Meng Ying, Zhu Zi-Ye, Zhu Jie-Yu, Yang Pei-Yu, Wang Xin-Jun
The First Clinical Medical School, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China.
College of Acupuncture-moxibustion and Tuina, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China; School of Regimen and Rehabilitation, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing 210023, China.
Zhen Ci Yan Jiu. 2020 Oct 25;45(10):835-8. doi: 10.13702/j.1000-0607.190927.
According to the operative characteristics, the stimulated site and the curative effect-emerged site of bloodletting therapy, its clinical characteristics may be divided into three categories: a) local stimulation induced focus-local effect, b) local stimulation induced effect of the distal target organ (point-to-point distal effect), and c) special point stimulation induced broader effect of the whole body. Accordingly, the underlying mechanisms of clinical outcomes mainly involve the improvement of the local microcirculation and secondary changes of inflammatory substances for the first category (local focus). The point-to-point distal effect might mainly involve the innervation of nerve segments, while the broad effect of specific acupoint stimulation might involve multiple levels of the neuro-endocrine-immune system. The future research on the mechanisms of bloodletting should starts from its specific effects and the type of disease, which should not be generalized.
