2025 Volume 75 Issue 1 Pages 13-20
Acupuncture and moxibustion (AM) is increasingly recommended in various clinical practice guidelines published in Japan. AM has pharmacological-like effects with fewer adverse events, and it can relieve various symptoms, including persistent physical symptoms (PPS) or symptoms with a clear cause that are difficult to treat with medications. In addition, AM may overcome the limitations of Kampo medicine by reproducing the effects of some Kampo drugs or reducing the severity of the clinical feature (termed "Sho"). AM has a strong focus on narrative medicine, including recording a patient's life history or conducting a physical exam (e.g., of tongue, pulse, facial color, or acupoints), which can detect pathological signs in PPS patients with no abnormal blood or imaging testing findings. This is important for certain diagnoses and treatments with AM. Moreover, although 80% of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients have been well controlled since the emergence of biologics, some RA patients continue their symptoms despite reducing inflammation. AM has the potential to help these patients through lifestyle changes, such as improved sleep or smoking cessation. Further research on the integration of AM into general medical care, or its application for early-phase chronic pain, is required.
The Journal of Auto-Nomic Nervous System
