Acupuncture May Be Able to Reduce Stress

A study published in the December online issue of the journal Experimental Biology and Medicine indicates that acupuncture may indeed be effective in reducing concentrations of a chemical linked to stress in the brain. The work, carried out on lab rats, may be applicable to humans as well.

The protein-like substance has been demonstrated to play a very important role in determining the amount of stress lab rats experience during a host of exercises. Scientists at the Georgetown University Medical Center recently decided to check whether acupuncture could disperse these molecules.

Investigators determined that concentrations of the stuff were significantly reduced in the mouse brain. This holds great promise for humans as well, since many of the neural pathways in the two species are heavily related.

If the work can indeed be translated to humans, then we could have access to an effective new therapy against stress. The condition is notoriously difficult to treat, and medical approaches to doing so are not always successful.

“It has long been thought that acupuncture can reduce stress, but this is the first study to show molecular proof of this benefit,” GUMC assistant professor Ladan Eshevari, PhD, explains. She is a certified acupuncturist, and also the lead author of the new study.

According to her, many of the people she treated reported an increased sense of overall well-being, and specifically reported feeling less stress. Though the World Health Organization recognizes acupuncture as effective against around 50 conditions, there are little scientific evidence of how this happens.

The new work provides the first molecular analysis of the effects of acupuncture. Researchers looked at levels of the neuropeptide Y (NPY) in the blood, since this molecule plays an important role in our response to stress. The peptide is secreted by the human sympathetic nervous system.

In the new experiments, the GUMC team learned that applying acupuncture to mice also had a protective effect. Even after therapy ended, levels of the molecule remained low even as the rats continued to be stressed, PsychCentral reports.

“We were surprised to find what looks to be a protective effect against stress,” Eshevari concludes.