Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, Sichuan 610075, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2013;2013:894750. doi: 10.1155/2013/894750. Epub 2013 Jul 2.
Acupuncture as an oriental natural healing therapy with prolonged history has been extensively utilized in the management of great numbers of disorders. Deqi, a renowned acupuncture needling sensation, is profoundly regarded as the predictor and also the prerequisite of a preferable acupuncture treatment efficacy. Till now, there is still no consistency being reached towards the mechanism of acupuncture Deqi as a result of the discrepancy for publicly acknowledged evidence. Recent visualized research on Deqi using modern technologies has demonstrated possible central mechanism towards it. However, there is a conspicuous paradox underway in the research of cerebral response to acupuncture Deqi. This paper provided a view of up-to-date studies using visualized tools to characterize the brain response to acupuncture Deqi, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). The paradox was extruded to highlight certain reasons from a TCM view. It is hypothesized that acupoints located at different dermal sites, state of participant, and needling manipulation can all contribute to the current paradox. Hence, further studies on acupuncture Deqi should pay more attention to the strategy of experiment design with generalized measurement, valid sham control methods, and more to subjects in diseased condition.
针灸作为一种历史悠久的东方自然疗法，已被广泛应用于治疗大量疾病。得气，一种著名的针刺感觉，被深刻地认为是预测和也是更好的针灸治疗效果的前提。到目前为止，由于缺乏公认的证据，对于针灸得气的机制仍然没有达成一致。最近使用现代技术对得气进行的可视化研究表明了其可能的中枢机制。然而，在对针灸得气的大脑反应的研究中存在一个明显的悖论。本文通过使用可视化工具，如功能磁共振成像（fMRI）和正电子发射断层扫描/计算机断层扫描（PET/CT），综述了目前研究得气的大脑反应的最新研究。从中医的角度来看，突出了某些原因。据推测，位于不同皮肤部位的穴位、参与者的状态和针刺操作都可能导致目前的悖论。因此，针灸得气的进一步研究应更加关注具有广义测量、有效假控制方法的实验设计策略，以及更多的疾病状态下的研究对象。
