Acupuncture & Electro-Therapeutics Research: International Journal of Integrated Medicine

‘Rei-ki’ means ‘Universal-Energy’ and Reiki Healers, who heal with hands, claim they use Universal energy to heal. To prove or disprove their statements, Reiki Healers and their patients were measured before and after treatment with very sensitive patented equipment capable of measuring one millionth of the ampere (microampere) and less. The human nonlinear electromagnetic field is very weak, but it rules and regulates everything in the body. It can be justified with sensitive equipment, which measure the magnetic component (SQUID) or the electric component (our patented equipment). The measurements showed that energy is indeed transferred from the hands of healers to the patients, but surprisingly after hand healing not only was the energy of the patients higher and better balanced, the energy of the healers was always higher and better balanced, which proves involvement of a third source of energy. Since the electric energy on top of their heads, which we measured, was higher after each treatment, obviously they channel electric energy, which stimulates (from the atmosphere through the top opening of their spinning donut-shaped EMF (electromagnetic field)). However, to sedate they could suck earth’s magnetic energy, which sedates, through the bottom opening of their spinning donut-shaped EMF. The greatest advantage of energy healing is that it can be used for prevention. The used equipment could detect energy imbalance 5 to 7 years before the symptoms of the disease would appear. By restoring the energy balance with energy healing or acupuncture, the disease could be prevented and the symptoms of the disease would never appear.

We developed a temperature-controllable acupuncture (TCA) system incorporating a high-frequency electromagnetic field to reduce the burn risk posed by traditional acupuncture combined with moxibustion method. Our technique can control the acupuncture needle temperature safely and appropriately. We designed a solenoid- type electrode and a 150-kHz high-frequency electromagnetic generator. Regarding the system performance, we found that the time required to reach 42°C is only 52 seconds compared with traditional acupuncture combined moxibustion method which takes 150–270 seconds. In addition, we conducted a pilot study involving 20 participants to examine the possibility of clinical application. We performed manual acupuncture and TCA on the LI9, LI10, and TE5 acupoints, and only the acupunctures of TCA group were heated using the developed system at 38–40°C. In addition, we measured the hand-temperature and blood-flow velocity before and after stimulation to determine their variability. The hand temperatures increased after stimulation in both groups, but only the TCA group exhibited a significant difference (p=0.001). The blood-flow velocities of the two groups exhibited different patterns. The blood-flow velocity was increased by 6.3 % for the TCA group (p=0.114), but decreased by -12.78 % for the manual acupuncture group (p=0.011). We found that this new method is not only safe and convenient, but also precise and effective. Moreover, an electromagnetic field has various therapeutic effects and, thus, may induce its own positive benefits.

Purpose: to study the effect of whole body mechanical vibration (WBMV) exercise alone or combined with auriculotherapy (AT) in the pain and in the range of movement of the knees of participants with knee osteoarthritis. Authors have reported that these interventions can reduce the pain and increase the muscle strength in various clinical situations. Materials and Methods: The level of pain was evaluated by the visual analogue scale and the range of movement of the knees by goniometry. In five weeks protocols, in the AT intervention, ear points (Shenmen, Kidney, corresponding point-Knee) were stimulated by two seeds (Semen vaccariae), approximated diameter of 1 mm that were previously in an adhesive tape and they were changed every week. The control group had no seeds in the ear’s lobe adhesive tape. All the participants were instructed to use the fingers to press (manually) the adhesive tapes for 10 min, three times per day (six days) and to remove the tapes (7th day) before returning to the laboratory. In WBMV intervention, the biomechanical parameters of the mechanical vibration were (i) peak-to-peak displacement (D) with 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 mm and (ii) frequency ranging from 5 Hz on the first day, increasing by 1 Hz per session, ending with 14 Hz in the last session. The working time was 3 min with 1 min of rest. The evaluations were performed (i) before and after the first session (acute effect) and (ii) before the first (5 Hz) and after the last (14 Hz) session (cumulative effect). Results: A significant (p<0.05) decrease of the level of pain in the participants with knee osteoarthritis treated with WBMV exercise and with the combined intervention (WBMV and AT) was found in the acute and cumulative effects. The pain was importantly reduced due to WBMV exercise alone about 50% and reduced about 16% in the combination with AT, in the acute intervention. In the cumulative intervention, the pain was strongly reduced about 60% due to WBMV exercise alone and about 37% in the combination with AT. Possibility, this decrease in the effect may be related to inhibitory/competitive actions of the two interventions. In the control groups, no alteration on the level of the pain was observed. The range of the movement (knee’s flexion) was not altered in the participants of the all groups. Conclusion: It is possible to conclude that the level of the pain was decreased (acute and cumulative effects), with both interventions, WBMV exercise alone or combined with AT, However, more studies are need to widespread the use of these forms of treatment.

