The discovery of the mechanism reduces the pain of acupuncture

In a study published in the journal Nature Neuroscience on May 30, neuroscientists in the United States confirmed that acupuncture could reduce pain because it helps release a kind of natural molecule called adenosine.

This mechanism was discovered through many experiments on laboratory mice. The scientists injected a chemical that caused swelling in the legs of the rat, then they inserted sharp needles into the Shu Tam Li, a famous acupuncture position under the knee.

Then they rotate the needle lightly every five minutes for 30 minutes to match the standard acupuncture.

During and immediately after this process, adenosine levels in the surrounding tissues increased 24 times. The degree of mouse discomfort, measured by the rodent's response to heat and skin irritation, has decreased by two-thirds.

Previously, scientists also conducted similar tests on mice that had been genetically modified to have no adenosine. As a result, acupuncture did not have any effect and the mouse still reacted uncomfortably.

The team then went on to experiment by introducing mice with a drug called deoxycoformycin, which makes tissues harder to remove adenosine.

As a result, levels of adenosine accumulate in the muscles nearly tripled during acupuncture.

Maiken Nedergaard of the University of Rochester Medical Center, who led the study, said: "Acupuncture is a major cure in some parts of the world over the past 4,000 years, but because it doesn't fully understand so people still have psychological doubts. "

Previous studies focused on the effect of acupuncture on the central nervous system and not on the peripheral nervous system.

In the central nervous system, acupuncture produces signals that stimulate the brain to produce endorphins, the group of amino acids secreted in the body that function to relieve pain.