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Acupuncture and Stimulation Produced Analgesia

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Opioids II

Part of the book series: Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology ((HEP,volume 104 / 2))

Abstract

Acupuncture was commonly performed in China to achieve pain relief before it attracted special interest in the late 1950s as a result of its use for anesthetic purposes in surgical operations. In the excitement aroused by this unexpected new application of the ancient healing technique, numerous scientists were recruited to undertake scientific exploration of its basic mechanisms. At the first “All-China Conference on Acupuncture Anesthesia” held in Shanghai in 1965 more than 100 papers were presented; due consideration was given to the basic phenomenon of acupuncture analgesia (AA) in humans (Research Group of AA, Peking Medical College 1973), attention being drawn to its slow onset (an induction period of 20–30min) and slow decay (half-life of 16min).

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© 1993 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Han, JS. (1993). Acupuncture and Stimulation Produced Analgesia. In: Herz, A., Akil, H., Simon, E.J. (eds) Opioids II. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology, vol 104 / 2. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77540-6_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-77540-6_5

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