Acupuncture: An Alternative Essay

To support the life of an ailing individual and to condone pain, the industriousness of formal and conventional medical normal is not alone that ass help. The application of complementary and substitute(a) medicament whitethorn also relieve the patient of much(prenominal) sufferings. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative medical specialty (NCCAM), National Institutes of Health has defined complementary and alternative music as a group of diverse health c be and medical systems, behaves and products that argon not presently considered to be part of the conventional euphony (Ho subprogram of goods and services Select, 2006 p.10). in that respect is a distinction between the complementary medicine alone and alternative medicine alone. Complementary medicine is applied jointly with the conventional medicine such as the handling of aromatherapy in reducing the patients pain after undergoing a surgery while alternative medicine is applied as a substitute for co nventional medicine such as the use of special diet to treat cancer kinda of following the physicians recommendation to undergo surgery or chemotherapy.The NCCAM classifies complementary and alternative medicine into five major categories. They atomic number 181.Alternative checkup Systems that are built upon absolute systems of theory and devote that have ofttimes developed before and apart from the conventional medicine of the U.S.A. Some of these are homeopathy, hydropathy and naturopathy as well as the Chinese traditional medicine and Ayurveda.2. Mind-Body Interventions that use a variety of procedures intended to enhance the minds capacity to affect bodily function and symptoms such as meditating, praying, cordial healing, and therapies that use creative outlets like art, music, or dance.3.Biologically Based Therapies that use substances nominate in nature like herbs, foods, and vitamins. These kinds of therapies imply dietary supplements, herbal products, and the use of other so-called natural but non-scientifically proven methods like the use of shark cartilage to treat cancer.4.Manipulative and Body-Based Methods which is based upon manipulation and/or social movement of one or more parts of the clay like manipulate and chiropractic or osteopathic manipulation.5. heartiness Therapies that include the use of energy fields. It is divided into two subcategories, the biofield therapies and the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies. Biofield therapies are intended to affect energy fields that purportedly surround and move into the human body such as the application of pressure and/or manipulation of the body by placing the hands in, or with these fields, i.e., qi gong, reiki, and therapeutic touch. On the other hand the bioelectromagnetic-based therapies entail the unconventional use of electromagnetic fields, such as pulsed fields, magnetic fields, or alternating-current or direct-current fields. correspond to NCCAM, acupuncture is an energy med icine involving putative energy fields, or the biofields. (Energy Medicine, 2004)II. What is Acupuncture, Its Philosophies, Purpose, and Treatment Principles?Acupuncture can alleviate proprospiciented pain, discomfort, and anxiety, and end abominable dependence on a medical system so considerable and impersonal that each patient feels like a forgotten roll in a machine.(Cargill, 1994, p. 3) That is what Acupuncture can do according to Cargill. merely what is it? NCCAM defines Acupuncture as a family of procedures involving the stimulation of anatomical points on the body using a variety of techniques, the most common of which is the penetration in the skin with thin, solid, metallic needles that are either manipulated by the hands or by some electrical stimulation. (An Introduction)The philosophical basis prat Acupuncture for traditional practitioners is the qi (Birch & Felt, 1999, p. 88) or the so called vital energy. Qi flows through the twelve major energy pathways called me ridians, each of these is connected to particular proposition internal organs of the body or organ systems and three blow sixty-five to two thousand acupoints (Freeman & Lawlis, 2001, p. 311). This qi is blocked when there is unstableness of yin and yang, two opposing and inseparable forces(An Introduction), in the body thereby make illnesses.Acupuncture can relieve the ailment by unblocking the qi through the insertion of needles at specific anatomic points in the body. Simply stated, the adjudicate of Acupuncture is to heal or therapeutic. Some healing results of acupuncture, according to research, include alleviation of low back pain, headache, pain from osteoarthritis, neck pain, musculoskeletal and myofascial pain, organic fertiliser pain, and pain before and after surgery. It has also been used for the treatment of surgical and chemotherapy-induced nausea, neurologic dysfunction, gynecologic and obstetric conditions, asthma, and substance abuse. With Acupuncture, illness or disorder is prevented while better health is restored.III. Brief Summary and Evolution of AcupunctureAcupuncture evolved from the traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). Earliest evidence regarding this