In an official report, Acupuncture: Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced:
1. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which acupuncture has been proved (through controlled trials) to be an effective treatment are as follows:
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- Adverse reactions to radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy
- Allergic rhinitis (including hay fever)
- Biliary colic
- Depression (including depressive neurosis and depression following stroke)
- Dysentery, acute bacillary
- Dysmenorrhoea, primary
- Epigastralgia, acute (in peptic ulcer, acute and chronic gastritis, and gastrospasm)
- Facial pain (including craniomandibular disorders)
- Headache
- Hypertension, essential
- Hypotension, primary
- Induction of labour
- Knee pain
- Leukopenia
- Low back pain
- Malposition of fetus, correction of
- Morning sickness
- Nausea and vomiting
- Neck pain
- Pain in dentistry (including dental pain and temporomandibular dysfunction)
- Periarthritis of shoulder
- Postoperative pain
- Renal colic
- Rheumatoid arthritis
- Sciatica
- Sprain
- Stroke
- Tennis elbow
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2. Diseases, symptoms or conditions for which the therapeutic effect of acupuncture has been shown:
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- Abdominal pain (in acute gastroenteritis or due to gastrointestinal spasm)
- Acne vulgaris
- Alcohol dependence and detoxification
- Bell’s palsy
- Bronchial asthma
- Cancer pain
- Cardiac neurosis
- Cholecystitis, chronic, with acute exacerbation
- Cholelithiasis
- Competition stress syndrome
- Craniocerebral injury, closed
- Diabetes mellitus, non-insulin-dependent
- Earache
- Epidemic haemorrhagic fever
- Epistaxis, simple (without generalized or local disease)
- Eye pain due to subconjunctival injection
- Female infertility
- Facial spasm
- Female urethral syndrome
- Fibromyalgia and fasciitis
- Gastrokinetic disturbance
- Gouty arthritis
- Hepatitis B virus carrier status
- Herpes zoster (human (alpha) herpesvirus 3)
- Hyperlipaemia
- Hypo-ovarianism
- Insomnia
- Labour pain
- Lactation, deficiency
- Male sexual dysfunction, non-organic
- Ménière disease
- Neuralgia, post-herpetic
- Neurodermatitis
- Obesity
- Opium, cocaine and heroin dependence
- Osteoarthritis
- Pain due to endoscopic examination
- Pain in thromboangiitis obliterans
- Polycystic ovary syndrome (Stein-Leventhal syndrome)
- Postextubation in children
- Postoperative convalescence
- Premenstrual syndrome
- Prostatitis, chronic
- Pruritus
- Radicular and pseudoradicular pain syndrome
- Raynaud syndrome, primary
- Recurrent lower urinary-tract infection
- Reflex sympathetic dystrophy
- Retention of urine, traumatic
- Schizophrenia
- Sialism, drug-induced
- Sjögren syndrome
- Sore throat (including tonsillitis)
- Spine pain, acute Stiff neck
- Temporomandibular joint dysfunction
- Tietze syndrome
- Tobacco dependence
- Tourette syndrome
- Ulcerative colitis, chronic
- Urolithiasis
- Vascular dementia
- Whooping cough (pertussis)
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Links to notable research:
Obstetrics
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- Summaries of research on acupuncture for pregnancy, Debra Betts
- Acupuncture for depression during pregnancy
- Acupuncture superior in management of pelvic pain in pregnancy
- Acupuncture to treat morning sickness
- Safety of acupuncture for morning sickness
- Acupuncture helpful for treating breech pregnancy
- Pre-birth Acupuncture for labor preparation
- Acupuncture for cervical ripening and promotion of labor
- Acupuncture to promote labor
- Date fruit helps with birthing process
- Acupressure to reduce labor pain
- Safety of Home Birth
- Evidence-Based Maternity Care
- Planned Home and Hospital Births with Midwife
- Maternity Acupuncture in a Hospital Setting
- Acupuncture during labor and delivery in a hospital setting
- Acupuncture and Epidural Anesthesia during Labor and Delivery
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Fertility
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- Acupuncture and IVF
- Traditional Chinese Herbal Medicine effective in treating female infertility
- Kidney supplementing herbs to improve implantation
- Stress may affect fertility
- Male Factor and Folic Acid, Zinc Sulfate
- Male Factor and L-carnitine
- Male Factor and Vitamin E
- Male Factor and Vitamin E, Selenium
- Infertility in men linked to major health problems
- Vegetarian diet and sperm quality
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