(7) Researches on immune system diseases
It is proved by abundance of clinical observation and experiments that acupuncture plays a role in regulating functions of immune system of organism. The promoting guarding and regulating immune functions are important ways acupuncture therapeutic effects got. Acupuncture gets great therapeutic effects on many diseases which are inseparable with its regulating function on immune system. Rheumatoid arthritis, tumor, bronchial asthma, and aging etc. are sufficiently investigated and have relatively confirmed therapeutic effects.
For these diseases, points on the ren channel, DU meridian and Yangming meridians are often selected, especially Zusanli. Guanyuan. Shenque. etc. are the most commonly selected points, various of needling and moxibustion are selected, such as needling, moxibustion, combination of needling and moxibustion, acupuncture with warmed needle, electric acupuncture, point injection, point application, ear acupoints pellet pressing, and prick-acupuncture, prick-needling blood letting, moving cupping and so on. For instance, needling Zusanli not only steps up leukocyte contents in peripheral blood of leucopenia patients, but also elevates IA, IG, IM of blood serum remarkably, so that improves immunity of patient.
Although acupuncture treatment of AIDS is mainly on the stage of clinical treatment observing, the effect of promoting guarding and regulating immune system gives a possibility of treating AIDS by acupuncture. Based on analysis of available information, therapeutic effect of AIDS by acupuncture is mainly manifested on prolongation of patient's life span, alleviation of clinical symptoms, and improvement of life quality. Tonification points such as Zusanli. Qihai, Guanyuan, Mingmen etc. are selected, invigorating needling therapy and indirect moxibustion are mainly applied, bellybutton application therapy and point injection can also be chosen. Clinical research manifests ginger moxibustion on Shenque to treat bronchial asthma, ratio of CD3(+)/ CD4(+) and CD4(+)+/CD8(+) are apparently elevated, cytoactive of NK is accentuated.
Experiment of treating bronchial asthma by festering moxibustion manifests that clinical symptoms and the IgE content of blood serum in the period of onset and in the catabasis are distinctively different, and the therapeutic effect of treatment in the catabasis is better, implies that treatment in the catabasis should be paid special attention to, and moxibustion therapy has a relatively phasic response. Some other reports say the old is benefited if warming moxibustion is applied on Shenque and Zusanli, because moxibustion promotes composition and liberation of epidermal growth factor of blood serum, and then disintegration and generation of various types of tissues and cells are stimulated, so the effect of cell's aging delay is achieved.
(8) Research on pain diseases
Acupuncture applied to alleviate pain has a history of thousands of years in traditional Chinese medical clinic. In Yellow Emperor's Cannon of Internal Medicine, there are recordations of acupuncture used in treating headache, dentalgia, lumber myalgia, abdominal pain, arthralgia and courbature. This means the ancients has handled techniques and methods to alleviate pain, and abundance of experiences has been built up. Nowadays, pain diseases remains to be main indications of acupuncture in  clinic. 32 diseases out of 64 acupuncture indications of acupuncture recommended by the WHO Milan conference in 1996 are related with pain.
Abundance of information from modern acupuncture clinical researches further improves that acupuncture alleviates all different kind of pain caused by different etiological and pathological factors, neuralgia. arthralgia and courbature, visceralgia are all included. For acupuncture pain alleviating therapy, local Ashi points are mainly selected, distal points are selected along meridians such as Hegu, Sanyinjiao, Zusanti, Taichong, and Xi points of all meridians. Therapeutic methods include needling, electric needling, auricular needling, meridian-pricking and cupping therapy, moxibustion, fire needle, and point injection etc. Acupuncture restrains acute pain effectively, double manipulations such as strong stimulating manipulation or Longhujiaozhan manipulation are often selected, and pain alleviating effect can be enhanced with the reinforcement of electric acupuncture stimulation, low frequency transduction and combination variation get notable effect.
For chronic pain diseases, the intensity of electric acupuncture stimulation may influences the effect of multiple electric acupuncture treatment of chronic diseases, considering from the point of pain alleviating effect, mild stimulation is better, and electric stimulation shouldn't be too long for every time of treatment. Rules of acute and chronic pain treated by acupuncture are apparently different. It is manifested by clinical observation that acupuncture effectively alleviates pain caused by cancer.
It is reported by researchers that the effective rates of abdominal pain alleviation by needling bilateral Zusanli is rather high, gastric cancer is 93%, liver cancer is 87%, colon carcinoma is 88%, lymphatic sarcoma is 90%; for chest pain and brachialgia of lung liver ineffective by using morphine and Sauteralgyl, Xi points and Kongzui points of the lung meridian are mainly selected, fast and strong stimulation needling methods are chosen after punctured, the agonia is instantly alleviated; as for agonia of advanced carcinoma.
"Second metacarpal bone" new holopoints are punctured, pain alleviating effective rate is 92.3%, and effective lasting span is apparently longer than Rutundine, Antondine or bucinperazine muscle injection. Acupuncture not only alleviates pain of body surface, but also alleviates or even eliminates deep pain and referred pain; acupuncture helps to elevate pain threshold and pain enduring threshold, it also helps to degrade emotional reaction to pain; acupuncture has a general pain alleviating effect, but there exists a relative specificity between points and pain alleviating regions.
The mechanism of pain alleviation by acupuncture is very complex. From the view of neurochemical mechanism, it is reached by promoting secretion of enkephalin (body pain alleviating material), pain threshold elevating, muscle spasm relief, and enhancement of regional mierocirculation. The effect of pain alleviation of moxibustion is realized by eliminating abnormal elements from patient's blood and improving physical and chemical quality of blood.