Research Efforts Prove Acupuncture and Electro-Acupuncture Work in Treatment of Epilepsy

Lots of clinical trials have already been done showing the positive effects of acupuncture for epilepsy. Children who are diagnosed and treated early with acupuncture can lead to remarkable outcomes. It has been suggested that in order to achieve long-lasting relief, the treatment should be continued on a regular basis up to a period of two years. Body, auricular, and scalp acupuncture all have shown to be effective in the fight against epilepsy. Chinese medicine has the power to treat several diseases that Western medicine has a difficult time resolving. There are seizures disorders that have no known origin that can be cured or treated with Traditional Chinese Medicine which allopathic medicine has no answer to. When it comes to epilepsy, there is no magic bullet or instant cure for it and often herbal remedies are used on a long term basis.

A Medical College of Ohio research team demonstrated that acupuncture produces biochemical changes in the central nervous system and autonomic changes in animals. They state that these changes tally with the treatment in paresis, paralysis, and seizures via acupuncture in Bellingham. Neurotransmitter changes and vagal nerve stimulation explain how acupuncture works on a brain with epilepsy. Acupoints on the face, lower extremities, ear, scalp, and body activate the vagus nerve through reflex actions that take place in centers receiving multiple converging inputs within the brain stem. These points are frequently selected in the treatment of epilepsy. In his book, Dr Bob Flaws offers a way of treating brain illness via acupuncture.

One of the acupoints that has been extensively researched on is the Shen Men point. It is located in the ear and is found within the region of the concave surface of the pinna supplied by the vagus nerve’s auricular branch. Stimulation using auricular electro-acupuncture led to a reduction in epileptic activity in the cortex of the brain. Excitatory levels of neurotransmitters in the hippocampus were also reduced while the inhibitory neurotransmitter levels of taurine, GABA, and glycine increased. Quantum Brain Healing has found acupuncture and herbal medicine to help lessen and halt seizures. Always consult with your doctor before using any new recreational drugs or medications as some of them have been known to set off seizures in some people.

Acupoint stimulation on the extremities leads to vagus nerve stimulation. The anti-epileptic effects of VNS and electro-acupuncture target the same part of the brain. The efficacy of electro-acupuncture is further augmented with taurine supplementation increasing its effectiveness that helps prevent induced seizures. Certain Chinese herbs used in epilepsy treatment usually possess high amounts of taurine. A study using electro-acupuncture on rats with epilepsy that has been induced with pilocarpine showed that electro-acupuncture decreased epileptic-like discharges preventing shrinkage of areas within the brain’s limbic system and improving cognitive deficits. Electro-acupuncture works like a neuro-protectant. It may be possible that both electro-acupuncture and can reverse signs of mental erosion and brain aging.