how acupuncture works

HOW ACUPUNCTURE WORKS CONFIRMED: Clarifying how acupuncture may work to reduce pain, a recent study showed that, at the site applied, acupuncture needles increase levels of a molecule called adenosine.  Adenosine is a natural compound that regulates sleep, anti-inflammatory responses, and pain killing.  This new study found that stimulation of nerve endings increase levels of adenosine. Mice bred to have no adenosine received no pain benefit from acupuncture; mice whose adenosine was "turned on" received benefit without acupuncture; and mice with normal adenosine had pain reduced by two thirds, while adenosine levels at the needle site jumped 24 times normal levels. This study will be published in a future issue of Nature Neuroscience and can also be read at  http://bit.ly/dogW0U.