Chinese acupuncture

(Taken From Wikipedia)

Acupuncture is the procedure of inserting and manipulating needles into various points on the body to relieve pain or for therapeutic purposes.[1] The earliest written record of acupuncture is the Chinese text Shiji (史記, English: Records of the Grand Historian) with elaboration of its history in the second century BCE medical text Huangdi Neijing (黃帝內經, English: Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon).[2] Different variations of acupuncture are practiced and taught throughout the world.

Acupuncture has been the subject of active scientific research both in regard to its basis and therapeutic effectiveness since the late 20th century, but it remains controversial among medical researchers and clinicians.[3] As the introduction to a 1998 collection of Western scientific articles on acupuncture says, an unbiased appraisal of the available clinical research into acupuncture would conclude that there are promising studies in many areas, but these are still mainly indecisive. However, the balance of evidence is convincingly in favour of acupuncture for one indication: antiemesis [vomiting and nausea].[4] Acupuncture has especially gained in respectability among medical researchers and clinicians due to the discovery that it releases opioid peptides'.[4]
The World Health Organization[5] and the United States National Institutes of Health (NIH)[6] have stated that acupuncture can be effective in the treatment of neurological conditions and pain, though these statements have been criticized for bias and a reliance on studies that used poor methodology.[7][8] Reports from the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), the American Medical Association (AMA) and various government reports have studied and commented on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of acupuncture. There is general agreement that acupuncture is safe when administered by well-trained practitioners using sterile needles, and that further research is needed.[6][9][10][11]