According to traditional Chinese medicine the
effectiveness of acupuncture resides in qi, a term or concept that has no
equivalent in western culture. The de qi sensation is characterized as grasp
and controlled at acupoints and along meridians and is to unblock the blocked
point along meridian and rebalance the qi within the body. This therapeutic qi
is supposed to be independent of mechanical and psychological factors. However
the modern needle stimulation, which requires no participation of practioner,
is to activate the body by different stimulating modes, leading to physical
changes.
Recently researchers in Switzerland performed a
randomized, controlled, single-blinded, two-phase crossover study to
investigate whether the hypothetical therapeutic qi can be sensed by test
participants when mechanical and psychological influence are ruled out or
controlled. The researchers used two novel devices; one allows the insertion of
acupuncture needle without touching it and the other holds the needle in place
and prevents the transmission of movement from the needle handle to the tip.
The study was designed two phases: the first is
intervention treatment with needle inserted into acupoint PC6, then practioner
held the end of needle between their thumb and index fingers without rotating
and thrusting the needle. The second phase is control treatment in which the
end of needle is untouched.
Thirty volunteers were recruited for the study. They
experienced both interventions due to a crossover design and had to decide
which phase was and which phase was without touch and stimulation. Participants
were asked to record their subjective sensations on a questionnaire.
It was found that 79% of test participants believed that
they had received stimulation when it had actually been preformed, and 93%
sensed the difference between treatment and control phases. The study showed
that participants were able to sense the transmission of therapeutic qi in the
absence of mechanical and psychological influence.
The authors suggest that experimental setup in the study
can be used to make physiological measurement of therapeutic qi accessible.
Reference:
RJ Hochstrasser et
al., Perception of Therapeutic Qi, a Nonmechanical, Nonpsychological Factor in
Acupuncture That Originates from the Therapist. J Acupunct Meridian Stud
2015;8(4):203e208. http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2005290114002325
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