An Introduction to Western Medical Acupuncture

Now in its 2nd edition, An Introduction to Western Medical Acupuncture provides a broad evidence-based approach to acupuncture when used as part of modern medicine. Illustrated throughout it gives the practitioner an essential guide for deciding where and how to treat conditions with acupuncture, and how to avoid known risks associated with it. Ultimately it provides the practitioner with a tool to develop safe and effective practice. For this edition the text has been revised, updated and extensively re-written. A new chapter brings together the understanding of how pain is recognised by the nervous system, and how acupuncture can influence these pathways. This is followed by six chapters providing detailed explanations of the effects and mechanisms of acupuncture, organised according to three recognised treatment approaches - needling to produce local changes, to generate effects at the level of the spinal segment, and to modify the overall function of the nervous system. The chapters on the evidence from research have been also updated.

Author Information
By Adrian White, MA MD BM BCh, Honorary University Fellow, Primary Care Group, Institute of Translational and Stratified Medicine (ITSMED), University of Plymouth, UK; (formerly) Editor, Acupuncture in Medicine; Mike Cummings, MB ChB DipMedAc, Medical Director, British Medical Acupuncture Society, Royal London Hospital for Integrated Medicine, London, UK and Jacqueline Filshie, MBBS FRCA DipMedAC, Consultant Anaesthetist and Honorary Senior Lecturer, The Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust, The Lister Hospital, London, UK