El valor de la acupuntura en la práctica de la medicina tradicional complementaria en el sector salud de México / The value of acupuncture in the practice of complementary traditional medicine in Mexico's health sector

Introduction: Complementary traditional medicine acquires an essential value from the diversity and pluralism of care and therapy. In this logic, it is up to people to search for alternatives when it comes to caring for and improving their own health. Specifically, acupuncture has had rapid growth, largely due to processes derived from globalization, migration and cultural exchange, which in some way force countries to modify their health system towards one that takes into account the transculturality of its population and treatment preferences. Development: With the establishment of a comprehensive health model, physicians can assess the person as a homeodynamic process (information exchange process between environment and man, to keep an internal and external homeostasis to the individual) and pandimensional (spiritual and energetic care) that allows to identify the health problem's origin and thus determine an intervention more in line with the person's needs during the health-disease, life-death processes, with the corresponding conventional or non-conventional therapy. Conclusions: The value and interest of acupuncture in the population derives from the degree of development of a country, its origin and the incorporation of the West as part of the diagnostic and therapeutic arsenal, in order to respond to the population needs by incorporating low-cost complementary treatments with proven effectiveness, without ceasing to consider its unquestionable cultural heritage.

Introducción: la medicina tradicional complementaria adquiere un valor imprescindible desde la diversidad y el pluralismo de la asistencia y la terapéutica. En esa lógica, corresponde a las personas la búsqueda social de alternativas cuando se trata de atender y mejorar la propia salud. En específico la acupuntura ha tenido un rápido crecimiento, en gran parte debido a la globalización, la migración y el intercambio cultural, que de alguna forma obligan a los países a modificar su sistema de salud hacia uno que tome en cuenta la transculturalidad de su población y las preferencias de tratamiento. Desarrollo: con el establecimiento de un modelo de salud integral, los médicos pueden valorar a la persona como un proceso homeodinámico (intercambio de información entre el ambiente y el hombre para mantener una homeostasis interna y externa del individuo) y pandimensional (cuidado espiritual y energético) que permita identificar el origen real del problema de salud y determinar una intervención más acorde a las necesidades de la persona durante los procesos de salud-enfermedad, de vida-muerte, con la terapia convencional o no convencional que corresponda. Conclusiones: el valor e interés de la acupuntura en la población se deriva del grado de desarrollo de un país, de su origen y de la incorporación de occidente como parte del arsenal diagnóstico y terapéutico, para responder a las necesidades de la población al incorporar tratamientos complementarios de bajo costo y con efectividad demostrada, y sin dejar de considerar su herencia cultural incuestionable.

Acupuntura na qualidade de vida do paciente com retocolite ulcerativa inespecífica: relato de caso / Acupuntura en la calidad de vida de pacientes con colitis ulcerosa inespecífica: reporte de caso / Acupuncture on the quality of life of patients with nonspecific ulcerative colitis: case report

Objetivo: relatar a contribuição da acupuntura sistêmica na qualidade de vida de um paciente com retocolite ulcerativa inespecífica. Método:estudo descritivo, retrospectivo, na modalidade de relato de caso, desenvolvido em três etapas: coleta de dados pré-tratamento; aplicação dos protocolos de tratamento com acupuntura sistêmica; e coleta de dados pós-tratamento. Os acupontosescolhidosse relacionaram aos aspectos emocionais e fisiopatológicos, particularmenteos sintomas intestinais, aplicados em sessões semanais domiciliares. Para a avaliação da qualidade de vida, utilizou-se de instrumento adaptado e validado para a cultura brasileira, e específico para doenças inflamatórias intestinais. Resultados: observou-se melhora estatisticamente significativa nas dimensões "sintomas intestinais", "sintomas sistêmicos", "aspectos emocionais" e no escore total de qualidade de vida. Conclusão: a acupuntura contribuiu para a melhoria da qualidade de vida, especialmente na remissão dos sintomas intestinais e nos aspectos emocionais.

