Can Electro-Acupuncture Help With Obesity?
A team of scientists led by Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore) and Hong Kong University (HKU) has found evidence that electro-acupuncture – a form of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) treatment – could be used to manage obesity.
In electro-acupuncture – a variation of acupuncture – needles are inserted into various points on the body, called acupoints. A gentle pulsating electrical current is applied to selected acupuncture needles as a means of stimulating the acupoints. In TCM, this stimulation triggers the body’s natural healing abilities.
Through laboratory experiments, animal studies, and a clinical trial reported in the Journal of Advanced Research in August, the team led by NTU Singapore and HKU’s School of Chinese Medicine showed that electro-acupuncture helped to reverse the effects of obesity in obese individuals and mice put on a high-fat diet.
Excerpted from News Medical Life Sciences
