ACU-Track: The Acupuncture Research Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

We were delighted to welcome Matthew Bauer on the podcast to discuss the evidence base of acupuncture for peripheral neuropathy. Also don't miss Matthew's summary of the most important research ever done on acupuncture!

Matthew Bauer became interested in Chinese Medicine after becoming a student of a 74th generation Taoist Master and traditional Chinese Doctor in 1978. He became licensed as an Acupuncturist in 1986 and opened his Chinese Medicine practice in California that same year. 

Matthew developed a passion for educating people about the benefits of acupuncture and became active in acupuncture/Chinese medicine organizations thinking those organizations would have public outreach as a primary goal. When that proved not to be the case, Matthew authored a book for the public exploring the roots and practice of acupuncture titled “The Healing Power of Acupressure and Acupuncture”. He later authored another book for acupuncturists on practice building titled “Making Acupuncture Pay”. 

In 2014, while still in full time practice seeing around 20 patients a day, Matthew formed the Acupuncture Now Foundation (the ANF) – a for the public benefit charitable organization with the goal of educating the public, healthcare providers, and health policymakers about the practice of acupuncture. Matthew feels the ANF vision statement sums up his goals best – “Creating a world where the benefits of acupuncture are known and available to all.”

As part of that vision, Matthew became interested in acupuncture research especially the potential for false negatives due to studies using sub-optimal treatment dosages. Matthew has a particular interest in acupuncture dosage and recently co-authored a journal article on the subject “Is Acupuncture Dose Dependent - Ramifications of acupuncture treatment dose within clinical practice and trials”.

Get in Touch

Learn Matthew's Peripheral Neuropathy Protocol

Longhurst research on acupuncture for blood pressure

Richard Clark and the ACU-Track team talk through the challenges with treating plantar heel pain and the state of the current evidence base.

Richard's website is a community resource for those who are suffering from or attempting to treat plantar heel pain.  The website has a variety of invaluable information from Richard's methodology, point protocols and research and reference materials: https://podac.info/

Richard refers to various diagrams, articles and his book!  Links are below including some interesting further reading ...

Richard's article discussing medical acupuncture short courses
James, R, 1998, There is more to acupuncture than the weekend course. Complementary Therapies in Medicine 6 (4),203-207.
http://www.integrativehealthcare.co.uk/timtatwc%200709.pdf

Systematic Review
Clark, RJ & Tighe, M, 2012, “The effectiveness of acupuncture for plantar heel pain: a systematic review” Acupunct Med 30: 298-306 published online doi: 10.1136/acupmed-2012-010183.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1136/acupmed-2012-010183

Critical Interpretive Synthesis
Clark MT, Clark RJ, Toohey S, et al.(2016) “Rationales and treatment approaches underpinning the use of acupuncture and related techniques for plantar heel pain - a critical interpretive synthesis”. Acupuncture in Medicine. Published Online First:9/7/16. doi:10.1136/acupmed-2015-011042.
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1136/acupmed-2015-011042

Richard's book
Advances in acupuncture for heel pain: towards integrative practice and research
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Advances-acupuncture-heel-pain-integrative/dp/B08PJK8WXN

Richard's Blog page that refers to multiple uses of KI3
https://podac.info/the-many-facets-of-taixi-ki3

Images
DO points https://podac.info/the-do-points
Patchwork model https://podac.info/elementor-768
Space-Time image (scroll down) https://podac.info/elementor-768

Further reading
Maura Flannery’s article giving the feminist perspective Flannery, M. C. (2001). Quilting: A Feminist Metaphor for Scientific Inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 7(5), 628–645. https://doi.org/10.1177/107780040100700507

Richard's article elaborating on Refractive Practice
Clark, RJ. Reflective and Refractive Practice: Lessons from Reviewing Acupuncture for Plantar Heel Pain.  Journal of Chinese Medicine 2022 130 17-28.
https://www.jcm.co.uk/reflective-and-refractive-practice-lessons-from-reviewing-acupuncture-for-plantar-heel-pain.html

Full text versions of the SR and CIS, plus a list of Richard's other publications are available on his ResearchGate page
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Richard-Clark-5

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by Dr Lisa J. Taylor-Swanson to discuss our new ACUAWARE Study which asks; does acupuncture improve interoceptive awareness in people with chronic pain? We discuss what interoceptive awareness is and why its relevant to acupuncture.

Interested in taking part in the ACUAWARE Study?
If you are a US-based licensed acupuncturist, you may be eligible for taking part in this study! Please visit the Study Page for more information.

