According to medicine, acupuncture can’t work because we don’t have an energy system running through our body. But it does work, and it’s helping cancer victims who are on chemotherapy, a new study has discovered.
Some chemotherapy drugs commonly cause peripheral neuropathy, nerve damage in the calves and feet, which results in severe nerve pain and difficulty in walking.
There is no antidote to these reactions – and so doctors are turning to acupuncture to ease the symptoms. One trial – involving 192 patients with peripheral neuropathy, 11 of whom developed it while on chemotherapy – discovered that the therapy helped five out of six patients compared to none of those who were not given acupuncture.
Nerve signalling improved and mobility was better in the acupuncture group, say the researchers, who theorize that acupuncture improves blood flow to the legs.
(Source: Acupuncture in Medicine, 2011; doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2011-010034).
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