Objective: to report the contribution of systemic acupuncture to the quality of life of a patient with nonspecific ulcerative colitis.Method: descriptive, retrospective study, in the form of case report, developed in three stages: pre-treatment data collection; application of treatment protocols with systemic acupuncture; and post-treatment data collection. Acupoints were related to emotional and pathophysiological aspects, particularly intestinal symptoms, applied in weekly home sessions. To assess the quality of life, an instrument adapted and validated for the Brazilian culture was used, specifically for inflammatory bowel diseases. Results: there was a statistically significant improvement in the dimensions "intestinal symptoms", "systemic symptoms", "emotional aspects" and in the total quality of life score.Conclusion: acupuncture contributed to the improvement of quality of life, especially in the remission of intestinal symptoms and emotional aspects.

Objetivo: relatar la contribución de la acupuntura sistémica a la calidad de vida de un paciente con colitis ulcerosa inespecífica.Método: estudio descriptivo, retrospectivo, en forma de reporte de caso, desarrollado en tres etapas: recolección de datos pretratamiento; aplicación de protocolos de tratamiento con acupuntura sistémica; y recopilación de datos posteriores al tratamiento. Los puntos de acupuntura se relacionaron con aspectos emocionales y fisiopatológicos, particularmente síntomas intestinales, aplicados en sesiones domiciliarias semanales. Para evaluar la calidad de vida se utilizó un instrumento adaptado y validado para la cultura brasileña, específicamente para enfermedades inflamatorias intestinales.Resultados: hubo una mejora estadísticamente significativa en las dimensiones "síntomas intestinales", "síntomas sistémicos", "aspectos emocionales" y en el puntaje total de calidad de vida. Conclusión: la acupuntura contribuyó a la mejoría de la calidad de vida, especialmente en la remisión de los síntomas intestinales y aspectos emocionales.

Parestesia do nervo alveolar inferior decorrente de procedimentos cirúrgicos e suas formas de tratamentos / Paresthesi of the lower alveolar nerve resulting from surgical procedures and its forms of treatment

Nas cirurgias odontológicas é possível que ocorra alguns acidentes ou complicações que podem interferir no dia a dia do paciente. A lesão do nervo alveolar inferior é uma complicação decorrente de cirurgias orais que podem causar um distúrbio de sensibilidade transitória ou persistente, na região do lábio inferior e na região delimitada do forame mentoniano e hemi-arco da mucosa. O diagnóstico da parestesia pode ser feito através de testes mecanoceptivos e nocioceptivos em que o profissional escolherá para qual melhor se adapte no paciente. O objetivo do presente trabalho foi abordar por meio de uma revisão de literatura as formas de diagnóstico e tratamento da parestesia do nervo alveolar inferior decorrentes de cirurgias orais. As bases de dados utilizadas para confecção desta revisão são encontradas nas bibliotecas virtuais eletrônicas: BVS (Biblioteca Virtual em Saúde), LILACS (Literatura Latino-Americana e do Caribe em Ciências da Saúde) e Pubmed. Como critério de inclusão foram selecionados artigos publicados de 2012 a 2022 em língua inglesa, portuguesa e espanhola. Após a leitura do título e resumo dos resultados da pesquisa e aplicação dos critérios de inclusão e exclusão dentre eles foram excluídos 883, pois não se enquadravam no nosso critério de inclusão. No final, foram selecionados 13 estudos por meio de base de dados, que serviram de base para esta revisão. Concluímos que as formas de tratamento para a parestesia na literatura, são um pouco escassas e conflitantes, mas relata que o uso da laserterapia e acupuntura tem sido uma forma de tratamento com um bom índice de sucesso, e para os casos que não sejam suficientes tais tratamentos, pode-se optar por uma cirurgia(AU)

In dental surgeries it is possible to have some accidents or complications that can interfere with the patient's day. Injury to the inferior alveolar nerve is a complication resulting from oral surgeries that can cause a disturbance of sensitivity that can be transient or persistent in the region of the lower lip and in the delimited region of the mental foramen and hemiarch of the mucosa. The diagnosis of paresthesia can be made through mechanoceptive and nocioceptive tests that the professional will choose, which best suits the patient. The objective of the present work is to approach, through a literature review, the forms of diagnosis and treatment aimed at inferior alveolar nerve paresthesia resulting from oral surgeries. The databases used for this review are found in the virtual electronic libraries: VHL (Virtual Health Library), LILACS (Latin American and Caribbean Literature on Health Sciences) and Pubmed. As inclusion criteria, articles published from 2012 to 2022 in English, Portuguese and Spanish were selected. After reading the title and summary of the research results and applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 883 were excluded, as they did not meet our inclusion criteria. In the end, 13 studies were selected from the database, which served as the basis for this review. We conclude that the forms of treatment for paresthesia in the literature are a little scarce and conflicting, but it reports that the use of laser therapy and acupuncture has been a form of treatment with a good success rate, and for cases that are not enough, such treatments, one can opt for surgery(AU)

