Use of Acupuncture for Stroke in China

The article Scalp acupuncture effects on stroke studied with magnetic resonance imaging: different actions in the two stroke model rats 1 investigated the possible mechanisms of acupuncture in acute stroke, and found that scalp acupuncture may relieve vasogenic oedema after stroke. The study was conducted in the laboratory, but its hypothesis was based on clinical reports from China of ‘significant’ instantaneous effects of acupuncture in acute stroke. Such large effects may be considered to be unimaginable in Western countries since the evidence from recently published randomised controlled trials (RCTs) is not at all conclusive.2 3 4 So, if these effects really exist, they should be more widely known. Therefore, we have been invited to comment on how acupuncture is used in China, including the current status of acupuncture for stroke, and especially electroacupuncture (EA) application for stroke. It is true that acupuncture, as one main part of traditional Chinese medicine, has been used for treating stroke for over 1000 years. Before Western medicine was introduced into China, acupuncture and Chinese …