Dorsher, Peter T.

Some prominent contemporary acupuncture pundits have published assertions that when the Huangdi Neijing was written 2000+ years ago, acupuncture clinicians had no knowledge of anatomy and “limited” clinical knowledge. Historical records as well as medical literature published over the past hundred years evidence those claims are grossly inaccurate. Those erroneous reports have likely contributed to the negative views of acupuncture that continue to be promulgated in the Western (allopathic) medical literature by prominent academic physicians and researchers: specifically, that acupuncture lacks a proper scientific basis, and that its clinical benefits most likely result from a potent (“enhanced”) placebo effect. The purpose of this review is to provide an accurate description of the extensive anatomical, physiological, and clinical knowledge of the founders of the acupuncture tradition, as reflected in both historical records and peer-reviewed literature. These data evidence that acupuncture is scientifically based in human anatomy and physiology, and further provide clues to acupuncture’s mechanisms.

Objective: Laser acupuncture has become increasingly attractive in clinical practice, especially for patients with needle phobias well as elderly people and children. However, literature concerning the safety of laser acupuncture has been limited. This systematic review synthesizes the current available literature on the safety of laser acupuncture. Methods: Ovid MEDLINE, ® Epub Ahead of Print, In-Process & Other Non-Indexed Citations Daily, Ovid Embase, Scopus, and EBM Reviews—Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials databases were searched for available randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on laser acupuncture. Safety data were extracted from the included studies. Adverse events (AEs) data were extracted and assessed in terms of severity and causality. Results: Of 737 articles, 21 RCTs were included. The majority of these RCTs reported that laser acupuncture was safe, without AEs; 6 trials reported AEs (including tingling, pain flare-ups, and transient fatigue). All AEs were mild and resolved spontaneously within 24 hours. The causal relationship between AEs and laser acupuncture was felt to be “certain” in 4 studies, “probable” in 1 study, and “possible” in 1 study. AEs were collected and monitored by evaluation methods in 7 trials: 5 with AE questionnaires, 1 with a checklist, and 1 with oral reports. Conclusions: Laser acupuncture appears to be a safe therapy associated with few mild and transient AEs. However, given the heterogeneity of current studies, large, well-designed placebo-controlled RCTs with rigorous evaluation methods are needed to assess the safety of laser acupuncture more completely.