Study progress on the mechanism of acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhea

Through searching the literature on the mechanism of acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhea in the last 15 years,this paper summarizes systematically the current study progress on the analgesic mechanism of acupuncture for primary dysmenorrhea,from the perspectives of animal experiment and human trials.In terms of research methods,the behavioral observation,evaluation of central and peripheral biochemical indexes,and molecular biological techniques were mainly used in the animal experiments;whilst the clinical symptoms and evaluation of peripheral serum biochemical indexes were focused on in human trials.As for the research results,the animal experiments showed that acupuncture may play an analgesic role by regulating endocrine,promoting the release of central and peripheral neurotransmitters,regulating immune function,and relieving uterine smooth muscle spasm.However,the human trials have found that acupuncture can produce analgesic effects by regulating serum prostaglandin and ovarian hormone levels,promoting the release of peripheral β-endorphin,improving the uterine artery flow status,and relieving uterine smooth muscle spasm.Although different research methods were used in animal and human studies,the similar results were obtained in acupuncture regulating endocrine levels,promoting release of peripheral neurotransmitters,and alleviating uterine smooth muscle spasms.In addition,at present stage,animal experiments are more than human trials in numbers,and there are relatively few studies on the central mechanism of acupuncture analgesia in human trials.Therefore,in view of this phenomenon,this paper proposes to use functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) technology to explore the central mechanism of acupuncture analgesia in human body,so as to provide a new idea for further exploring the mechanism of acupuncture analgesia in treating primary dysmenorrhea.

Cases for acupoint embedding of epilepsy

In this report,acupoint embedding method was used for a 25-year-old female patient with epilepsy.The patient suffered from repeated paroxysmal unconsciousness combined with convulsions of four limbs for13 years,and exacerbation for 2 months.She was orally administered with antiepileptic drugs which showed poor control.Using the treatment principles of regulating the mind,opening the orifices,extinguishing wind,and relieving epilepsy,suture-embedded acupoints include Dàzhuī(大椎GV14),Bǎihuì(百会GV20),Xuánlú(悬颅GB5),Yāoqí(腰奇EX-B9),Gānshū(肝俞BL18),Jiūwěi(鸠尾CV15),Jiānshǐ(间使PC5),and Fēnglóng(丰隆ST40),and the patient was treated once a month(qw).After treatment for 6 times,the patient had occasionally a seizure that lasted for several seconds,and the patient’s condition was improved obviously.Acupoint embedding method can control the frequency of epileptic seizures effectively,and reduce the dose of antiepileptic drugs,and deserves further research.