Formación médica en la terapéutica no convencional en el mundo (homeopatía y acupuntura) / Medical training in non-conventional therapeutics in the world (homeopathy and acupuncture)

Utilizadas de forma complementaria, alternada o integrada con la medicina convencional, la demanda de la población por las terapias no convencionales se ha incrementado considerablemente en las últimas décadas, requiriendo de los médicos un conocimiento de las nociones básicas de tales enfoques terapéuticos para orientar a sus pacientes en relación con tratamientos distintos a aquellos que suelen prescribir. Entre las mismas, la homeopatía y la acupuntura se han considerado especialidades médicas en Brasil durante varias décadas. Objetivo: Describir el estado actual de la formación médica en terapias no convencionales (homeopatía y acupuntura) alrededor del mundo. Métodos: Actualizamos los datos relacionados con los estudios y revisiones publicados hasta 2013 a través de una revisión de los estudios más recientes incluidos en la base de datos PubMed. Resultados: En todos los países, la enseñanza de terapias no convencionales se considera un tema relevante para la formación de médicos como una función del creciente interés de la población en su uso, con un amplia variedad de enfoques dirigidos a los estudiantes de licenciatura y posgrado, médicos residentes y profesionales con otras especialidades médicas. Conclusiones: Las escuelas brasileñas de medicina deben proporcionar a los estudiantes de licenciatura y posgrado, así como a los médicos residentes, un conocimiento preciso de los supuestos teóricos y enfoques clínico-terapéuticos propios de la homeopatía y la acupuntura, entre otras terapias no convencionales.

Used as complementary to, alternating or integrated with mainstream medicine, the population's demand for non-conventional therapies has substantially increased in the past decades, requiring from doctors knowledge on the basic notions of such therapeutics to orient their patients regarding treatments different to the ones they usually prescribe. Among them, homeopathy and acupuncture are considered medical specialties in Brazil for various decades. Aim: To describe the current state of medical education in non-conventional therapies (homeopathy and acupuncture) around the world. Methods: We updated data resulting from studies and reviews published until 2013 through a review of more recent studies included in database PubMed. Results: In all countries the teaching of non-conventional therapies is considered a relevant topic for the training of doctors as a function of the increasing interest of the population in their use, with a broad range of approaches targeting undergraduate and graduate students, medical residents and doctors from other medical specialties. Conclusions: The Brazilian medical schools must provide undergraduate and graduate students and medical residents accurate knowledge on the theoretical assumptions and clinical-therapeutic approaches proper to homeopathy and acupuncture, among other non-conventional therapies.

Evaluation of acupuncture and auriculotherapy in the control of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting: a Pilot Study / Evaluación de la acupuntura y la auriculoterapia en el control de las náuseas y vómitos inducidos por la quimioterapia: Estudio piloto / Avaliação da acupuntura e auriculoterapia no controle de náuseas e vômitos induzidos por quimioterapia: Estudo Piloto

ABSTRACT Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture and auriculotherapy protocol in relieving chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting in cancer patients compared to the antiemetic protocol. Method: Pilot study of a pragmatic two-arm clinical trial: an acupuncture group received systemic acupuncture, auriculotherapy, and antiemetic protocol; a control group used antiemetic protocol. The sample consisted of 42 patients with cancer of the gastrointestinal system or multiple myeloma. The outcome was assessed using the Chemotherapy-Induced Nausea and Vomiting Assessment Tool and the patient's diary. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between groups according to the assessment of the patient's diary and the Assessment Tool of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting. The patients were 60 years old on average and the groups were homogeneous, except for marital status. In the diary, there was no statistical difference between groups and sessions for days of nausea (p = 0.873) and vomiting episodes (p = 0.993). Conclusion: The protocol of acupuncture and auriculotherapy as a complementary treatment of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting was ineffective, considering the limitations of the study.

