Time Magazine Alternative Medicine Issue: Acupuncture I

 

As a follow up to yesterday’s post on the Time Magazine Alternative Medicine Issue, of course they dedicate an entire chapter to Acupuncture.
What I learned, or was reminded of.
1. From 2002 to 2007, the number of adult users of acupuncture jumped by more than 1 Million, to 3 million total.
2. In 2009 the US Air Force became a believer, implementing battlefield acupuncture in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is being used to treat PTSD(Post traumatic stress disorder) also. NATO is considering adding acupuncture to their services.  The Chinese military used it routinely.
3. Numerous groups, including the AMA, are pushing to get either the federal government or the states to designate acupuncture an “essential health benefit” under the 2012 Affordable Care Act.  This would mean that health insurers would be required to include it on their list of covered services.