Acupuncture

Paper Summary:

This paper examines the practice of acupuncture. It analyzes the history of the practice, dating it back to 1000 B.C.E. and follows its development up until today. The paper then explores the target group for acupuncture and discusses some of the evidence supporting its success in treatment. The paper ends with recommendations for people suffering from pain, as well as certain disorders of the nervous system, who have not found relief from traditional medicine.

Table of Contents:
Historical Background
Target Group and Provider of Acupuncture
Acknowledgement of Research Activities
Acupuncture and the Audience
The Best Source
Financial Aspects of Acupuncture
Recommendations

From the Paper:

"Despite all of this information, acupuncture is still considered as a "pseudo-science" by many contemporary Western doctors and physicians, yet many people who have undergone acupuncture treatment have reported remarkable recoveries. For the general audience, being those who receive acupuncture, current information supports the idea that acupuncture "relieves many types of chronic pain, the nausea associated with chemotherapy, and alters the functions of the immune system for the better" ("Acupuncture Illustrated," 1994, 56). As to the nursing profession, since acupuncture is not considered as a viable means of treatment by many doctors, most nurses would probably be very reluctant to attempt acupuncture on a patient, yet according to I.L Bonta, many nurses, out of curiosity and the encouragement of their friends and relatives who have undergone acupuncture, "tend to be far more open than the medical authorities when it comes to taking a course in acupuncture from a certified acupuncturist" (2002, 223). Thus, nurses could most probably assist their patients much better if they were to take to heart the information available on acupuncture and use it to their patient's advantage."

Sample of Sources Used:

• "Acupuncture Illustrated." Consumer's Reports. 59 (January 1994): 54-57.
• Barrett, Stephen. (January 1, 2004). "Acupuncture, Qigong and Chinese Medicine." Internet. Accessed March 28, 2006. http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/acu.html.
• Bonta, I.L. (2002). "Acupuncture Beyond the Endorphine Concept?" Medical Hypotheses. 58, 221-24.
• Connelly, Dianne. (1979). Traditional Acupuncture: The Law of Five Elements. Centre for Traditional Acupuncture, Columbia University Press.
• O'Connor, John and Dennis Bensky. (1981). Acupuncture: A Comprehensive Text. Seattle, WA: Eastland Press.

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