RESUMEN Objetivo: Evaluar la efectividad del protocolo de acupuntura y auriculoterapia para aliviar las náuseas y los vómitos inducidos por la quimioterapia en pacientes con cáncer en comparación con el protocolo antiemético. Método: Estudio piloto tipo ensayo clínico pragmático con dos brazos: el grupo de acupuntura recibió acupuntura sistémica, auriculoterapia y protocolo antiemético, el grupo control utilizó un protocolo antiemético. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 42 pacientes con cáncer del sistema gastrointestinal o mieloma múltiple. El resultado se evaluó mediante el Instrumento de Evaluación de Náuseas y Vómitos inducidos por quimioterapia y el diario del paciente. Resultados: No hubo diferencias estadísticamente significativas entre los grupos según la evaluación del diario del paciente y el Instrumento de Evaluación de náuseas y vómitos inducidos por quimioterapia. Los pacientes tenían en promedio 60 años y los grupos eran homogéneos, excepto por el estado civil. En el diario no hubo diferencia estadística entre los grupos y sesiones para los días de náuseas (p = 0,873) y episodios de vómitos (p = 0,993). Conclusión: El protocolo de acupuntura y auriculoterapia como tratamiento complementario de las náuseas y vómitos inducidos por la quimioterapia resultó ineficaz, considerando las limitaciones del estudio.

RESUMO Objetivo: Avaliar a efetividade do protocolo de acupuntura e auriculoterapia no alívio de náuseas e vômitos induzidos por quimioterapia em pacientes oncológicos em comparação ao protocolo antiemético. Método: Estudo piloto tipo ensaio clínico pragmático de dois braços: grupo acupuntura recebeu acupuntura sistêmica, auriculoterapia e protocolo antiemético, o grupo controle utilizou protocolo antiemético. A amostra foi composta por 42 pacientes com câncer do sistema gastrointestinal ou mieloma múltiplo. O desfecho foi avaliado pelo Instrumento de Avaliação de náuseas e vômitos induzidos por quimioterapia e diário do paciente. Resultados: Não houve diferença estatística significativa entre os grupos pela avaliação do diário do paciente e Instrumento de Avaliação de náuseas e vômitos induzidos por quimioterapia. Os pacientes apresentavam em média 60 anos e os grupos foram homogêneos, exceto para o estado civil. No diário, não houve diferença estatística entre os grupos e as sessões para os dias de náuseas (p = 0,873) e episódios de vômitos (p = 0,993). Conclusão: O protocolo de acupuntura e auriculoterapia como tratamento complementar de náuseas e vômitos induzidos por quimioterapia foi inefetivo, considerando as limitações do estudo.

Feasibility analysis of puncture robot technology for the application of acupuncture robot / 中国针灸

The difficulties such as how to accurately locate acupoints and safely insert needles are presented in acupuncture robot. The puncture robot with high technological similarity to acupuncture robot is getting mature, and a large number of human trials and animal experiments have been conducted for the development of puncture robot. Through comparing the similarities and differences between puncture robot and acupuncture robot in the aspects of through-skin puncture, needle insertion and needle removal, the valuable technology of puncture robot is analyzed for the development of acupuncture robot, and the crucial direction of technology migration is determined. ①Integrating the mechanical feedback and medical imaging technology and utilizing the multi-modal perception to achieve the safety of acupuncture operation. ②Emphasizing the integration of the existing designs of chest puncture robot to realize the acupuncture operation with inhalation and exhalation involved. ③Focusing on the development of relevant technology of automatic needle removal through conducting the actual scenario of treatment with acupuncture robot in patients under non-anaesthetic condition.

