This article intends to find out the clinical efficacy of acupuncture treatment, such as pain relief. Whether acupuncture needling at a peripheral acupoint produces distinct patterns of brain responses remains controversial.

Results:  This fMRI study employed the complex network analysis (CNA) to test the hypothesis that acupuncture stimulation at an acupoint correspondingly induced activity changes in one or more intrinsic or resting-state brain networks.

Cancer-related fatigue (CRF) is one of the most common and complex symptoms experienced by patients with cancer, occurring across the spectrum of malignant disease diagnoses and major therapies. Gaining an understanding of the mechanisms underlying this highly prevalent and burdensome symptom is of great interest to researchers and clinicians alike, yet relatively few studies have evaluated the etiology of CRF or the factors that mediate multiple, related physiologic effects.

Fatigue is a distressing symptom commonly experienced by cancer patients. An inherent symptom of advanced cancer, fatigue is also an adverse effect of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy, often persisting after cessation of treatment.

Acupuncture has been the focus of increasing research activity in recent years. Though best known for the treatment of pain, with randomized trials showing benefit in both acute and chronic pain, acupuncture has been used to treat a wide variety of conditions, including fatigue.

The effectiveness of traditional Asian herbs is controversial among current practitioners of complementary alternative medicine. To date, no systemic review of the oral administration of traditional Asian herbs for cancer pain has been conducted. Thus, we conducted this systemic review to summarize and critically assess the evidence from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) showing that traditional Asian herbs are effective for reducing cancer pain.

Clinical studies suggest that acupuncture can stimulate saliva production and reduce xerostomia (dry mouth). We were interested in exploring the neuronal substrates involved in such responses.

Xiao Chai Hu Tang (XCHT), a compound formula originally recorded in an ancient Chinese medical book Shanghanlun, has been used to treat chronic liver diseases for a long period of time in China. Although extensive studies have been demonstrated the efficacy of this formula to treat chronic hepatitis, hepatic fibrosis, and hepatocarcinoma, how it works against these diseases still awaits full understanding.