Compairison between western and Chinese acupuncture and its enlightenment / 中国针灸

ABSTRACT

With the wide application of acupuncture in the world, the research results of neurosciences have made scientific approval on some of efficacy and mechanism of acupuncture, and the concept of western medical acupuricture (WMA) is gradually developed. During the spread of Chinese acupuncture into western countries, WMA is an adaptive improvement when facing basic theories of western medicine including anatomy, physiology and pathology as well as evidence-based medicine system. WMA which is based on theory of muscle trigger point has obvious efficacy on muscular fasciae pain, which attracted wide attention. But when Chinese acupuncture spreads into western world, the theories of Chinese acupuncture such as meridian and specificity of acupoint are questioned due to the results of western clinical study. In this paper, the origin, theory development, stimulating location and method, and categories of diseases of WMA are compared with Chinese acupuncture, and the enlightenment of this difference on Chinese acupuncture research is analyzed.