The PDQ Integrative, Alternative, and Complementary Therapies Editorial Board in the USA publices valuable information for cancer patients and health professionals on the use of acupuncture. It has last been updated October 31, 2019, and is highly recommended by us.
Direct link to the
a) patient version: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/patient/acupuncture-pdq
b) version for health professionals: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/cam/hp/acupuncture-pdq
This cancer information summary provides comprehensive, peer-reviewed, evidence-based information about the use of acupuncture in the treatment of people with cancer. Here is the key information:
As part of traditional Chinese medicine, acupuncture has been practiced in China and other Asian countries for more than 4,000 years. Acupuncture is defined as the application of stimulation such as needling, moxibustion, cupping, and acupressure on specific sites of the body known as acupuncture points.
Acupuncture is used to treat a wide range of illnesses and ailments. Cancer patients use it for pain management, control of nausea and vomiting, fatigue, hot flashes, xerostomia, neuropathy, anxiety, depression, and sleep disturbance.
Although acupuncture has been practiced for millennia, it has come under rigorous scientific investigation only recently. Laboratory and animal studies exploring the mechanisms of acupuncture for cancer treatment have focused mainly on the role of acupuncture in the activation of neurohormonal pathways and immunomodulation. The aim of most acupuncture clinical observation and clinical trials in cancer patients has been to evaluate the effects of acupuncture on symptom management. The most convincing research data on the effects of acupuncture in cancer patients have emerged from studies of the management of chemotherapy-induced nausea and vomiting.
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