Tag: Napadow
Phantom Needling: Novel Sham Acupuncture Technique
A Vitaly Napadow article which explores using a video camera to suggest that a patient is getting acupuncture, when in fact they are not. There are many interesting findings. A key finding that affects my work and conclusions is that vagal enhancement seems to accompany the placebo effect. So what that means is that…
Read MoreAcupuncture Evoked Response in Contralateral Somatosensory Cortex Reflects Peripheral Nerve Pathology of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.
Study showing how the brain reacts differently to acupuncture in subjects with carpal tunnel disease and healthy controls. Med Acupunct. 2013 Aug;25(4):275-284. Acupuncture Evoked Response in Contralateral Somatosensory Cortex Reflects Peripheral Nerve Pathology of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. Maeda Y1, Kettner N2, Lee J3, Kim J4, Cina S4, Malatesta C5, Gerber J4, McManus C5, Im J4,…
Read MoreMigraine and Brain Regions
The reason I’m citing this article is that acupuncture acts on the limbic system. Migraine, preceded by cortical spreading depression, shows increased connectivity in the limbic/viscerosensory network. This may give rationale for acupuncture’s effectiveness in some migraine cases. Cephalalgia. 2013 Nov;33(15):1264-8. doi: 10.1177/0333102413490344. Epub 2013 May 29. The missing link: enhanced functional connectivity between amygdala…
Read MoreBrain Activation in Acupuncture Local and Distal for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Whole article is here. If I ever get around to learning all the brain areas, I might be able to comment better on this study. Fascinating that the local and distal both worked better than the sham acupuncture on the affected limb. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:795906. Acupuncture-evoked response in somatosensory and prefrontal cortices predicts…
Read MoreAcupuncture, Itch and the Brain
From Napadow, the brain circuitry of itching and where verum acupuncture seems to be working at the brain level. Cereb Cortex. 2012 Dec 4 The Brain Circuitry Mediating Antipruritic Effects of Acupuncture. Napadow V, Li A, Loggia ML, Kim J, Schalock PC, Lerner E, Tran TN, Ring J, Rosen BR, Kaptchuk TJ, Pfab F….
Read MoreAuricular Stimulation for Pelvic Pain Control
Friend of blog, Vitaly Napadow, has an interesting study looking at ear stimulation for pelvic pain. His group used transcutaneous-vagus nerve stimulation (t-VNS) synchronized with the exhalation phase of respiration to study the response to chronic pelvic pain. They compared this synchronized auricular stim to non-vagal auricular stim. This is a patient population characterized by…
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