Professor SUN Shen-tian's experience in acupuncture treatment of depression based on "psychosomatic medicine" / 中国针灸

This paper introduces professor SUN Shen-tian's clinical thoughts and his characteristics of acupuncture techniques for the treatment of depression based on "psychosomatic medicine". Professor SUN, the master of traditional Chinese medicine, believes that depression refers to comorbidity of "heart mind" and "body", resulting from the "body-mind" disharmony, specially dominated by the emotional disorder. This disease is located in the brain, with the injury of mind and closely related to the heart and liver dysfunction. In pathogenesis, the dysfunction of brain mind and the unhealthy conditions of body and mind are involved. The treatment should focus on "regulating the mind, improving the intelligence, co-modulating the abdominal and brain functions and treating the physical and mental disorders". Baihui (GV 20), Ningshen (Extra) and emotional area on the head are selected as the main points to benefit the intelligence and calming down the mind; the abdominal region 1 and region 8 of "Sun's abdominal acupuncture" are used as the main points of the abdomen to regulate the brain functions. The point prescription is modified according to the symptoms and etiologies. The repeated transcranial acupuncture stimulation and electroacupuncture at low frequency (2 Hz) are crucial to the therapeutic effect. Reliving anxious emotions is specially considered before acupuncture, and the mind is protected and deqi is consolidated during acupuncture.

From the body-mind holism to psychosomatic medicine: theory and practice of acupuncture and moxibustion / 中国针灸

The traditional life concept of "body-mind holism" in Chinese medicine has drawn a special attention with the development of modern psychosomatic medicine. The "body-mind holism" is valuable in the guidance for clinical acupuncture practice, but, it is only remained on the theoretical significance by the medical masters in the past dynasties. In the paper, based on the understanding of Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic), the similarities and differences are compared between the body-mind theory and psychosomatic medicine. In association with clinical observation, from three aspects, i.e. body-mind pathogenesis, acupoint detection and observing the mind, and body-mind treatment, the guidance of "body-mind holism" is explored for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of acupuncture and moxibustion; the referents of "body" and "mind" are clarified in views of disease, diagnosis and treatment; and the treatment strategies of acupuncture and moxibustion are discussed in the perspective of "body-mind holism".

Acupuncture-Neuroimaging Research Trends over Past Two Decades: A Bibliometric Analysis / 中国结合医学杂志

OBJECTIVE@#To identify topics attracting growing research attention as well as frontier trends of acupuncture-neuroimaging research over the past two decades.@*METHODS@#This paper reviewed data in the published literature on acupuncture neuroimaging from 2000 to 2020, which was retrieved from the Web of Science database. CiteSpace was used to analyze the publication years, countries, institutions, authors, keywords, co-citation of authors, journals, and references.@*RESULTS@#A total of 981 publications were included in the final review. The number of publications has increased in the recent 20 years accompanied by some fluctuations. Notably, the most productive country was China, while Harvard University ranked first among institutions in this field. The most productive author was Tian J with the highest number of articles (50), whereas the most co-cited author was Hui KKS (325). Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine (92) was the most prolific journal, while Neuroimage was the most co-cited journal (538). An article written by Hui KKS (2005) exhibited the highest co-citation number (112). The keywords "acupuncture" (475) and "electroacupuncture" (0.10) had the highest frequency and centrality, respectively. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) ranked first with the highest citation burst (6.76).@*CONCLUSION@#The most active research topics in the field of acupuncture-neuroimaging over the past two decades included research type, acupoint specificity, neuroimaging methods, brain regions, acupuncture modality, acupoint specificity, diseases and symptoms treated, and research type. Whilst research frontier topics were "nerve regeneration", "functional connectivity", "neural regeneration", "brain network", "fMRI" and "manual acupuncture".

Brief introduction of Qilu modern acupuncture methods / 中国针灸

Qilu acupuncture and moxibustion has promoted the formation and development of traditional Chinese medicine, which has a special historical position. By systematically collecting, sorting out and summarizing the characteristic acupuncture methods and academic ideas of several Qilu acupuncturists since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the understanding of the advantages and characteristics of Qilu modern acupuncture methods is deepened, aiming to exploring the inheritance and development pattern of Qilu acupuncture methods in the new era.

Application and thinking of acupuncture therapy in comprehensive management of hypertension / 中国针灸

The theory of disease prevention with traditional Chinese medicine is introduced into the prevention of chronic diseases such as hypertension. In order to fully implement the advantages of acupuncture, the three-level prevention strategy is strengthened on the whole-process intervention with acupuncture for hypertension, including prevention before disease onset, starting intervention at the early phase, and prevention disease from exacerbating. Moreover, the comprehensive management scheme, multidisciplinary coordination and participation mechanism are investigated in the field of traditional Chinese medicine for preventive treatment of hypertension.

