuncture wherein mild electrical currents are coursed through the needles—causes the release of enkephalins. These are natural opioids found in the brain.  Just like their medicinal counterparts, these opioids have strong pain-relieving effects, enabling patients to feel relief and comfort.

Furthermore, these natural chemicals have the added ability to lower blood pressure. These results indicate that electroacupuncture may be applicable for the reduction of pain, as well as the management of hypertension. In animal models, rats that were given electroacupuncture exhibited drops in blood pressure, an effect that persisted up to two days after the procedure. The study, which was published in the journal Scientific Reports, was the first to study the link between electroacupuncture and hypertension.

A different, albeit connected study, found that electroacupuncture can also block the release of the body’s stress hormones. Just as their name implies, these chemicals are produced to help the body deal with stress. Too much of these chemicals can be dangerous to the body—in large concentrations; they can lead to various diseases, not the least of which are hypertension and other cardiovascular diseases. Another study offers that women recovering from Caesarian section asked for fewer pain killers.

                                                          

The American College of Acupuncture believes that acupuncture is effective for many diseases and health conditions, particularly, constant body pain. Now, it may also be an effective aid in treating stress and hypertension.