Research update: Acupuncture, CGRP and a possible mechanism for hot flushes

November 25, 2011 · by Sean Heneghan · Acupuncture News, Research

CGRP (Calcitonin gene related peptide) is a vasodilating peptide which when released by a nerve ending increases blood flow into tissues. The physiologist and acupuncturist Thomas Lundeberg has demonstrated previously that the sensory stimulation of acupuncture increases the levels of CGRP in the saliva of patients with xerostomia (dry mouth) and could be one of the factors that contribute to the effect of acupuncture.

In this recent piece, Swedish researchers have been investigating the effect of acupuncture for hot flushes and postulate that the heat loss experienced by some patients may be once again mediated by release of CGRP which is also a sweat gland activator as well as a potent vasodilator. It’s also known that CGRP is influenced by the body’s opioid system which acupuncture has been shown to affect. The research could be a further useful step in piecing together the complex physiological cascade that follows acupuncture stimulation, and more evidence of the ongoing efforts to reconceptualise acupuncture’s effects in terms of modern scientific theory. More details of the study can be found here

Incidentally this week also saw further positive research looking at acupuncture for relieving the side effects of radiation induced dry mouth in patients with cancer.

CGRP Medical acupuncture Thomas Lundeberg

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Sean Heneghan - Traditional Acupuncturist. Delivering acupuncture in berkhamsted, milton keynes, tring, hemel hempstead, st albans, amersham and chesham, and acupuncture in Hertfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Sean Heneghan is a Traditional Acupuncturist operating acupuncture clinics in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire and Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire. Sean’s clinical locations means he’s a local acupuncturist providing acupuncture in tring, acupuncture in Hemel hempstead, acupuncture in Amersham, acupuncture in Chesham, acupuncture in St Albans, and acupuncture in Aylesbury and surrounding areas. Sean began his studies in Chinese Medicine in 1998, and trained initially in Shiatsu and Tui-na (Chinese medical massage) before going on to complete a degree in acupuncture at the College of Integrated Chinese Medicine in Reading. Sean is a fully registered member of The British Acupuncture Council, the main governing body for the UK’s 3000 traditional acupuncturists, and practices an integrated Five element and TCM style of acupuncture. These two styles of acupuncture are the main forms of the traditional approaches in use today. Committed to using the most useful aspects of traditional approaches alongside a modern understanding consistent with science, Sean’s interest is in using and understanding acupuncture as a technique of neuro-humoral modulation rather than understanding it solely on traditional terms. Only in this way can acupuncture necessarily evolve in the way it must do to exist comfortably within a modern framework of health and medicine. Sean also writes an acupuncture blog for acupuncturists, patients and anybody interested in the subject. Topics covered included research developments as they happen, different aspects of acupuncture theory and its application, and any associated thoughts and ideas about human health, psychology, medicine and philosophy. Committed to ongoing learning and development Sean is studying Clinical hypnosis which will become part of his clinical repertoire in 2012/2013.