St. Charles County Women’s Journal February / March 2011

Acupuncture and the Treatment of Pain

2) mice with normal levels vessels) and anti-inflam- of adenosine who had pain that was matory benefits. It’s also a reduced by almost 66% and whose lev- natural pain killer, becom- “The most common reason for not els of adenosine rose almost 24 times ing active in the skin after over the pretreatment levels, and 3) trauma to inhibit nerve sig- having a good response to mice on a leukemia medication known nals and alleviate pain in acupuncture is the amount of to increase the blood concentrations of much the same way as caffeine consumption of a adenosine, which tripled the beneficial lidocaine does. effects of acupuncture on mice by nonresponsive patient.” relieving their pain for an additional two What the Rochester hours. researchers found is that adenosine is also very active in deeper tion of adenosine, 4) a lack of purines In September 2010, these findings tissues that are treated with acupunc- which come from protein in diet which were presented by Maiken Nedergaard, ture needles. They looked at the effects are required for adenosine formation, MD (who functions with the of acupuncture on nerves called periph- perhaps due to a vegetarian diet or due Departments of and eral nerves (these are nerves that are to a gout diet. (Purines are found in at the University of not part of the brain or spinal cord). high concentrations in organ meats By: Jenny Crosby, DC Rochester and who led the research) in such as liver and kidney. Moderate amounts of purines exist in beef, pork, Crosby Chiropractic & Barcelona, Spain. Nedergaard was There has been a large amount of quoted as saying "Acupuncture has research that shows acupuncture caus- poultry, fish and seafood, asparagus, Acupuncture Centre been a mainstay of medical treatment es the brain to create two chemicals cauliflower, spinach, mushrooms, green in certain parts of the world for 4,000 called endorphins and enkephalins peas, lentils, dried peas, beans, oat- In May of 2010, Nature years, but because it has not been which then act as natural pain killers. meal, wheat bran, wheat germ and published a study that linked a mole- understood completely, many people This research suggests that in addition hawthorn). cule called adenosine (aden·o·sine/ have remained skeptical.” to the pain-relieving effects of these two (ah-dende-sēn) to the pain-mediating compounds, adenosine released at the With this knowledge, should you effects of acupuncture. Performed at Adenosine is a purine nucleoside that needle site may also result in significant want to get acupuncture and want it to the University of Rochester Medical is important in many biochemical pain reduction. be effective: Center, the study involved 1) mice that processes such as energy transfer. genetically could not use adenosine, With a half-life of only about 10 sec- The question of acupuncture’s effec- 1. consume a form of protein who showed no pain relief with onds, adenosine is neg- tiveness of lack of effectiveness in dif- before treatment atively affected by caf- ferent individuals may now have a sci- feine, theophylline entific answer that those who perform 2. avoid caffeinated products (found in some inhalers acupuncture have learned to take into of all kinds and in small doses in account. black and green tea), 3. avoid soy soy, St John’s Wort and The most common reason for not Valerian root. It’s having a good response to acupuncture 4. drink large amounts of plain water believed to have a role in is the amount of caffeine consumption to stay hydrated (and enable promoting sleep and of a nonresponsive patient; from coffee, effective breakdown of relaxation and it’s known soda, tea or chocolate, or pain medica- adenosine-related compounds) to have cardiac benefits tions that contain caffeine. (acting to dilate blood 5. Know if your medicines are Other reasons would be 1) the use adenosine antagonists of the chemical theophylline- based inhalers, and/or patients who con- It’s great to see science finally catch- sume large amounts of black and ing up with 4000 years of clinical trial green tea which contain theophylline, and observation. Maybe in another 100 2) those who consume large years we will see strict scientific proto- amounts of soy, 3) the use of herbals cols that validate a healthier choice of such as St John’s Wort and Valerian food and beverage consumption as a that can be detrimental to the func- means to get healthier faster.

Crosby Chiropractic & Acupuncture Centre 331 Jungermann Rd. St Peters, MO 63376 (636)928-5588 www.crosbychiropractic.com

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