A study published in November suggests acupuncture has measurable effects on the patient’s brain, and is not merely a placebo as some critics believe.

Researchers at the Department of Complementary and Integrative Medicine at University of Duisburg-Essen in Germany analyzed brain scans from 18 volunteers who underwent electric shocks, according to The Telegraph.

First, the test subjects were shocked without acupuncture, and then shocked while acupuncture needles were placed between the toes, below the knee and near the thumb.

When scientists compared the scans, they found that acupuncture had the effect of the amount of pain the patient felt, as well as affecting areas of the brain that control expectations and comprehension of pain.

“Our findings support that both these nonspecific and specific mechanisms exist, suggesting that acupuncture can help relieve pain,” said Dr. Nina Theysohn, who presented the research in Chicago on Tuesday.

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article about acupuncture, which may interest you. It discusses a scientific approach to studying acupuncture. Here’s an exercept from the beginning:

Acupuncture has long baffled medical experts and no wonder: It holds that an invisible life force called qi (pronounced chee) travels up and down the body in 14 meridians. Illness and pain are due to blockages and imbalances in qi. Inserting thin needles into the body at precise points can unblock the meridians, practitioners believe, and treat everything from arthritis and asthma to anxiety, acne and infertility.

As fanciful as that seems, acupuncture does have real effects on the human body, which scientists are documenting using high-tech tools. Neuroimaging studies show that it seems to calm areas of the brain that register pain and activate those involved in rest and recuperation. Doppler ultrasound shows that acupuncture increases blood flow in treated areas. Thermal imaging shows that it can make inflammation subside.

Scientists are also finding parallels between the ancient concepts and modern anatomy. Many of the 365 acupuncture points correspond to nerve bundles or muscle trigger points. Several meridians track major arteries and nerves. “If people have a heart attack, the pain will radiate up across the chest and down the left arm. That’s where the heart meridian goes,” says Peter Dorsher, a specialist in pain management and rehabilitation at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, Fla. “Gallbladder pain will radiate to the right upper shoulder, just where the gallbladder meridian goes.”

Read the full article here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704841304575137872667749264.html