Links & Resources
Every person carries his or her own doctor inside. - Albert Schweitzer
Acupuncture Information & Healthcare Resources
for Patients
- National Institutes of Health Consensus Statement on Acupuncture - The NIH is the federal agency that is the focal point of biomedical research in the United States. In November 1997 a consensus conference was held to discuss issues concerning the place of acupuncture in medicine. The paper describes some of the problems inherent in doing research in acupuncture. Nonetheless, the consensus conference supported the position: "It works!"
- American Academy of Pain Management - An excellent resource for patients suffering from pain. The academy also credentials pain practitioners. This is where I received my training as a certified pain practitioner.
- Biomedical Acupuncture Institute - Information resource for the biomedical acupuncture model. This is where I received my training and certification in Integrative Neuromuscular Acupuncture for Pain Management.
- www.lef.org/protocols/ - Excellent source for integrative healthcare information.
- www.emedicine.com - Excellent source for online medical information.
- Healthfinder - A gateway search engine to selected online publications, clearinghouses, databases, web sites, support & self-help groups as well as government resources. From the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services.
- Acubriefs.com The most comprehensive database of references on acupuncture in the English language.
- Acupuncture: HealthWorld Online - interdisciplinary healthcare resource.
- What? What Happens When You Have Acupuncture?
- Which? Which Diseases Can be Helped by Acupuncture?
- When? The History of Acupuncture in the West
- Acupuncture.com - A good general information resource for acupuncture and Chinese Medicine.
- Current Bibliographies in Medicine - Acupuncture
- This is a wonderful collection of references on studies looking at Acupuncture since around 1970. Over 2,000 citations with help from the National Library of Medicine. The list was compiled for the November 1997 consensus conference on acupuncture.
- Center Gyrotonic - Nervous system re-education for better movement, right here in Portland!
- Somatics - Movement exercises designed to reeducate your nervous system and improve mobility.
- Real Age - Dr.’s Roizen and Oz wrote You:The Owners Manual , one of the best and most approachable books on health I’ve ever read. Their website is just as good and chock-full of common sense advice, try it!
Some high quality studies supporting the efficacy of acupuncture therapy
- www.medpagetoday.com - A recent high quality study confirming acupuncture’s efficacy for low back pain
- circ.ahajournals.org - A positive randomized trial of acupuncture for lowering blood pressure
- www.bmj.com - A positive randomized study testing acupuncture for chronic neck pain
- www.bmj.com - A positive randomized trial of acupuncture for tension headache
- www.bmj.com Acupuncture shown to be highly cost-effective for chronic headache in real world primary care
- www.webmd.com/osteoarthritis - A Spanish study supporting the efficacy of acupuncture in arthritic knee pain
- www.medicalnewstoday.com - Acupuncture effective for fibromyalgia from the Mayo Clinic
- www.chestnet.org - American College Of Chest Physicians recommends acupuncture for patients experiencing fatigue, shortness of breath and chemo-induced neuropathy during chemotherapy
- pmj.sagepub.com - Acupuncture in the oncology clinic
- www.medpagetoday.com - Acupuncture reduces post-operative symptoms - from American Society of Anesthesiologists meeting
Articles and on the scientific and historical basis of the contemporary scientific revision of acupuncture
- www.medical-acupuncture.co.uk/aimintro.htm - The Acupuncture In Medicine Journal
- ict.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/3/251 - An outline of the Neuroimmune Basis of Anti-inflammatory Acupuncture
- www.felixmann.co.uk - Dr. Felix Mann, the founder of Scientific Acupuncture
- www.acampbell.ukfsn.org/acupuncture - Dr. Anthony Campbell’s articles on his approach to scientific acupuncture
- Biomedical Acupuncture Institute - Yun Tao Ma’s articles outline the historical and neurological basis for the development of the biomedical acupuncture model.
Other practitioners of contemporary acupuncture
- http://www.integrativeacupunctureonline.net/index.html - Thomas Martin, L.Ac.
- www.tedannenberg.com - Ted Annenberg, L.Ac., PA
- http://malvin.finkelstein.net - Eugene Center for Acupunture - Malvin Finklestein, L.Ac.
Journals Online
- Medical Acupuncture Journal - AAMA Journal, For physicians by physicians. ( And patients too. )
- MedBioWorld - Comprehensive listing of Complementary & Alternative Medicine Journals
Research Information
- Acubriefs.com - The most comprehensive database of references on acupuncture in the English language.
- The Journal of the British Medical Acupuncture Society.
- Medscape.com - Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web's most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools.
Suggested Reading
- Biomedical Acupuncture for Pain Management - An Integrative Approach, Yun-Tao Ma, Mila Ma, Zang Hee Cho - This may well currently represent the most comprehensive approach to the biomedicalization of classical acupuncture. It has excellent chapters on the neurology of acupuncture and integrates most of the contemporary scientific acupuncture theories and practices. Also openly embraced as part of the mix is the additive/enhancement nature of the so-called placebo effect in the acupuncture therapeutic process as is the case with every medical intervention.
- The Gunn Approach to Treatment of Chronic Pain - Intramuscular Stimulation for Myofascial Pain of Radiculopathic Origin, C Chan Gunn - This richly anatomically detailed book outlines Dr. Gunn’s approach to acupuncture known as intramuscular stimulation. First published in 1989, Chan Gunn, MD developed this integrative approach to acupuncture therapy by treating motor points and more. Central to this approach is the concept of neuropathic pain, releasing shortened muscles that put pressure on nerves and resetting a malfunctioning peripheral nervous system.