Acupuncture is an ancient healing practice that can trace its history back thousands of years to its apparent origin in China. It eventually spread to Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and East Asia. In the 1970s, the practice finally gained attention in the USA.
Classical Chinese acupuncture is based upon naturalist and Taoist thought. Traditional Chinese Medicine is a form of acupuncture that strives to keep the body in balance. Under Traditional Chinese Medicine, qi regulates a person’s spiritual, emotional, and physical well-being. A person’s qi is believed to be affected by two polar compliments: yin and yang. Yin represents negative energy or passive principle. Conversely, yang represents positive energy or active principle.
An imbalance of yin and yang leads to a blockage of the vital energy, or qi, along pathways called meridians and results in illness. It is thought there are more than 2,000 points on the human body that connect with 12 main and eight secondary meridians. Through...
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsSuggested Readings
Barnes, P. M., Powell-Griner, E., McFann, K., & Nahin, R. L. (2004). Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults: United States, 2002. CDC National Health Statistics Report #343. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics.
Hsiao, A., Wong, M., Goldstein, M., Becerra, L., Cheng, E., & Wenger, N. (2006). Complementary and alternative medicine use among Asian-American subgroups: Prevalence, predictors, and lack of relationship to acculturation and access to conventional health care. Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 12(10), 1003–1010. doi:10.1089/acm.2006.12.1003.
Suggested Resources
Barnes, P. M., Bloom, B., & Nahin, R. (2007). Complementary and alternative medicine use among adults and children: United States, 2007. CDC National Health Statistics Report #12, 2008. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://nccam.nih.gov/news/2008/nhsr12.pdf
Braverman, S. (2004). Medical acupuncture review: Safety, efficacy, and treatment practices. Medical Acupuncture, 15(3), 12–16. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://www.medicalacupuncture.org/aama_marf/journal/vol15_3/article1.html
Mayo Clinic. (2010). Acupuncture. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/acupuncture/MY00946
National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. (2011).Acupuncture. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture
Wu, A., Burke, A., & LeBaron S. (2007). Use of traditional medicine by immigrant Chinese patients. Family Medicine, 39(3), 195–200. Retrieved April 29, 2011, from https://www.stfm.org/fmhub/fm2007/March/Amy195.pdf
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this entry
Cite this entry
Johnson, B.L. (2012). Acupuncture. In: Loue, S., Sajatovic, M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Immigrant Health. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_16
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-5659-0_16
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-5655-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-5659-0
eBook Packages: MedicineReference Module Medicine