However, The Treatment, Diagnosis And Even The Etiology Is Radically

However, the treatment, diagnosis and even the etiology is radically different from Western concepts and ignores these hypersensitivity classifications. Instead, the disease is treated as resulting from qi, yin or yang deficiencies or derangements.
The scientific literature is, at present, inconclusive and contradictory on the efficacy of TCM methods. An analysis of the results is beyond the scope of this paper but, briefly, one double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of acupuncture for treatment of allergic rhinitis (Type II) showed that active acupuncture was more effective in reducing symptom scores than sham acupuncture [22]. But, after measuring the concentration of IgA, IgG and IgM and total and differential white blood cell counts, it was seen that a course of acupuncture and transcutaneous stimulation analgesia (performed for major abdominal surgery) did not affect the body's immune system [23].
In another single-blind randomized, controlled clinical trial of 49 healthy subjects, patients were not able to distinguish between the effects of real or sham acupuncture [24]. But another study has shown that acupuncture influences leukocyte migration in chronic spastic bronchitis [25]. Another study has shown that Type IV hypersensitivity to trinitrochlorobenzene was suppressed upon the use of electroacupuncture and that opioid receptor-mediated mechanisms are involved in this immune response [26]. A later study implicated the pituitary gland and the neuroendocrine system to be involved in the suppression [27]. Conclusive proof or refutation of the efficacy of acupuncture and other treatment modalities must await further controlled, clinical trials and experimentation.
References
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