Restoration of blood flow to the ischemic myocardium termed reperfusion unavoidably leads to many heart complications (such as rhythm abnormalities, and sequentially heart failure), together with the induced damage of cardiomyocytes, which can worsen infarct size and is termed myocardial ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury. Electroacupuncture plays an important role in attenuating I/R injury. High mobility group box-1 protein (HMGB1) is upregulated in myocardial I/R injury and activates the inflammatory response which enhances the myocardial injury. In our study, we aimed to detect the roles of electrical acupuncture at Neiguan acupoints (PC6) in myocardial I/R injury and investigate the relationship between electrical acupuncture and HMGB1-related pathway. We found that electrical acupuncture pretreatment protected against myocardial I/R injury through inhibiting cell apoptosis. Electroacupuncture also decreased the expression levels of HMGB1 and inflammatory cytokines induced by I/R injury. In addition, the phosphorylation levels of JNK (c-Jun N-terminal kinase) was decreased by electroacupuncture in heart tissues. Furthermore, the effects of electrical acupuncture pretreatment were abrogated by the additional administration of recombinant HMGB1. Finally, the SP600125 administration, a selective JNK inhibitor, attenuated HMGB1-dependent cell apoptosis and cytokines release in myocardial I/R injury. In conclusion, our data demonstrate that electrical acupuncture at PC6 plays a protective role in myocardial I/R injury, and this effect is associated with inhibited HMGB1-JNK pathway, which provides a beneficial therapeutic strategy for patients with myocardial I/R injury.

Recent advances in neuroendocrinology and immunology have provided an entry to understand acupuncture. Here, we highlight these progresses and use endometriosis as an example to provide a perspective in how to effectively engage acupuncture into modern biomedicine. Endometriosis is a common chronic inflammatory disease in which endometrial tissue progressively grows outside the uterine cavity and into the pelvic region, including the fallopian tubes and ovaries. Also, estrogen promotes the endometriosis progression through on-site inflammation. Current treatments for endometriosis involve hormonal therapy and surgical procedures, however, they both may induce several side effects. Several studies have shown that the administration of exogenous dopamine agonists can significantly suppress endometriosis progression. Acupuncture is multivalent in which it can simultaneously stimulate the secretion of endogenous dopamine to modulate the GnRH neuroendocrine pathway in CNS and the COX-2 inflammatory pathway in PNS. Hence, acupuncture can smoothly manage endometriosis without the side effects of exogenous dopamine. The endometriosis management by acupuncture provides us an example of how to incorporate acupuncture into current biomedical systems. Acupuncture may provide a convenient, physiological method to regulate the neuroendocrine system in an integrative, systematic means.

The aims of the present study were to observe the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) at Neiguan (PC6) on ischemic myocardium and the involvement of myocardial β1- adrenergic (β1AR) and M2 cholinergic muscarinic receptors (M₂AChR) in the protective effect. The C57BL6 mice were divided into control, model and PC6 groups randomly. The myocardial ischemia (MI) model of mice was established by forced exhaustive swimming (ES). EA at PC6 was performed to the PC6 group for 7 days. The Electrocardiograph (ECG) was recorded before ES and immediately after ES on the 1^st and 7^th day. The ECG J-point deviation value and heart rate (HR) were analyzed to evaluate the effect of EA. The β1AR and M₂AChR knockout mice were used to explore whether β1AR and M2AChR in the cardiac myocytes mediated the cardioprotection effect of EA. The β₁AR knockout (β1AR-/-) and M₂AChR knockout (M₂AChR-/-) mice were divided into MI model and PC6 groups respectively and treated the same way corresponding to the groups of C57BL6 mice. The results showed that the Electrocardiograph (ECG) J-point deviation value in C57BL6 mice were significantly increased after MI (P=0.015 in the model group, P=0.001 in the PC6 group), which is a symptom of MI, while the heart rate (HR) on the 1^st decreased significantly (P<0.05, or P<0.01). Following EA in the C57BL6 mice, the J-point deviation on the 7^th day was significantly decreased (P=0.031, decreased 70.05%), but the HR was still much slower than their baseline (both P<0.01). The increased J-point deviation value and decreased HR level were also observed in both β₁AR-/- and M₂AChR-/- mice (P<0.05, or P<0.01). While no significant changes were found in the J point deviation after EA intervention on the 7^th day, and in HR of the both types of mice. These results suggested that EA at PC6 could protect the myocardium against ischemic injury, probably mediated by myocardial β₁AR and M₂AChR.