More than 300 researchers from eight countries will gather at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore to share their findings at the Society for Acupuncture Research conference. Their research represents the latest scientific evidence into acupuncture's potential benefit for treating a wide variety of conditions, from headaches and back pain to cancer care and breathing problems.
One goal of this year's conference will be to explore the future of acupuncture research and to assess how far acupuncture research has come in the 10 years following the National Institutes of Health's Consensus Statement on Acupuncture. That landmark report concluded there was clear evidence for acupuncture's effectiveness for treating several conditions, including nausea and vomiting following surgery or chemotherapy, nausea during pregnancy and dental pain after surgery. The 1997 consensus panel also found that acupuncture may help other conditions such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation, headaches, menstrual cramps, carpal tunnel syndrome and asthma.
"The NIH consensus statement greatly increased the awareness and acceptance of acupuncture by many people in the medical community and the general public," says Brian Berman, M.D., director of the University of Maryland Center for Integrative Medicine, which is co-sponsoring the conference. Dr. Berman is also a professor of family and community medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. "Since the publication of the consensus statement, there has been a surge in interest in acupuncture," Dr. Berman continues, "so we are eager to see what these researchers have found."
