简介：NewZealandersareincreasinglyembracingAcupunctureandChineseMedicine.AsurveyofGeneralPractitionersin2006showedthatnearly80%ofthosesurveyedwouldrefertheirpatientsontoanAcupuncturistfortreatment.ThenationalinjuryinsuranceschemethroughtheAccidentCompensationCommission(ACC)hasfundedpartialpaymentofAcupuncturetreatmentsince1990.In2007,theMinisterofHealthapprovedAcupuncturetoberecognizedundertheHealthPractitionersCompetenceAssurance(HPCA)ActbutfollowingareviewoftheAct,thedecisionwasoverturned.TheNewZealandGovernmenthasdecidedtoadoptthesamecriteriaforregistrationofhealthprofessionsasAustraliaandourprofessionhasbeenaskedtoresubmitshowingthatwemeetthenewcriteria.Althoughdisappointing,wenowhavetheopportunitytotakeChinesemedicine,includingbothAcupunctureandChineseHerbalMedicinethroughtoregistration,thesameasourcolleaguesinAustralia.ChineseMedicinehasbeenapprovedfornationalregistrationinAustraliaandtheschemewillbegininJuly2012.ItishopedthatweinNewZealandwillbeabletofollowasimilartimeline.Inthepast,thoseNewZealanderswishingtostudyAcupunctureorChineseMedicinehadtotraveloverseastodoso.Wenowhavetwowellestablishedschools,eachwithtwocampuses,deliveringaBachelorDegreeinHealthScience.TheNewZealandRegisterofAcupuncturistsisthelargestandlongestestablishedprofessionalbodyrepresentingAcupuncturistsandpractitionersofChineseMedicineinNewZealand.Themajorityofourmemberstrainedoverseas-largelyinChinabutalsoinAustralia,Korea,AmericaortheUK-butthisdemographicisrapidlychangingasmorestudentsgraduatefromourlocalschools.Withincreasingnumbersofpractitionersandgreaterawarenessbythegeneralpublic,AcupunctureandChineseMedicinearefirmlyestablishedaspartofthehealthcaresysteminNewZealand.Registrationoftheprofessionisthenextimportantstepinensuringthatst

简介：PurposeThisstudywasdonetoverifytheeffectivenessofacupuncturetreatmentonnasalobstructioncausedbyallergicrhinitisorrhinosinusitis,andtoknowtheclinicaleffectofanovelacupuncturepointnamedSim-eui.MethodRhinitispatientswithatleasttwovisitstothehospitalfromSeptember,2009toNovember,2009wererandomizedintoeitherexperimentorcontrolgroup.Theexperimentgroupweretreatedwithacupunctureongenerallyusedpointsofrhinitis,thatareGV22,GV23,GV24,ST8(bothsides),BL2(bothsides),ST4(bothsides),aswellasSim-euipoint.ThecontrolgroupweretreatedwiththegeneralpointsandLI20(bothsides)insteadofSim-euipoint.Acupunctureneedleswereleftinfor15minutesforbothgroups.TheinitialandfinalsymptomscoresofSNOT-20andamodifiedVASwereusedtoevaluatetheeffectiveness.TheprogramusedforstatisticalanalysiswasSPSS15.0forwindow.WilcoxonSignedRanksTestwasdonetoanalyzetheintra-groupsymptomscorechangebeforeandaftertreatment,andMann-WhitneyTestwasusedtocompareinter-groupVASchange.Allthestatisticswereverifiedatasignificancelevelof5%.ResultTheSNOT-20scoresbeforeandafteracupuncturetreatmentshowedsignificantchangesonbothexperimentandcontrolgroups,buttherewasnosignificantdifferencebetweenthetwogroups.AllcategoriesoftheSNOT-20showedsignificantresult,exceptthe'Wakeupatnight'and'Lackofagoodnight'ssleep'entries.ThemodifiedVASshowedsignificantimprovementofsymptomintheexperimentgroupcomparedwithcontrolgroup.ConclusionAcupuncturetreatmentusingSim-euipointseemstobehelpfulinimprovingqualityoflifebyimmediatereliefofnasalobstruction.

简介：ObjectiveThisreviewaimedtosystematicallysummarizeandcriticallyevaluatetheclinicalevidencefororagainsttheeffectivenessofacupunctureasasymptomatictherapyforuremicpruritus(UP)inend-stagerenaldisease(ESRD)patients.Materialsandmethod:Wesearched16electronicdatabasesfromtheirinceptionstoNovember2009.Allprospectiveclinicalstudiesofneedleacupunctureforuremicpruritusinhemodialysispatientswithend-stagerenaldiseasewereincludedregardlessoftheirdesign.RiskofbiasoftheincludedstudieswereassessedusingtheCochranecriteria.ResultsOf464initiallylocatedarticles,458studieswereexcluded.Threerandomizedcontrolledtrials(RCTs),onenon-randomizedcontrolledtrial(CCT)andtwouncontrolledobservationalstudieswereincluded.InthreeRCTs,acupuncturewascomparedtosham-acupuncture(n=1),oralantihistamineplustopicalointment(n=1)andoralcalcitriol(n=1).InoneCCT,electroacupuncture(EA)wascomparedtosuperficialelectricalstimulation.Intwoobservationalstudies,EA(n=1)ormanualacupuncture(n=1)wereemployed.Fourof6includedstudiesmentionedmildornooccurrenceofadverseevents.Allofincludedtrialsreportedbeneficialeffectsofacupuncture.However,mostofthestudiesshowedhighriskofbias,whichleavetheirreportsunconvincing.ConclusionThecurrentevidenceisinsufficienttoshowthatacupunctureisaneffectivetreatmentforuremicpruritusinpatientswithend-stagerenaldiseaseduetosuboptimalqualityandlackofmethodologicalrigorofincludedstudies.Futuretrialsshouldovercomethelimitationsofthecurrentlyavailableevidence.

简介：近年来在西方崛起的干针疗法，以其不用经络学说作指导（去经络化）为主要理由，宣称自己不是针灸（去针灸化），其操作者无须接受针灸师所需要的必要训练。本文驳斥了这种错误认识。我们首先回顾海内外列次针灸热中“去经络化”现象的不同内涵，在认可其对于推广针灸的正面作用的同时，明确指出“去经络化”不等同于“去针灸化”。根据世界卫生组织关于针灸的定义，干针疗法与其他多种新针疗法一样，尽管具有“去经络化”的特征，但都属于针灸的范畴。干针不过是现代针灸的一种形式，也就是激痛点针灸。这不仅是因为干针所刺激的体表位置——激痛点本来就是针灸穴位的一种，而且包括针具在内的干针技术与传统的针灸技术无异，此外，干针的机制与针灸机制完全相同，干针现代理论的发展及其应用都离不开针灸的临床试验与实验研究。虽然干针对激痛点刺激的研究成果也强化了现代针灸重视刺激反映点的认识并丰富了相关经验，但干针与经络体系的完全切割，使它失去了传承千年的针灸理论与宝贵经验的支撑，导致它目前的临床应用具有明显的缺陷。

简介：Asthelargestinternationalstandardsdevelopmentorganization,theInternationalOrganizationforStandardization(ISO)providesastructurefordevelopinginternationalstandardsoverahugerangeofindustrysectorsandthesestandardsaregloballyrespectedandutilized.Moreover,throughmanyimportantprocessesincludingtheconsensusapproach,ISOstandardscanassistinputtingintoplaceinternationallyagreed

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