Forsch Komplementarmed. 1999 Feb; 6 Suppl 1(): 32-4.

[Demonstration of the effective of acupuncture on the autonomic nervous system by examination of the microcirculation]

Suter B, Kistler A.

This study served to compare the effect of needling at true acupuncture points with that of needling at non-acupuncture points. Various parameters were used to quantify the results such as measurement of the peripheral blood circulation in finger tips and the nasal mucous membrane, measurement of the skin temperature at various sites of the body by means of infrared thermography or contact thermometry, testing of skin conductance, or recording of heart frequency and respiration. These are all indicators of the functional state of the autonomic nervous system. This model experiment was performed on healthy volunteers and showed identical, transient, quick reflex responses of the sympathetic nervous system after true acupuncture as well as after needling at non-acupuncture points. These reactions are related to pain and do not allow to draw any conclusions on the specificity of the points that were needled. The aim of this project was not to make a statement about the therapeutic efficacy of acupuncture. It was meant to be a model allowing the study of some basic regulatory mechanisms which are fundamental for most treatments in complementary medicine.