Understanding Acupuncture

"Writing as a lay person with limited experience ofacupuncture/acupressure,I found this book to be extremely intense andinteresting.
Starting with the history of acupuncture (naturally), the authors comparethe written history with the (known)archaeological record leading up tothe introduction of acupuncture into Western society in the seventeenthcentury.
There is a lot of discussion on the difficulties of translating East Asianideas into Western understanding in various parts of the book.
Due to a lack of funding and major difficulties in producing double blindtests; there is (in 1999 i.e.) no definitive scientific proof of theeffectivness of acupuncture without ruling out the placebo effect. Howeverthere is a lot of tantalising evidence which warrants further researchplus, of course, the positive clinical trials and satisfied patients.However these do not constitute scientific proof unfortunately.
We are given a shortlist of symptoms which appear to respond well in the(short) trials though practising acupuncturists treat a much wider rangeof symptoms.
There is an interesting interpretation of qi 'energy' as the Chinesesystem included qi in all observable phenomena with the qis in acupuncturebeing of a particular type classifying various phenomena whilst lookingfor an underlying principle. The authors have compared this with quantumphysics.
Of interest is a reference to a Japanese school of blind acupuncturists.This might souns strange but of course a certain lack of vision can leadto increased sensitivities in other senses - in this case tactilesensitivity.
Despite the lack of extensive scientific studies acupuncture is certainlya viable therapy with negligable side effects."
~ Written on 2004-04-25