Involvement of endogenous opioid peptides in acupuncture analgesia

Abstract

Acupuncture, an important branch of Chinese traditional medicine, has been practiced for more than 2000 years and has been proved to be an effective weapon for combating pain. In ancient China, it was used not only in humans but also in domestic animals like horses and oxen. Acupuncture therapy traditionally refers to the procedure of inserting fine needles into particular points on the body and stimulating them by hand maneuver to produce a phenomenon called ‘Teh-ch’i.’ ‘Teh-ch’i’ involves two aspects: one is that the subject being needled gains a feeling of soreness, heaviness, swelling or numbness either localized in the acupuncture point or moving diffusely in certain directions and the other is that the acupuncturist has a feeling that something is pulling the needle like ‘a fish on the hook.’ In recent years, electroacupuncture (EA), utilizing electric current to stimulate acupuncture points via inserted needles, was developed. The stimulation parameter adopted is of low frequency and low intensity (in volts or milliamperes) to elicit slight, localized muscle twitches. EA is now widely used in China, especially in scientific studies. since it is easier to control.