Non-linear characteristic of acupoint resistance and its application / 中国针灸

Acupoint specificity is a key scientific issue in acupuncture and moxibustion. Acupoint electric resistance is a commonly-used biophysical index to study the functional specificity of acupoints. The non-linear characteristics of acupoint electric resistance have great impacts on the measured values, but it has been greatly ignored. By analyzing the non-linear characteristics of acupoint resistance and its application in the study of acupoint function specificity, a new idea of introducing chaos theory and technology into the study of acupoint function is proposed.

Application and research progress of ultrasound in acupuncture treatment / 中国针灸

The operation standardization, quantitative standard and safety of acupuncture treatment are important links in the development of acupuncture modernization. In recent years, with the continuous development of ultrasonic imaging technology, ultrasonic medicine has the characteristics of visualization, quantitative analysis and real-time dynamics, which could play a unique role in acupuncture treatment. In this paper, the research progress of the combined application of ultrasonic medicine and acupuncture treatment is described from three aspects: ultrasound guidance helping to standardize acupuncture operation, ultrasound guidance helping to improve and evaluate the clinical efficacy of acupuncture, and ultrasound guidance helping to improve the safety of acupuncture, aiming to providing new ideas for the application of modern medicine in traditional medicine.

Relationship between the inserting sites of Fu's subcutaneous needling and traditional acupoints: revelation to acupuncture and moxibustion / 中国针灸

Focusing on the phenomenon of "de-acupoints" of the needle insertion sites in Fu's subcutaneous needling (FSN), the authors allocated the evolution and characteristics of the needle insertion sites of FSN. From six aspects, named morphology and structure, location, nomenclature, numbers and meridian tropism, indications and acupuncture manipulations, the comparison was made between the insertion sites of FSN and traditional acupoints. It is believed: ①The needle insertion sites of FSN has the basic attributes of acupoint, which not only refers to the operation site, but also indicates the reaction of disease; moreover, it is the treatment site with significant therapeutic effect. ②The optimized sites of insertion in FSN should be named differently and their locations and numbers should be specified relatively. ③The insertion sites of FSN should be further intersected and integrated with traditional acupoints, and a part of traditional acupoints should become the insertion sites of FSN. ④Accepting and integrating the insertion sites of FSN, and expanding the scope of traditional acupoints may be the new project in the research of traditional acupoints.

Constructed "ashi point" / 中国针灸

Ashi point is one of the three major categories of acupoint in acupuncture-moxibustion theory nowadays. It is originally recorded in Beiji Qianjin Yaofang (Important Formulas Worth a Thousand Gold Pieces for Emergency) as one of the effective folk methods. The theoretic development of ashi point goes through the innovation period of contemporary and modern acupuncture-moxibustion theory, specifically in three aspects, definition, property and status. Through the analysis of historical data, it is found that the bias of ashi point theory results from the misunderstanding of connotation, the distortion of application techniques, the misinterpretation of semantics and the gradual promotion of status. All of these are generally caused by the reform of acupuncture-moxibustion theory in Japan, which covers the essence of ashi point, limits its connotation and clouds the concept of acupoint. It is necessary to re-understand the literal sense and theoretic construction of ashi point and timely update the knowledge system of acupuncture-moxibustion in association with the results of theoretical researches.

Adding acupoint identification into the textbook Meridians and Acupoints: preliminary assumption / 中国针灸

To deepen the understanding of the acupoint indications, clarify the targeting of acupoints, and provide a basis for the composition of acupuncture prescriptions, it is suggested to add acupoint identification into the textbook Meridians and Acupoints, and a preliminary assumption that relevant acupoints can be identified by taking the indications, locations, and meridians as the key points is proposed. In this paper, acupoints for treating stomach disease, acupoints of eye region, and five-shu points of lung meridian are taken as examples, combined with ancient literature and modern scientific research achievements, the main indications of acupoint is identified, which is of great significance to the discipline's development, talent training, and achievement transformation.