About Lisa
Lisa J. Taylor-Swanson, PhD, MAcOM, LAc is A Nursing Scientist and Licensed Acupuncturist at the University of Utah, a native of Salt Lake City, she completed her Honors BS in Psychology with a minor in Women’s Studies at University of Utah. She relocated to the Pacific Northwest and completed a Master’s degree in Acupuncture & Oriental Medicine (Seattle Institute of East Asian Medicine - SIEAM) and a PhD in Nursing Science (University of Washington).

Dr. Taylor-Swanson has provided acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine in private practice for over 21 years with an emphasis on women’s health. Most recently, Dr. Taylor-Swanson transitioned from full-time private practice to a full-time, tenure-line academic position at Utah. Dr. Taylor-Swanson previously taught at University of Washington and served as Academic Dean at SIEAM. Dr. Taylor-Swanson leads national and international collaborations on the topic of interoceptive awareness, menopause, and pain with colleagues in the United Kingdom and Australia, and serves on the Board of Directors of Society of Acupuncture Research.

Ian Appleyard PhD is the Research & Policy Manager for the British Acupuncture Council. His PhD, Acupuncture and moxibustion for osteoarthritis of the knee: a component analysis approach, was completed in 2018. He has a particular interest in the methodological challenges of researching acupuncture and placebo.

Ian originally studied acupuncture at Westminster University. Further clinical training included studying with a private practitioner in Japan; clinical training in Shu Guan Hospital and the Meridian Research Institute in Shanghai; a year at the Jiangsu Provincial Hospital of TCM, Nanjing, the Meridian Research Institute in Shanghai; and a year at the Jiang-su Provincial Hospital of TCM, in Nanjing.  

He has worked as a private practitioner in Hove and Kendal. He was course director for Acupuncture at London South Bank University from 2008-2018.


Our Sponsor: Raised Spirit CBD

Discount Code:  ACU10


Key reference papers:
Acupuncture for chronic pain: update of an individual patient data meta-analysis

Other Links:
British Acupuncture Council
The ACU-Track Clinical Registry

For this episode we’ve turned the cameras on so we can look at the images from Vivien's research on the acupuncture channels. You can watch this episode on our Youtube Channel: https://youtu.be/gltCHzY4oRM

Our Sponsor
This episode is sponsored by AcuPrime. Listeners can use the discount code ACUTRACKN22 to get a discount on selected AcuPrime products: https://acuprime.com/

This podcast is supported by the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC)

About Vivien
Vivien is an acupuncturist and anatomist who lives and works in Anglesey. For 10 years, She has been researching the idea that the original acupuncture texts describe the physical human body rather than something more esoteric based on energy. 

The anatomist’s job is to look at the body, and then share that knowledge more widely. Vivien has used her unique combination of skills in both acupuncture and anatomy to first find out, and then show what the original acupuncture texts are describing. 

Her work demonstrates the strong scientific basis for acupuncture that was developed through dissection and anatomical examination by early Han dynasty anatomists over 2,000 years ago. Vivien is a member of the British Acupuncture Council (BAcC).

Vivien's Research Publications: https://research.bangor.ac.uk/portal/en/theses/the-anatomy-of-acupuncture(3f945934-2eba-41f7-9f09-e560580fa90c).html

We are delighted to be joined by Mel Hopper Koppelman from Evidence Based Acupuncture where we discuss the BIG question: how does acupuncture work!?

Strap in for this one folks as we take a deep dive into the role of purinergic signalling, ATP and mitochondria in acupuncture. We also put acupuncture's clinical research into the context; comparative effectiveness with other treatments and its safety profile compared to common drug side effects.

About Mel

Mel is passionate about improving people's access to safe and effective health care by communicating acupuncture's scientific evidence. She is the Executive Director of Evidence Based Acupuncture, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to improving public health through better information about acupuncture’s considerable evidence base. Mel completed her MSc in Acupuncture from the Northern College of Acupuncture in York, UK in 2012 and a second MSc in Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon, USA in 2015. She has published numerous articles about acupuncture research. Mel is a guest lecturer at a number of universities, including the Northern College of Acupuncture Masters programme in York, UK. She practices at her clinic, Harbor Integrative Health in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, and is in the process of launching Synthesis Health Lab, an online group for acupuncturists who want to learn how to incorporate biochemical testing their practices. She lives with her wife, daughter, boisterous chocolate lab and cantankerous Bengal cat.

References from the show

Purinergic signalling

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-021-00553-z

https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/sj.bjp.0706429

When you block purinergic signalling, you block acupuncture:

https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2562

Acupuncture in clinical guidelines

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2018.0092

 Increasing volume of acupuncture research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7023857/

Dangers of Tylenol/paracetamol in pregnancy

https://www.nature.com/articles/%20s41574-021-00553-7

Increased risk of heart attacks associated with NSAIDs/Ibuprofen

https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1909.long

Drug induced mitochondrial toxicity

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628177/

https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/162/1/15/4798828

https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-021-04285-3

In this episode we speak with Sandro Graca from Evidence Based Acupuncture (EBA) about Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS) and bridging the gap between research and clinical practice.

