World Health Organization and Acupuncture

world health organization acupunctureMany people are not aware of how supportive the WHO, World Health Organization, has been of Acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

In the background to their lengthy report on Acupuncture, the WHO says:

“The past two decades have seen extensive studies on acupuncture, and great efforts have been made to conduct controlled clinical trials that include the use of “sham” acupuncture or “placebo” acupuncture controls. Although still limited in number because of the difficulties of carrying out such trials, convincing reports, based on sound research methodology, have been published. In addition, experimental investigations on the mechanism of acupuncture have been carried out. This research, while aimed chiefly at answering how acupuncture works, may also provide evidence in support of its effectiveness.

In 1991, a progress report on traditional medicine and modern health care was submitted by the Director-General of WHO to the Forty-fourth World Health Assembly.

The report pointed out that in countries where acupuncture forms part of the cultural heritage, its use in an integrated approach to modern and traditional medicine presents no difficulty. However, in countries where modern Western medicine is the foundation of health care, the ethical use of acupuncture requires objective evidence of its efficacy under controlled clinical conditions.

In 1996, a draft report on the clinical practice of acupuncture was reviewed at the WHO Consultation on Acupuncture held in Cervia, Italy. The participants recommended that WHO should revise the report, focusing on data from controlled clinical trials. This publication is the outcome of that process.”

World Health Organization Acupuncture

In an official report, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials, the World Health Organization (WHO) has listed the following symptoms, diseases and conditions that have been shown through controlled trials to be treated effectively by acupuncture:

  • low back pain
  • neck pain
  • sciatica
  • tennis elbow
  • knee pain
  • periarthritis of the shoulder
  • sprains
  • facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
  • headache
  • dental pain
  • tempromandibular (TMJ) dysfunction
  • rheumatoid arthritis
  • induction of labor
  • correction of malposition of fetus (breech presentation)
  • morning sickness
  • nausea and vomiting
  • postoperative pain
  • stroke
  • essential hypertension
  • primary hypotension
  • renal colic
  • leucopenia
  • adverse reactions to radiation or chemotherapy
  • allergic rhinitis, including hay fever
  • biliary colic
  • depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
  • acute bacillary dysentery
  • primary dysmenorrhea
  • acute epigastralgia
  • peptic ulcer
  • acute and chronic gastritis

You can see the full study and other information about the WHO and Acupuncture here.

Contact The Blue Ridge Acupuncture Clinic in Asheville, North Carolina: (828) 254-4405.

 

About The Author

James Whittle M.S., L.Ac. is an acupuncturist and a practitioner of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). He has visited China more than 8 times to work in hospitals and conduct research. James has also consulted for the BBC on an acupuncture documentary and appeared on NBC news. In 2016, NBC called James “an expert in Chinese medicine.” He is the founder and owner of the Blue Ridge Clinic in Asheville, North Carolina, founded in 2003. A graduate of UNC-Chapel Hill with honors, he completed his masters in acupuncture at Bastyr University in 2001. He is licensed to practice acupuncture in North Carolina and holds license #238. You can reach James at (828) 254-4405.