In-Vivo Skin Respiration (CO 2 ) Measurements in the Acupuncture Loci *

Abstract

Classical acupuncture concept is based on the vague, undefinable idea of energy. In our contemporary molecular biology, useful energy is considered to be stored in the macroerg phosphate com¬pounds, e.g. in ATP, while (through the citrate cycle) CO₂ is exhaled by the living cells of the body.

In Hungary, a small and supersensitive CO₂ detecting instrument was invented in 1976. Its sensitivity starts at 0.01 millionth of a gram CO_2. In this study first the interrelationships between skin respiration, electrical skin resistance and skin temperature at the acupuncture point (AP) and at the adjacent skin area were investigated. The measured characteristics deviate, in spite of the distance of 1-2 centimeters. It is reasonable to suppose that in the maximum 52% the capillary CO₂ tension at the AP reflects in the skin respiration data.