Research news from Acupuncture Milton Keynes: Acupuncture & sleep

In some interesting research news on the subject of acupuncture and sleep, researchers from Tianjin  University in China have been assessing the effect of acupuncture stimulation on brain wave patterns using EEG (electroencephalograph) signals

According to the researchers, earlier experimental studies on animal models have illustrated that acupuncture reduced gamma waves and increased alpha and theta waves in a pattern that corresponds to those observed in sleep; this particular study looked at the impact of acupuncture stimulation on the brain wave patterns of healthy volunteers and ended up concluding that acupuncture increased the relative power of EEG slow wave (delta band) and decreased the relative power of fast wave (alpha and beta bands) brain wave patterns.

The researchers’ note that their study provides a plausible interpretation of how acupuncture could improve the quality of our sleep and is another interesting research piece in a line of modern research that attempts to understand how acupuncture stimulation affects the brain. On the subject of sleep and acupuncture, one patient who has gone public with the benefits she’s received is Toyah Wilcox who’s featured heavily in the media of late crediting acupuncture with resolving her 40 years of insomnia. A few blog posts ago I linked to a British Acupuncture Council video she recorded talking about her experiences of having acupuncture which you can find again here. One of the useful things for prospective patients thinking about having acupuncture is to hear from patients that already have it and Toyah’s brief video can be useful if you’re considering having treatment yourself.  As an advocate of acupuncture, Toyah has volunteered to participate in Acupuncture awareness week will be running from 25 February – 3 March 2013 and is focused on giving the public greater access to information about the treatment. In line with this The British Acupuncture Council produce an archive of fact sheets and review papers on acupuncture for specific conditions and while on the subject of sleep I thought I’d mention their resource which you can find here on the evidence of acupuncture for insomnia

I help patients with a number of health problems from my acupuncture clinics in Milton Keynes and Berkhamsted, if you have any questions, please feel free to phone me on 07717 515 013.