Acupuncture for Blood Pressure Lowering

Abstract

Blood pressure–related disease remains a major public health problem in developed and developing countries alike. The Global Burden of Disease study estimates 62% of stroke, 49% of ischemic heart disease, and 14% of other cardiovascular disease can be attributable to mean systolic blood pressure levels >115 mm Hg worldwide.1 The mainstay of medical management of hypertension is a number of commonly used drugs,2 the mechanisms of action of which are well understood and grounded in conventional science. However, despite the strength of evidence supporting the efficacy of these agents and their wide endorsement in national and international guidelines, only about one half of those patients in whom treatment is indicated are compliant with drug therapy. Treatment cost, adverse effects, and complexity are commonly cited barriers to patient adherence,3,4 and such factors undoubtedly play an important role in the growing interest in alternative therapies for blood pressure control. Article p 3121 Acupuncture, one of the oldest and most commonly used forms of alternative medicine, has existed for >2500 years. In traditional acupuncture, fine needles are inserted into precisely defined, specific points on the body, each of which has distinct therapeutic actions.5 For a long time, acupuncture was viewed by practitioners of Western medicine as “the Chinese equivalent of voodoo,”6 but certain events encouraged wider acceptance of this form of treatment beginning in the 1970s. One such event is said to have been President Richard Nixon’s goodwill visit to China in 1972 during which he saw acupuncture in practice. His personal physician subsequently wrote, “I have seen acupuncture work.” This statement not only increased public interest but also encouraged key figures in the medical community to travel to China to develop a …