World Health Organization (WHO) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) Consensus on Acupuncture
It is important to understand what is meant by the word ‘health’. The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity.”
NIH Consensus of Acupuncture reported in 1997 that “studies have demonstrated that acupuncture can cause multiple biological responses, mediated mainly by sensory neurons to many structures within the central nervous system. This can lead to activation of pathways affecting various physiological systems in the brain as well as in the periphery. Acupuncture may also activate the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, resulting in a broad spectrum of systemic effects. Alteration in the secretion of neurotransmitters and neurohormones and changes in the regulation of blood flow, both centrally and peripherally have been documented. There is also evidence of alterations in immune functions produced by acupuncture.”
Acupuncture is recognized by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and World Health Organization (WHO) to be effective in the treatment of:
- Addiction-alcohol, drug, smoking
- Anxiety
- Arthritis
- Asthma
- Bronchitis
- Carpal tunnel syndrome
- Chronic fatigue
- Colitis
- Common cold
- Constipation
- Dental pain
- Depression
- Diarrhea
- Digestive trouble
- Dizziness
- Dysentery
- Emotional problems
- Eye problems
- Facial palsy/tics
- Fatigue
- Fibromyalgia
- Gingivitis
- Headache
- Hiccough
- Incontinence
- Indigestion
- Infertility
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Low back pain
- Menopause
- Menstrual irregularities
- Migraine
- Morning sickness
- Nausea
- Osteoarthritis
- Pain
- PMS
- Pneumonia
- Reproductive problems
- Rhinitis
- Sciatica
- Seasonal affective disorder (SAD)
- Shoulder pain
- Sinusitis
- Sleep disturbances
- Smoking cessation
- Sore throat
- Stress
- Tennis elbow
- Tonsillitis
- Tooth pain
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- Urinary tract infection
- Vomiting
- Wrist pain
