ROMA (ITALPRESS) – Acupuncture is a millennial therapeutic practice, among the oldest in the world: born in the context of traditional Chinese medicine and is based on the idea that in the human body a vital energy, called Shi, that circulates along specific paths, called meridians. When the flow of this energy is hampered or lacking, pain, functional disorders or a general state of imbalance may appear. The treatment consists of the insertion of very thin sterile needles and disposable in precise points of the body, selected according to the symptoms and energetic evaluation of the person: the needle infixion stimulates nerve endings, tissues and deep regulators, favoring a response that can be anti-inflammatory, painkilling, anti-fatigue, anti-stress; we talk about a rebalancing action.
“Speaking of acupuncture is useful, because it often has an unexacted vision: it arrived in the West on several occasions, but the real turning point came in 1997 when, during an international conference on the subject, it has been said that acupuncture is certainly effective in nausea and vomiting, after an operation and after chemotherapy,” said Roberto Gatto, president of the Italian Society of Chinese acupuncture and the interview of medicine.
The most investigated field, Gatto explains, “is that of pain and in this sense acupuncture has provenly an anti-inflammatory function, both locally and along the path of transmission of pain itself: the most in vogue theory about how it works is the one concerning brain representation, so the production of chemicals at the brain level in particular regarding pain and endorphins.” All this, he adds, then opened the road “to a comprehensive view of the modes of action: There are 203 indications given in the guidelines of international scientific bodies on acupuncture. Surely the pain field is the most frequent one, but the Higher Institute of Health also included cephalea, migraine, dysmenorrhea, but also oncological fatigue. The indications are intended to extend more and more but there are also contraindications, especially anatomical: there are points that should not be taken deep and others that should be avoided in pregnancy, especially the abdomen”.
Gatto then tells what to meet those who submit for the first time to a session of acupuncture: “We expect first listening from the doctor: a session clearly is not enough, in the West the full cycle goes from six to eight while in China it tends to practice a higher number; in general from the third or fourth session the results begin to see. One of the most interesting aspects of this preventive medicine is that it pushes the patient to live in harmony with the environment, both physical and social”.
The President of the Italian Acupuncture Society concludes by focusing on the duties of doctors who practice it: “We must have attended an accredited course and trained in acupuncture, according to an agreement of the State-Regions Conference that requires a minimum of three years with 500 theoretical-practice hours; from there you enter into the registers of doctors acupunctures deposited at the Orders of regional doctors. Today in Italy there are about 5 thousand members”.
– Photos from Top Medicine –
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