Acupuncture is among the oldest healing practices in the world,
but is far from obsolete. As part of traditional Chinese
medicine, acupuncture aims to restore and maintain health
through the stimulation of specific points on the body. More
than 3 million American adults and 150,000 children used
acupuncture last year, according to a recent National Health
Interview survey. According to the Chinese medicine, energy
pathways called meridians correspond to different parts of the
body. The bodys energy, or qi, flows through these meridians to
operate organs such as the large intestine, kidney and liver.
The basic concept of acupuncture is putting in needles to get
the qi moving in the right direction or to disperse the energy
if theres too much flowing in one direction. Restoring this
natural flow of energy supposedly brings the body back in
balance or harmony. In more conventional terms, acupuncture has
been shown to increase activity in the part of the brain that
corresponds to the acupuncture point. In conditi