It is common knowledge within the culture of acupuncture – both the practitioners administering the treatments and the patients receiving it – that acupuncture enhances the immune system. That would be considered anecdotal evidence, and there is plenty of that. But many people want the studies. They want the confirmation from research that acupuncture really does support immune function. So, here is some (there is positive research on way too many individual immune and auto-immune diseases to report all here).
In Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, Published in 2015 entitled Acupuncture and Immunity, it was reported that by placing needles in specific acu-points, acupuncture was able to strengthen the human body to resist diseases. By increasing red and white blood cells, T-cells and enhancing humoral and cellular immunity, acupuncture enhanced anti-cancer and anti-stress immune function and exerted anti-inflammatory effects. Acupuncture also exerted protective effects on the intestinal mucosal immune barrier by increasing the concentration of helper T cells and other actions.
Once the immune system is compromised, acupuncture’s regulatory effect stimulates the immune system in weak immunity, or down-regulates it in instances of hyper reactivity.
In “Mediators, Receptors, and Signaling Pathways, Anti-Inflammatory and Antihyperalgesic Effects of Acupuncture” J. L. McDonald et al. demonstrated the “mediators and signaling of anti-inflammatory pathways activated by acupuncture. As inflammation is inexplicably related to immune function, mediating inflammation is crucial in supporting healthy immune response.
“In studying the effects of stress and anxiety leading to immune impairment, it was found that those in the study suffering from stress and anxiety had “consistently significant improvement in immune function (including chemtoxis, phagocytosis, lymphoproliferation and Natural Killer cell activity) after every acupuncture treatment.”
As reported in PubMed the following represent several studies validating the different ways that acupuncture supports immune function:
In the Journal of Neuroendocrinology Dec 2011 A Neuro-Endocrine-Immune Symphony by Quentin J. Pittman, “The inflammatory response provides a powerful means for the body to fight an infection. The neuroendocrine system plays an important role in controlling the magnitude and duration of this response and maintaining homeostasis in the inflamed state. Acupuncture Modulates the Neuro-Endocrine-Immune Network. According to S. S. Ding et al “As a nonspecific physical stimulation, the effect of acupuncture on diseases is produced by motivating the inherent regulatory system in the body, having the characteristics of whole regulation, dual directional regulation, etc. Modern scientific researches show that body’s inherent regulatory system is neuro-endocrine-immune (NEI) network.”
In Acupuncture and Innate Immunity, Gang Peng, et al. “Acupuncture is recognized as a procedure to regulate functions of human body. In addition to its known effects on nerve system, emerging evidence suggests that acupuncture also delivers its efficacy through innate immune system”. In The Neuroimmune Basis of Anti-Inflammatory Acupuncture by Ben Kavoussi et al. “This review article presents the evidence that the antiinflammatory actions of acupuncture are mediated via the reflexive central inhibition of the innate immune system. “
Acupuncture is a great tool to help support the immune system.
©2021 Holly A. Carling, O.M.D., L.Ac., Ph.D.
