[Objective] The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acupuncture and local injection for neck pain.
[Methods] A randomized controlled clinical trial was conducted in which 33 patients with neck pain were randomly allocated to either an acupuncture group or a local injection group. For the acupuncture group (n=16), a stainless steel needle was inserted to a depth of 10 to 20 mm and manually stimulated (sparrow pecking method) for 20 seconds. A 25 gauge needle was inserted to a depth of 10 to 20 mm and neovitacain (dibucaine hydrochloride 0.1%, sodium salicylate 0.3%, calcium bromide 0.2%) and neurotropin (non protein component extracted from the skin of rabbits treated with vaccinia virus) were injected for the local injection groups (n=17). Both groups received each treatment at the most painful points weekly for four weeks. Primary outcome measurement was intensity of the pain evaluated with a visual analogue scale (VAS). Secondary outcomes were the Neck Disability Index (NDI) and a standardized questionnaire of cervical root disease (developed by Tanaka et al. at Tohoku Univ.). The evaluations were independent from the therapists.
[Results] The acupuncture groups showed better results in all the outcome measurements than those in the local injection group for the effect immediately after the treatment, the effect of sequential treatment and the continuing effect after completion of treatment.
[Discussion] The result of this study suggested that acupuncture can be a useful treatment method compared with local injection. The difference in the effects between the two treatment methods may be due to the difference in the mechanism to suppress pain.

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[Background] Elderly people often have disturbances of bowel habits, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders, affecting more than 15% of the general population. It is characterized by a wide variety of persistent symptoms (abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating, transit disorders) without any clear organic causes. Because medical treatments are sometimes ineffective, some patients with IBS seek alternative therapies to manage the condition. There is very little research examining IBS in the elderly. We report two elderly patients with IBS successfully treated with acupuncture.
[Cases and Methods] A 72-year-old woman and an 88-year-old man with IBS were treated with acupuncture according to theory of traditional Chinese medicine. Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale (GSRS), frequency of defecation, softness of the stool, intensity of abdominal pain or abdominal fullness were recorded over the periods.
During the treatment period, both patients showed a remarkable improvement in lower abdominal pain, bloating and quality of life evaluated with GSRS.
[Result and Discussion] In both cases, acupuncture treatment was effective for alleviating abdominal symptoms with IBS. The result of these cases indicated that acupuncture might be useful for the management of the condition with elderly IBS.

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[Objective] The effect of acupuncture on gastric emptying was evaluated with a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique. Using MRI, gastric emptying can be quantitatively evaluated without radiation exposure or uncomfortable gastric intubation.
[Method] Either an acupuncture patch or a fake patch was applied to the bilateral ST36 (Zusanri, Ashi no sanri) of eight healthy volunteers (5 males, 3 females, age 24.6 ± 2.5) 2 hours before the MRI measurement in a randomized manner. After taking MRI of the upper abdomen for control, each subject ingested tap water (4 ml/kg BW) in the MRI chamber. The volume of gastric content was calculated as the sum of the gastric area of MRI coronal slices. MRI was done every 10 min up to 1 hour, and the change in gastric volume was plotted.
[Result] Although it is ordinarily recommended to avoid bringing metal apparatus into the MRI chamber, there was no recognized damage to the subject including local burn and inflammation on the skin around the needle.
In our experiment, two hours with an acupuncture patch on ST36 made no significant change on gastric emptying compared to the fake patch application.
[Discussion]
The experiment showed that MRI can be used to evaluate effects of acupuncture on postprandial gastric emptying.

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[Objective] The increasing number of acupuncture and moxibustion training schools as well as the diversity of new student and patient needs is changing the educational environment of practitioners of Amma massage, acupuncture, and moxibustion. This raises the question whether the present curriculum can meet the challenges presented by these changes. This study presents the findings of a questionnaire survey designed to elucidate basic data relevant to the creation of the ideal curriculum.
[Methods] A questionnaire was sent to a total of 111 schools nationwide, comprising 70 training schools for the visually impaired and 41 vocational schools affiliated with the Society of Oriental Medicine. The staff member responsible for curriculum organization in each school completed the questionnaire.
[Concluding remarks] The response rate was 70.3% (78/111 schools). The questionnaire survey revealed that one group of individuals was responsible for the curriculum. It was also made clear that education was advancing, not by a fundamental curriculum-based teaching system, but by individual teaching staff.
Ensuring future development in the education system for practitioners of Amma massage, acupuncture, and moxibustion will require introducing a core curriculum. Discussion is also necessary.

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[Purpose] People have various mental images of moxibustion treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between weight of moxa and perceptions of moxibustion treatment.
[Methods] We administered a questionnaire survey on moxibustion to 75 new students and visitors to this college. Furthermore, we instructed subjects to make a moxa as they imagined it would be used in moxibustion treatment, then measured these moxa.
[Result] The questionnaire survey had many replies indicating that moxibustion is associated with images of “hot”, “scar remains”, and “effective”.
Comparing the weights of moxa made by people with moxibustion experience to those made by people with no moxibustion experience, moxa was lighter for the experienced group than for the inexperienced group.
Furthermore, when weight of moxa was compared based on images of moxibustion, only moxa of the group with positive images of moxibustion tended to be light.
[Conclusion] Image size of the moxa appears to be connected with impressions and experiences of moxibustion treatment.

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