Study On The Efficacy Of Using Shu-mu Acupuncture Points To Treat Excess Weight In The Abdomen

According to modern Medicine, obesity is the over accumulation of fat in the body. Economic development has changed eating and lifestyle habits. People are eating more and exercising less. As a result there are more and more people suffering from obesity.Obesity, especially excess weight in the abdominal region, is a major risk factor for heart disease, diabetes, abnormal blood lipids, atherosclerosis and other vascular diseases. This is also one of the major threats to human health in the 21st century. As such, finding effective and safe weight reduction methods is an important field in medicine. In recent years, weight loss through traditional Chinese acupuncture has proved clinically effective in treating local [problematic] areas as well as [generally] regulating organs, energy channels, blood and qi.The present research project was designed to understand whether shu-mu acupuncture points are clinically effective in treating abdominal obesity and to seek a standard protocol using numerical statistics for evaluation. A shu-mu acupuncture point formula over a set treatment period was established along with a control group that used certain acupuncture points on the stomach channel.Step One: Discussion of Related LiteratureThe cause of obesity may be classified into two types, simple and secondary causes. Clinically, simple diabetes is when calorie intake exceeds [metabolic] use and there is no other obvious disease. This kind of obesity is the most commonly seen and accounts for about 95% of all cases. General discussions of obesity refer to simple obesity.Excess abdominal weight results from excess lipid cells accumulating in the abdominal area with increase in the girth around the waist and buttocks is the most obvious characteristic. Because the abdomen is situated closer to the hepatic portal vein relative to the buttocks, abdominal fat is metabolically more active than lipids in the buttocks and therefore likelier to cause coronary heart disease and stroke. Importantly, fats in the abdominal cavity and non-abdominal wall fats are closely related to insulin resistance (IR), abnormal glucose tolerance and elevated blood lipids. Also, waist girth is a relatively simple measurement indicator which reflects the level of abdominal lipids.Chinese medicine recognizes obesity as a result of compromised operation and poor downward clearing-out of the spleen, stomach, liver and kidneys. That is to say, it is an imbalance of the spleen and stomach functioning, a loss of the 'clearing-down' of the liver and an imbalance of the kidney yin and yang. Further, imbalance of the qi-bloodrelationship also holds an important place in the development of excess weight. Sufferers of obesity often have qi deficiency, qi stagnation and blood stagnation. This all is organ de-regulation causing metabolic obstruction which, in tum, is reflected in the [health of the] circulation of the qi and blood.The rationale for using shu and mu acupuncture points to treat obesity includes the fact that these points are not only useful for treatment of disease, they are also widely used for diagnostics and disease prevention. Physiologically, the shu and mu points are the locations where the qi of the five yin and six yang organs circulate and meet. Pathologically, these points are the gates where the diseases of the organs enter or exit. This is the theoretical basis for using the shu and mu points to diagnose and treat disease.Step two: Clinical researchPurpose: This research project selects shu-mu points to treat excess abdominal fat whileusing a set of acupuncture points along the stomach channel as a control group.Method: This research project employs randomized grouping. Qualified patients weredivided into two groups, A and B. There were 19 people in the A group and 20 people in theB group. The A group were treated by needling the following shu-mu points: liver, spleen,stomach, and kidney shu points, stomach-mu (zhongguan), spleen-mu (zhangmen), liver-mu(qimen) and kidney-mu (jingmen). (Except for zhongguan, both right and left side pointswere used for all of the above shu and mu points). It was hoped that these pairs of pointswould create a mutually advantageous phenomenon increasing their overall efficacy. The Bgroup was administered acupuncture on the following points on the stomach channel:huaroumen, tianshu, wailing, daju, zusanli, shangjushu, fenglung, and neiting. These pointsare commonly used treatments in acupuncture for weight loss.Result: The effect of the patients in both the A and B groups were measured according tostandard statistical methods with comparisons of before and after treatment using thefollowing markers: waist girth, BMI, body weight, buttocks girth, and waist-buttocks girthcomparison.Investigating the cause for the effectiveness of using shu-mu points for weight loss: Victims of excessive abdominal fat display a loss of the regulation of many organs. The Classic of Difficulties (Nanjing) mentions that the principle of treating organs lies in "induce the yin from the yang, induce the yang from the yin." All of the organ mu points are yin and the shu points are yang which, when curing disease, depicts a particular characteristic. Further, the curative use of these shu-mu points in this research does not emphasize any particular channel. Rather, it regulates the yin and yang balance of all the organs to restore normal physiological functioning. The weight loss target for victims of excess abdominal weight is the reduction of fat in the waist and abdominal region. The treatment method of the shu-mu points used in this research project include the spleen, stomach, gall bladder, liver, kidneys, large and small intestines and bladder resulting in an effective reduction of weight in the target area.Investigating the cause for the effectiveness of weight loss in using the stomach...