Acupuncture is a widely accepted treatment to reduce stress, but it is not known exactly how acupuncture produces this relief at the molecular level.
In the first study of its kind, a team found the ancient Chinese therapy reduces levels of a protein linked to chronic stress.
A stress response was produced in lab rats by placing them in conditions similar to winter for one hour. They were each then treated with the same electronic acupuncture. Stress hormones were first measured at a specific location after the stress was induced, before treatment, and then measured again after treatment. Researchers found that the electronic acupuncture blocked the elevation of those hormones. This acupuncture also reduced the flow of a peptide that is involved in producing the fight or flight reaction under stress.
Results were published in the Journal of Endocrinology. Visit Eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/gumc-sos031113.php.
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