Acupuncture is one of the oldest forms of healing known to mankind.

It originated in China nearly five

thousand years ago . The fact that it is still being practiced after thousand of years, speaks for the efficacy of this treatment for the laws and principles it is based. Acupuncture treatment is usually carried out be inserting very fine needles in specific points in the body. The needles vary from half an inch to several inches in length and depth of insertion together with the way in which they are twirled and vibrated, effects the treatment. Acupuncture sets out and corrects any imbalance that is in the body or in the mind and restore harmony and equilibrium, thus eradicating the causative factors of the sickness. Acupuncture is powerful medicine which aids in strengthening the immune system and serves to prevent disease and control pain. It increases both the ability to function and quality of peoples lives. Acupuncture is well developed whole healthcare system based on natural energetic laws. Dating back to over 3,000 years as a primary healthcare system in China, acupuncture is widespread in Asia, Europe, and now the U.S.

What is Acupuncture: The treatment of various disease of the body carried out by inserting very fine needles into the specific points of the body is termed as acupuncture. It comprise of two parts : to needle and to heat. In latin, acus means needle and pungue mean pricking. The whole body is endowed with a number of spots, the acupuncture points. These points, when stimulated either by needles or by warming, bring about the cure. The source of needle stimulation is either by needles or by electricity. The heating is done by burning a kind of herb Artemisia vulgaris and the technique is called moxibustion. The two technique needling and moxibustion can be used separately or in combination.

Acupuncture is highly effective not only as a preventative medicine, but as a drug free treatment of signs and symptoms. Studies indicate that acupuncture influences the central and peripheral nervous system. Evidence shows it release endorphins from the brain which makes acupuncture particularly effective in pain control. Among a host of factors, acupuncture affects sugar, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in the blood, the functioning of the gastrointestinal system and the activity of the endocrine system. Acupuncture works with the body, strengthening and balancing energy. It improves circulation and allows the body to heal itself more quickly and more completely.

The Acupuncturist opens or closes specific gates or points grouped along certain lines of energy flow called Meridians, which go deep into the body. Diseases, for example, is prevented or treated by stimulating or reducing the flow of vital energy or Qi through specific points in the body. Vital energy then is strengthened or sedated, monitored, and balanced to achieve the desired result.

Principle of Yin and Yang

The practice of acupuncture is based on the theory of Yin and Yang and principle of five elements i.e. water, wood, fire, metal and earth. The traditional Chinese medicine states that the vital force or the so called life - force in the body controls the working of the main organs and system of the body. This vital force is known as "T-chi". The belief is that all objects, both animate and inanimate have a built -in factor of energy. This stabilises the chemical composition of matter and when this matter is broken down, energy is released. For example, man is made-up of matter and he also has a life. This comprises his two sources of energy. One is electrical energy, created by the biophysical and biochemical changes in his cells and the life part is given to him at birth. There is also the belief that there exist in the body, two forces of energy known as "Yin" and "Yang". Yang is the positive stimulation force in man and nature. Yin, by contrast is passive and almost negative in influence. Acupuncture treats the body as a human circuit and for good health and well being, the "T-chi", or life force, must circulate through this circuit in a balanced manner and the equilibrium of "Yin" and "Yang" must also be maintained. Influence of Taoism It was in the han dynasty that the spread of taoism throughout china led to systemetisation of acupuncture and herbal medicine. Taoism taught the theories its peak between the third and seventh centuries. During this period doctors found effective cures for serious ailments. The most eminent physician of the Taoist era was Ko Kung, who was born in Kiangsu Province. System of Meridians The theory of the traditional Chinese medicine maintains that inside the body there is a net-work of channels which connects the internal organs with surface of the body, known as "Ching-Lo" or meridian.

There are fourteen meridians all over the body. Each meridian has internal and external pathways; this internal pathway has is origin in a viscera. It travels inside the body and it is kind to the external pathway, at the starting of the acupuncture points, and is then linked to the other internal pathway leading back to the viscera of origin. This way the whole pathway of meridian is a closed circuit, which provides the basis of Chinese explanation why a needle in certain points can sure a disease of the other part. Along these circuit of energy there are about nine hundred acupuncture points, each having a special function. Some sedate, some stimulate and still others will transfer energy from one circuit to another.

Treatment:
The WHO Interregional Seminar drew up the following provisional list of the diseases that lend themselves to acupuncture treatment. The list is based on clinical experience, and not necessarily on controlled clinical research; further more, the inclusion of specific diseases is not meant to indicate the extent of acupuncture's efficacy in treating them: (WORLD HEALTH Dec.1979)

Upper Respiratory Tract Acute sinusitis Acute rhinitis Common cold Acute tonsillitis Respiratory System Acute bronchitis Bronchial asthma (most effective in children and in patients without complicating diseases) Disorders of the Eye Toothache Post-extraction pain Gingivitis Acute and chronic pharyngitis Gastro-intestinal Disorders Spasms of oesophagus and cardia

 Hiccough Gastroptosis Acute and chronic gastritis Gastric hyperacidity Chronic duodenal ulcer(pain relief) Acute duodenal ulcer(without complications) Acute and chronic colitis Acute bacillary dysentery Constipation Diarrhoea Paralytic ileus Neurological and Musculo-skeletal Disorders Headache Migraine Trigeminal neuralgia Facial palsy (early stage, i.e. within three to six months) Paresis following a stroke Peripheral neuropathies Sequelae of poliomyelitis (early stage, i.e. within six months) Meniere's disease Neurogenic bladder dysfunction Nocturnal enuresis Intercostal neuralgia Cervicobrachial syndrome "Forzen shoulder" Tennis elbow" Sciatica Low back pain Osteoarthritis
Other conditions like: Cervical Spondylosis, Lambago, Calcaneal Spur, Rheumatic Arthritis Mental & Psychological Depression, Insominia Adiction, Dream Disturbed Sleep, Epilepsy Impotency Special Sense Organs

Drugless therapy