Neuromodulation, Electric Cures and Acupuncture Are All Methods of Alleviating the Toxic Inflammatory Reflex Involved in to Aging

I searched for this “electric cures” issue of Scientific American for a presentation I’m giving. ( I blogged about it when it came out.) I found a link to a letter to the editor.

I wonder whether Tracey has considered that acupuncture may somehow mimic the responses he found. I haven’t tried it, but friends have reported positive experiences, including for migraines.
EVELYN MCDONALD
Fernandina Beach, Fla.

His response

In answer to McDonald: there has been extensive interest in the scientific and medical community about the relation between acupuncture and controlling inflammation, and many labs are studying it. For example, Luis Ulloa of Rutgers New Jersey Medical School has published a study suggesting that electrically stimulating an acupuncture point in the leg inhibits inflammation by activating vagus nerve signals to the adrenal gland.

Again, I’m always amazed that this relationship between the autonomic nervous system and acupuncture is now taken as a given.  Not so when I first started my research into it.  We discussed the research by Ulloa here.