How Acupunture Relieves Pain

How Acupunture Relieves Pain
Thin needles are used for acupuncture. (Cat Rooney/The Epoch Times)
11/7/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/chinesemedicine.jpg" alt="Thin needles are used for acupuncture. (Cat Rooney/The Epoch Times)" title="Thin needles are used for acupuncture. (Cat Rooney/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1812474"/></a>
Thin needles are used for acupuncture. (Cat Rooney/The Epoch Times)
Experimenting with mice, researchers at the University of Rochester learned how acupuncture activates receptors that suppress pain.

The levels of adenosine, a natural painkiller, increased in the tissues near where acupuncture needles were placed. Adenosine plays several roles in the body: regulating sleep, reducing inflammation, and acting as a natural painkiller.

Researchers conducted a 30-minute procedure on the knees of mice that caused them discomfort in the legs. In mice with normal levels of adenosine, the pain was reduced by more than 60 percent as measured by sensitive nerves.

During and immediately after the acupuncture treatment, the level of adenosine in the tissue near the needles was 24 times higher than before the treatment.

Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, the scientist who led the research, said that although acupuncture has been around for thousands of years, it is not well understood. The study, which was published in the journal Nature Neuroscience, showed how acupuncture reduces pain in the body.

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