• What is PCOS? What are the main symptoms and causes?
• The latest research into PCOS. Understanding the broader metabolic and psychological aspects of the condition.
• The roll of acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in treating PCOS
• The evidence and research for acupuncture and PCOS
• Bridging the gap between research and clinical practice; how can practitioners get more involved in research?

Acupuncture and PCOS research:

- Effects of electro-acupuncture on anovulation in women with polycystic ovary syndrome

- Acupuncture for ovulation induction in polycystic ovary syndrome: a randomized controlled trial

- Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Effect and Mechanisms of Acupuncture for Ovulation Induction

- Acupuncture in polycystic ovary syndrome: current experimental and clinical evidence

- Acupuncture for Infertility in Women with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: What Does It Add?

- Electroacupuncture Mimics Exercise-Induced Changes in Skeletal Muscle Gene Expression in Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

- Acupuncture and physical exercise for affective symptoms and health-related quality of life in polycystic ovary syndrome: secondary analysis from a randomized controlled trial

Recent research on PCOS including epigenetics and implications for men too:

- Epigenetic inheritance of polycystic ovary syndrome - challenges and opportunities for treatment

- Transmission of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome via Epigenetic Inheritance

- A Genetically Defined Male Counterpart of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Evidence for Ovarian-Independent Pathogenesis

- Complex diseases and co-morbidities: polycystic ovary syndrome and type 2 diabetes mellitus
- Recommendations from the international evidence-based guideline for the assessment and management of polycystic ovary syndrome

- Integrated Model of Care for Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

- A new evidence-based guideline for assessment and management of polycystic ovary syndrome

Acupuncture research in context, guidelines for informing future research to better integrate with practice:

- Paradoxes in acupuncture research: strategies for moving forward

- More Than Needles: The Importance of Explanations and Self-Care Advice in Treating Primary Dysmenorrhea with Acupuncture

- The Role of Research in Guiding Treatment for Women's Health: A Qualitative Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncturists

In this episode we are delighted to be joined by paediatric acupuncture specialist and author Rebecca Avern.

We will be discussing both the practice and research aspects of paediatric acupuncture:

• How treating children and teenagers is different from treating adults
• The different methods used for treating children as well as acupuncture such as laser and massage (tui na)
• The current state of the evidence for paediatric acupuncture
• The gulf in the evidence between research and clinical practice

We will also be discussing Rebecca's new research project. This will look at the clinical outcomes of children and teenagers receiving acupuncture for a range of different health conditions; with a particular focus on mental health.

If you are you a paediatric acupuncture practitioner interested in taking part in this study, this is a chance to contribute towards vital research in the field and could help raise the profile of paediatric acupuncture globally.

The study is open to all Hub of Paediatric Acupuncture (HOPA) members internationally.

Summary of evidence for paediatric acupuncture.

Rebecca's books:

• CHINESE MEDICINE FOR CHILDHOOD ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION
• ACUPUNCTURE FOR BABIES, CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS

In this episode Matthew Bauer, President of the Acupuncture Now Foundation (ANF), interviews us about our new clinical outcomes tracking system ACU-Track and what it could mean for the profession. We discuss how the system works for individual practitioners and clinics, as well as the potential for collecting a large body of evidence for acupuncture and Traditional East Asian Medicine (TEAM).

Learn more about ACU-Track

Learn more about the Acupuncture Now Foundation

Off the back of the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) conference (2021), in this episode Nick and Spod will be discussing the current state of the evidence-base for acupuncture. 

They will be exploring questions including:

• Where is the evidence strongest and where is there potential?
• What are some of the key issues in the field such as placebo?
• Where does the future of acupuncture research lie?

References from the show:

Efficacy for chronic pain (MacPherson and Charlesworth, 2020; Vickers et al., 2018):
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29198932/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362893/

Efficacy for migraines (Zhao et al., 2017): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2603492

UK NICE guidelines chronic pain (National Institute for Clinical Excellence NICE, 2021):
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193/evidence/acupuncture-in-people-with-chronic-primary-pain-pdf-9075291805

Acupuncture and mechanical placebos (Kaptchuk, 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362886/

Future directions for acupuncture research (Schnyer and Hullender Rubin, 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362894/

Acupuncture reducing risk of coronary heart disease in osteoarthritis patients (Ton et al., 2021):
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32744906/

Acupuncture and anti-inflammatory pathways (Liu et al., 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32791039/

Acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome (Maeda et al., 2017): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28334999/

Acupuncture and fibromyalgia RCT and neuroimaging (Mawla et al., 2021): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33314799/