practice can be found in the schoolbook, The Yellow Emperors Inner Classic (Huang Di Nei Jing), a collection of 81 treatises compiled between 206 BC and 220 AD(Freeman Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) However, Freeman and Lawlis further noted that the oldest surviving classical text dedicated entirely to acupuncture was written sometime in 282 AD by Huang-Fu Mi entitled, The Comprehensive Manual of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (Zhen Jiu Jia Yi Jing).This book contains the feature classical concepts concerning the theories and teachings of acupuncture points, channels, and the cause of illness, diagnosis, and therapeutic needling(Freeman Lawlis, 2001, p. 316) It was in 618 AD when the practice reached its peak in China with the foundation of the Imperial Medical College. During this period, the practice was spreading its influence over other Asian nations such as Japan, Korea and Southeast Asia. Acupuncture attained maximum refinements at the end of the sixteenth part century.Although it was in 1971 when Acupuncture became popularly recognized in the United States of the States (USA), awareness about this therapeutic practice has been introduced in the country long before this period. The first records and studies of the practice became known to the Americans in 1825 in the takings of Morands Memoir on Acupuncturation, a document translated from French by Franklin Bache. However, it was in 1971 when the impertinent York Times correspondent James Reston note stilt his experience about Acupuncture describing how medical professionals in China utilise needles to alleviate his pain after he have undergone surgery.Currently, the NCCAM reported that in the USA Acupuncture is being widely practiced by thousands of relate medical practitioners such as physicians, dentists , acupuncturists, and other practitioners mainly for alleviation and dodge of pain and for other health purposes. In fact it was reported that in 2002, the survey showed that 8.2 million of the American adults have made use of Acupuncture.IV. Hazards of the trust and Its Licensing and Regulatory RequirementsThe NCCAM provides in its website that the use of Acupuncture has a relatively dispirit account in terms of health problems and complication despite the colossal number of treated individuals in America. universally the negative complications resulted from the use of inadequately sterilized needles causing serious undesirable effects, including infections and punctured organs. Moreover indecorous needle placement, patient movements, or a defective needle may cause to tenderness, discomfort, soreness and pain during treatment.The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) queers acupuncture needles. These needles should be used by licensed practitioners only and need to be manufact ured and labeled according to the required standards on sterilization, nontoxic quality, and moldiness be labeled for single use by qualified practitioners only. cosmos hearings held on April 25, 2006 in Asheville, and on September 27, 2006 in New capital of Switzerland in zero(prenominal)th Carolina have acknowledged issues regarding the following safety measures in alternative medical practicea. Practitioners Training, Qualifications and Credentials of Acupuncturistsb. Consumer Protection of patientsc. Insurance coverage of patients for possible health problems and side effectsd. An Oversight- Regulatory Board to regulate and control the practice ensuring public safety.Finally, for public awareness the NCCAM Clearinghouse provides information on CAM and NCCAM, as well as publications and searches of Federal databases of medical and scientific texts in service to the American nation regarding alternative medicines.ReferencesAn Introduction to Acupuncture. (2007). NCCAM Publicatio n No.D404, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 may 2008 from http//nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/Birch, S. J., & Felt, R. L. (1999).Understanding Acupuncture. New York Churchill Livingstone. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database http//www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100223449Cargill, M. (1994).Acupuncture A executable Medical Alternative. Westport, CT Praeger Publishers. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database http//www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=81902256Energy Medicine An Overview. (2004). NCCAM Publication No.D235, NCCAM, National Institutes of Health. Retrieved 15 May 2008 from http//nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/energymed.htmFreeman, L. W., & Lawlis, G. F. (2001).Mosbys Complementary Alternative Medicine A Research-Based Approach. St. Louis, MO Mosby. Retrieved May 15, 2008, from Questia database http//www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=od=100735773House Select Study on Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Final Report to the House of Representatives 200 7 North Carolina General Assembly. (2006). Retrieved 15 May 2008, from http//www.ncga.state.nc.us/documentsites/legislativepublications/Study%20Reports%20to%20the%202007%20NCGA/Complementary%20and%20Alternative%20Medicine.pdf