Acupuncture For Asthma

By Y.C. Chan, OMD, Dipl Ac

Asthma is a very common chronic inflammatory disease. There are many causes for asthma genetic, chemical, allergies, and environmental factors to name a few. The standard treatment for asthma is usually with an inhaler. Oral corticosteroids are used for severe cases, and if the case is severe enough hospitalization may be required.

During the last several decades, asthma patients have increased significantly. As of 2011 235-300 million people were affected worldwide.

When asthma symptoms start the airway inflames and narrows, which causes wheezing, whistling, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath. Most symptoms get worse either at night or during the morning. The airways in our body are tubes that carry air in and out of the lungs. If a person has asthma their airways are inflamed, which makes the person more sensitive to swelling, causing many symptoms and discomforts.

Acupuncture is an ancient form of healing, based on the medical philosophy of the Qi forces of Yin and Yang (positive and negative energy). All diseases, including asthma, are thought to represent an imbalance of these forces. Energy flows through the body along specific paths of meridians. Acupuncture is inserting needles through the skin, at certain identified points on the meridians.

Since 1979 the WHO (World Health Organization) has listed many diseases for which acupuncture is considered to be beneficial, including asthma. A study conducted by the Department of Anesthesia and Intensive Care in the University of Vienna, Austria reported over 70% of patients with long-standing asthma showed significant improvement of their symptoms after 10 weeks of acupuncture treatment.

Another large study was conducted by the Second Municipal People's Hospital, in the Henan Province of China. The study found that 40 minutes of needle retention was most desirable, with effective rates found to be even better than the above study.

Although many practitioners are treating asthma patients on a daily basis, in order to conduct a well-designed study for asthma, government financial support will be necessary.