THE MECHANISM OF ACUPUNCTURE AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS

115 Intern. J. Neuroscience, 116:115–125, 2006 Copyright  2006 Taylor & Francis LLC ISSN: 0020-7454 / 1543-5245 online DOI: 10.1080/00207450500341472 THE MECHANISM OF ACUPUNCTURE AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS MEHMET TUGRUL CABÝOGLU NEYHAN ERGENE Department of Physiology Selçuk University Faculty of Meram Medica Konya, Turkey UNER TAN Department of Physiology Cukurova University Faculty of Medical Adana, Turkey This study presents the result of the studies explaining the effects of acupunc- ture on various systems and symptoms. It has been determined that endomorphin-

1, beta endorphin, encephalin, and serotonin levels increase in plasma and brain tissue through acupuncture application. It has been observed that the increases of endomorphin-1, beta endorphin, encephalin, serotonin, and dopamine cause analgesia, sedation, and recovery in motor functions. They also have immuno- modulator effects on the immune system and lipolitic effects on metabolism. Because of these effects, acupuncture is used in the treatment of pain syndrome illnesses such as migraine, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, and trigeminal neural- gia; of gastrointestinal disorders such as disturbance at gastrointestinal motility and gastritis; of psychological illnesses such as depression, anxiety, and panic attack; and in rehabilitation from hemiplegia and obesity. Keywords acupuncture, beta endorphin, endogen opioids, encephalin, serotonin Received 28 January 2005. Address correspondence to Dr. Mehmet, Tugrul Cabýoglu Hamidiye Mah., Ince Minare Sok., 1. Nizam Apt., No:9/102 Selçuklu 42040, Konya, Turkey. E-mail: tugcab@yahoo.com 116 M. T. CABÝOGLU ET AL. INTRODUCTION The term “Acupuncture” consists of two words from the Latin: acus: needle and puncture: insertion. It is a treatment procedure in which, generally, steel, silver, or gold needles are inserted into specific acupuncture points. Traditional Chinese Acupuncture has a history of over 3,000 years (Ullet et al., 1998). Although the history of acupuncture dates...

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