Research on ontology construction of acupuncture effect based on ISO/TS 16843-6: 2022 / 中国针灸

In order to specify the information expression of acupuncture effect and realize the knowledge reuse and sharing, in view of animal experiments and clinical trials, the relevant knowledge of acupuncture effect is allocated. Using seven-step method and Protégé5.5.0 tool, the ontology of acupuncture effect is constructed on the base of ISO/TS 16843-6: 2022. A total of 199 classes are constructed, including 7 categories (acupuncture point, acupuncture therapy, needling method, biological process, genes and gene products, disorder, and anatomic structure), 12 object properties, 1 108 instances and 5 123 axioms. A semantic network with the characteristics of acupuncture and moxibustion is established and the structured expression for the knowledge of acupuncture effects is obtained, which lays the foundation for the innovation and development in the field of acupuncture and moxibustion.

Improving acupuncture research: progress, guidance, and future directions / 中国针灸

This paper makes an interpretation of the collection Acupuncture: how to improve the evidence base published by BMJ & BMJ Open. Studies show that the quality of randomized controlled trial (RCT) of acupuncture is low, and multivariable Meta-regression analysis fails to confirm most factors commonly believed to influence the effect of acupuncture. The methodological challenges in design and conduct of RCT in acupuncture were analyzed, and a consensus on how to design high-quality acupuncture RCT was developed. The number of acupuncture systematic reviews was huge but the evidence was underused in clinical practice and health policy, and a large number of western clinical practice guidelines recommended acupuncture therapy, but the usefulness of recommendations needed to be improved. In view of the problems in clinical research on acupuncture mentioned in this collection, combined with the analysis of the purpose of clinical research on acupuncture, perspectives, study types, as well as the relationship between evidence and clinical decision-making, a five-stage study paradigm of clinical research on acupuncture is proposed.

Delivery of acupuncture in clinical trials: Research acupuncturists' perspectives / 中西医结合学报

Delivery of acupuncture in the setting of a clinical trial is a unique practice that diverges significantly from the delivery of acupuncture in a real-world clinical setting. Research acupuncturists, particularly those trained in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), are often required to set aside valued precepts of traditional care, including diagnosing imbalances, individualizing treatment, and forging a therapeutic relationship with patients. TCM-trained acupuncturists express mixed feelings about participating in clinical trials. Many are eager to play a vital role in the advancement of acupuncture science and appreciate the need for strict protocol adherence to minimize bias. However, the acupuncturist(s) may also have concerns about clinical trial methodology, including but not limited to the delivery of a control condition, e.g., sham acupuncture. Investigators should anticipate certain questions and even a level of resistance to the requirements of research among acupuncturists and be prepared to address them. This manuscript presents a brief review of the subjective experience of the research acupuncturist within the available scientific literature as it pertains to the delivery of active and sham clinical research protocols. Our goals are to better understand the perspectives of acupuncturists who may participate in clinical research, so that their concerns may be addressed in study design and methodology. To that end, we suggest the creation of a novel training program specifically for clinical trial acupuncturists, intended for qualified TCM- and Western-trained practitioners, that would help to standardize the research acupuncturist's role and help to strengthen the design and execution of acupuncture studies. Please cite this article as: Anastasi JK, Capili B, Neumaier J, Hackett L. Delivery of acupuncture in clinical trials: Research acupuncturists' perspectives. J Integr Med. 2023; 21(4):315-319.

Discussion on Collection of Clinical Questions in International Clinical Practice Guidelines of Acupuncture-Moxibustion / 中国结合医学杂志

The clinical questions of acupuncture-moxibustion (Acup-Mox) guidelines are complicated, including not only the curative effect of Acup-Mox intervention measures, but also the operational elements of Acup-Mox. This paper aimed to put forward the idea and process of collecting clinical questions in developing international acupuncture clinical practice guidelines. The experience was collected and the idea of collecting clinical questions of Acup-Mox was formed through expert consultation and discussion in combination with expert opinions. Based on the characteristics of Acup-Mox discipline. This paper put forward the thinking of collecting elements of clinical questions following the intervention-population-outcome-control (I-P-O-C) inquiry process, according to the discipline of Acup-Mox. It was emphasized that in the process of collecting clinical questions, "treatable population" and "alleviable outcome indicators" for a specific Acup-Mox intervention with certain therapeutic effect should be focused on, so as to highlight the pertinence of clinical questions of Acup-Mox guidelines in terms of population and outcome elements.