Summary

This book has been prepared in an effort to address the pressing need for a common language, i.e. international standard terminology and technical terms to be used in traditional medicine. The number of commonly used terms in traditional medicine is estimated to be more than 4000, most of which are included in this book, which is designed for use by students and clinical practitioners and researchers in the Western Pacific Region. This terminology will also be useful to assist Member States in the region in developing evidence-based clinical practice guidelines on traditional medicine.

Summary

This document comprises guidelines on basic training and safety in acupuncture. The guidelines on basic training cover basic requirements for training non-physician acupuncturists and physicians wishing to use acupuncture in their clinical work and include a core syllabus. These are intended to assist national health authorities in setting standards and establishing official examinations as well as medical schools and institutions wishing to arrange training programmes. The guidelines on safety in acupuncture are intended for hospitals, clinics, and practitioners and provide standards for safety in the clinical practice of acupuncture.

Summary

Sets out basic guiding principles for the design and conduct of clinical evaluations of acupuncture. Noting that knowledge about acupuncture remains largely confined to anecdotal experiences, the guidelines aim to encourage the use of systematic laboratory and clinical studies as a way of validating acupuncture, improving its acceptability to modern medicine, and thus extending its use as a simple, inexpensive, and effective therapeutic option. With this goal in mind, the book sets out guidelines that incorporate the established methods and procedures of scientific investigation, yet reflect the special nature of acupuncture as a discipline. The guidelines respond to both growing interest in the therapeutic applications of acupuncture and the need to validate these applications through the compilation of reliable and comparable clinical data.
The main section sets out detailed guidelines for conducting clinical studies. Topics covered include the use of standard terminology and technology to ensure the reproducibility of studies, recommended qualifications and responsibilities of the investigative group, general research design, and specific considerations for the design of randomized controlled clinical trials. Other study designs described include cohort studies, retrospective case-control studies, sequential trials, single subject experiments, and clinical audit. A list of 25 items to be included in research protocols is provided. Annexed to the guidelines is a summary of current scientific knowledge about modes of action that might account for the effectiveness of acupuncture in pain relief and other therapies.

Summary

Meets the pressing need for a uniform, standardized nomenclature for acupuncture. Now in its second edition, the nomenclature has been extensively revised following a number of consultations with experts representing all the major traditions of acupuncture.
The nomenclature covers the 361 classical acupuncture points organized according to the fourteen meridians. Each entry gives the standardized name of the point in its three elements: an alphanumeric code derived from the English language translation of the meridian name, the Chinese phonetic alphabet (Pinyin) name, and the Han (Chinese) character. The original form of the writing is shown first, followed by a simplified form of the character. Each entry also provides a brief comment on the point, explaining the meaning of the Han character and the significance of the point's location. Use of the nomenclature is facilitated by the inclusion of two indexes. The first lists the equivalent names and code names of the acupuncture points as used in English, French, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese. The second lists the Han characters for the 361 points.