Traditional Chinese Medicine views mental and physical health as inseparable. Emotional disturbances are manifestations of imbalanced Qi (vital energy). When Qi becomes blocked, anxiety and depression arise. Acupuncture restores this balance throughout the body.

Modern research validates ancient wisdom. Studies show acupuncture for mental health influences neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine, which regulate mood. Clinical trials demonstrate that traditional Chinese Medicine acupuncture can be as effective as antidepressant medications for certain patients, often without side effects. It triggers the parasympathetic nervous system, promoting relaxation and reducing the fight-or-flight response.

Common acupuncture points include Yintang (between eyebrows), Heart 7, and Pericardium 6. Acupuncture treatments in Ontario typically begin weekly, transitioning to maintenance care as symptoms improve. Many patients in Toronto and across Canada notice improvements within several weeks. If you wish to learn more to support your mental health, it’s time to apply to our college and take the first step toward helping yourself.

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Study Findings

The study, published in BMJ Open, analyzed data from Taiwan’s Registry for Catastrophic Illness Patients Database. It included 23,226 RA patients diagnosed between 1997 and 2010, with 12,266 receiving an average of 10 acupuncture treatments over three years. Results showed a 43% reduced risk of stroke among those who underwent acupuncture. Of the more than 900 participants who experienced a stroke, 341 were from the acupuncture group.

Acupuncture and RA

Acupuncture involves inserting needles at specific body points to relieve pain. The NIH explains that it inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokines and promotes anti-inflammatory factors, potentially reducing cardiovascular risks linked to RA. In addition to pain relief from RA, acupuncture can also treat other types of pain, mood disorders, nausea, and fibromyalgia.

Implications and Expert Opinions

Dr. Rigved Tadwalkar, a cardiologist, highlighted the link between chronic RA inflammation and increased cardiovascular disease risk. He explained that RA’s chronic inflammation extends beyond the joints, affecting blood vessels and promoting atherosclerosis, leading to narrowed arteries and increased susceptibility to heart attacks and strokes. Dr. Tadwalkar found the study’s findings intriguing, suggesting acupuncture could have a broader health impact for RA patients.

“These results warrant further study to investigate whether acupuncture may be beneficial for reducing stroke in a wider population,” said Dr. Chen.

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What is Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM)?

Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) and ancient practices are considered to be beneficial even in the modern era to achieve better health care outcomes. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) refers to the health care system that’s comprised of Eight Branches (Acupuncture, Asian Bodywork, Guasha, Cupping, Moxibustion, Nutrition, Self-healing/Yangsheng, and Herbology) (Xu et al., 2019).In the past, most of the medicines that were used to cure an ailment were based on herbal remedies and even today several of the best-known medicines are made up of plant or plant-based material. According to the United States Department of Agriculture, “A full 40 percent of the drugs behind the pharmacist’s counter in the Western world are derived from plants that people have used for centuries, including the top 20 best selling prescription drugs in the United States today.For example, […] licorice root (Glycyrrhiza glabra) has been an ingredient in cough drops for more than 3,500 years. The species native to the United States, Glycyrrhiza lepidota, has a broad range from western Ontario to Washington, south to Texas, Mexico and Missouri. Eastward, there are scattered populations. The leaves and roots have been used for treating sores on the backs of horses, toothaches, and fever in children, sore throats and cough” (USDA, 2022).

Tu Youyou’s Success Story

Tu Youyou was China’s First Nobel Prize Laureate in Medicine winning the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine despite having no medical degree, no doctorate, and no overseas experience. She is affectionately coined as the “three noes” winner. The scientist, Tu Youyou, told the World Health Organization about artemisia in 1982, but it was decades before the plant which had been used for centuries in Chinese remedies was accepted by Western medicine.One active compound in “wormwood” qinghao, artemsinin, which appeared to battle malaria-friendly parasites was previously studied by others but abandoned because they were not able to extract the compound successfully. Tu Youyou studied ancient Chinese texts and applied them to modern scientific practices. She even first tested her medicine on herself to ensure it was safe. This discovery greatly contributed to saving millions of people who suffered from malaria. Tu Youyou was awarded a noble prize in medicine and physiology in 2015 for this discovery (Su & Miller, 2015).A recounting of her discovery from her Nobel Prize Lecture:

“I reviewed the traditional Chinese literature again when our research stalled, following numerous failures. In reading 肘后备急方 written by 葛洪 (Ge Hong’s A Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergencies, the East Jin Dynasty, around 317–420 A.D.), I further pondered the sentence 青蒿一握, 以水二升渍, 绞取 汁, 尽服之 (A handful of Qinghao immersed in two liters of water, wring out the juice and drink it all) which recommended cold Qinghao for alleviating malaria symptoms.

Most herbs were typically boiled in water and made into decoction before taken by the patients. This unique way of using Qinghao suddenly gave me the idea that heating might need to be avoided during extraction, in order to preserve the herb’s activity. I subsequently redesigned the experiments by extracting the leaves and stems of Qinghao separately at a low temperature using water, ethanol and ethyl ether”.

The earliest mentioning of Qinghao’s application as an herbal medicine was found on the silk manuscripts entitled 五十二病方 (Prescriptions for Fify-two Kinds of Disease) unearthed from the third Han Tomb at Mawangdui. Its medical application was also recorded in 神农本草经 (Sheng Nong’s Herbal Classic), 补遗 雷公炮制便览 (Bu Yi Lei Gong Pao Zhi) and 本草纲目 (Compendium of Materia Medica) etc.

Recently, the values of TCM have been appreciated excessively. Thousands of TCM-based formulas and herbs have been practiced historically and are known to serve as a “treasure house for modern drug development” (Xu et al., 2019). Traditional Chinese medicine is also known to be cost-effective and has fewer side effects and it provides a unique practical and theoretical approach to diagnose as well as treat the disease. Learning these ancient practices can surely help provide a much needed modern integrated approach to medicine.

References:

Cheung, F. (2011). TCM: Made in China. Nature, 480(7378), S82–S83. Su, X.-Z., & Miller, L. H. (2015). The discovery of artemisinin and the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. Springer.

Xu, H.-Y., Zhang, Y.-Q., Liu, Z.-M., Chen, T., Lv, C.-Y., Tang, S.-H., Zhang, X.-B., Zhang, W., Li, Z.-Y., & Zhou, R.-R. (2019). ETCM: An encyclopedia of traditional Chinese medicine. Nucleic Acids Research, 47(D1), D976–D982. https://www.fs.fed.us/wildflowers/ethnobotany/medicinal/index.shtml

USDA. Medicinal Botany. (2022). Retrieved 6 January 2022

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