An experiment was designed to evaluate the protective effects of different agents – acupuncture, hypnosis, Morphine, aspirin, Diazepam and placebo – upon experimentally-induced pain in humans.
Twenty normal, healthy volunteers were subjected to cold water and tourniquet-induced pain and the protective effects of 35 minutes of hypnotic suggestion, electro-stimulation of both acupuncture points and non-acupuncture points, 10 mg/kg of Morphine, 5 grains of aspirin, 10 mg of Diazepam and a milk sugar placebo were evaluated. Data was collected on subjective evaluation of pain, EKG, EEG, respiration, skin temperature, peripheral vascular activity and EMG.A special study was also done to evaluate the effects of all the above agents on the somatosensory evoked potentials and EEG.
The data were further analyzed on the basis of hypnotic susceptibility of the volunteers. The results indicated: 1) Hypnosis, acupuncture at specific sites with electrical stimulation and Morphine Sulphate had about the same reduction in experimental pain. 2) Hypnosis produced different effects from those resulting from acupuncture stimulation on EEG. 3) Acupuncture stimulation in specific loci resulted in a latency increase in the early secondary response on somatosensory evoked potential. 4) Cold water pain was remarkably reduced after true acupuncture point stimulation. 5) Tourniquet (ischemic) pain was reduced by both hypnosis and true acupuncture site stimulation. 6) Skin temperature was significantly reduced on the side of acupuncture points (true) stimulation.
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