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Useful Links
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Acupuncture: An Overview of Scientific Evidence.
This is a fully referenced overview of the evidence for acupuncture, a review of mechanisms and a comparison of this evidence in the context of modern healthcare. We address a key common criticism of acupuncture research and review the evidence for conventional medical treatments
https://www.evidencebasedacupuncture.org/present-research/acupuncture-scientific-evidence/
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Getting to the Point - Episode 1 "Children's Hospital of Orange County
https://acunow.org/getting-to-the-point/
Brought to you by the Acupuncture Now Foundation and award winning film maker Doug Dearth, this touching documentary chronicles the stories of two young boys diagnosed with brain cancer who were cared for at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County (CHOC) in the city of Orange, California.
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Australian Acupuncture & Chinese Medicine Association (AACMA)
Find out more about Chinese medicine and acupuncture and what it means for us to part of this professional association.
The Acupuncture Evidence Project
A comparative literature review was carried out in 2017, a plain English summary is available below and the full version is also available via the AACMA website above.
British Acupuncture Council
Find out many interesting facts about acupuncture, but most importantly read up on the evidence that supports this ancient healing art. An easy to navigate website where you can search by conditions, learn more about the disorders and read supporting evidence.
https://www.acupuncture.org.uk/category/a-to-z-of-conditions/a-to-z-of-conditions.html
Chinese Medicine Board of Australia
Find out if your practitioner is registered or raise any concerns you have about a practitioner.
http://www.chinesemedicineboard.gov.au
World Health Organisation (WHO) Official Position on Acupuncture (2003)
In 2003 the WHO published a report based on clinical trials (prior to 1999) researching the effectiveness of acupuncture.
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Acupuncture Now Australia
Their vision is to ensure Acupuncture is accessible as an essential part of Australia's healthcare system.
https://acupuncturenow.org.au/
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AHPRA
Our primary role is to protect the public. The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency and the National Boards work together to ensure that Australia’s registered health practitioners are suitably trained, qualified and safe to practice.
https://www.ahpra.gov.au/About-Ahpra.aspx
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Healthdirect on Acupuncture
A basic understanding of acupuncture and its uses and benefits.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/acupuncture
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Acupuncture in Cancer Care
Acupuncture is not used instead of traditional cancer treatment. Rather, it is used in addition to other treatment in a complementary way
https://www.aicr.org/resources/blog/acupuncture-in-cancer-care/
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Research Articles
Cochrane Reviews are considered the highest level of evidence for healthcare interventions, but interestingly more than 9 in 10 healthcare interventions studied within recent Cochrane Reviews are considered not supported by high-quality evidence, and harms are often under-reported.
You can read more on this study here https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35447356/
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But below offers some regularly referenced research for the use of acupuncture that supports my clinical outcomes and evidence
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The state of evidence in acupuncture: a review and meta-anlyses and system reviews of acupuncture evidence (update 2017-2022)
Moritz Hempen, Josef Hummeslberger
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctim.2025.103149
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Efficacy, Safety and Mechanisms of Acupuncture and Electroacupuncture for Pain: A Narrative Review.
McDonald, John L - Medical Research Archives , [S.l.], v. 13, n. 8, aug. 2025
https://doi.org/10.18103/mra.v13i8.6871
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Acupuncture-related adverse events: systematic review and meta-analyses of prospective clinical studies
Petra Bäumler, Wenyue Zhang, Theresa Stübinger, Dominik Irnich - BMJ Open. 2021 Sep 6;11(9):e045961
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34489268/
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Acupuncture: A Review of the Safety and Adverse Events and the Strategy of Potential Risk Prevention
Huang CC, Kotha P, Tu CH, Huang MC, Chen YH, Lin JG
Am J Chin Med. 2024;52(6):1555-1587. doi: 10.1142/S0192415X24500617.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39460372/
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Acupuncture Therapy as an Evidence-Based Nonpharmacologic Strategy for Comprehensive Acute Pain Care: The Academic Consortium Pain Task Force White Paper Update
Arya Nielsen, Jeffery A Dusek, Lisa Taylor-Swanson, Heather Tick
Pain Med. 2022 Aug 31;23(9):1582-1612. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnac056.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9434305/
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Acupuncture's Role in Solving the Opioid Epidemic: Evidence, Cost-Effectiveness, and Care Availability for Acupuncture as a Primary, Non-Pharmacologic Method for Pain Relief and Management
Fan AY, Miller DW, Bolash B, Bauer M, McDonald J, Faggert S, He H, Li YM, Matecki A, Camardella L, Koppelman MH, Stone JAM, Meade L, Pang J
White Paper 2017. J Integr Med. 2017 Nov;15(6):411-425. doi: 10.1016/S2095-4964(17)60378-9. PMID: 29103410.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29103410/
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Acupuncture for allergic rhinitis: a systematic review and meta-analysis
He M, Qin W, Qin Z, Zhao C. - Eur J Med Res. 2022 Apr 25;27(1):58. doi: 10.1186/s40001-022-00682-3.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35462555/
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Acupuncture for the prevention of episodic migraine
Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Vertosick EA, Vickers A, White AR. - Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Jun 28;2016(6):CD001218. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD001218.pub3. PMID: 27351677
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27351677/
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The anti-inflammatory effects of acupuncture and their relevance to allergic rhinitis: a narrative review and proposed model
John L McDonald, Allan W Cripps, Peter K Smith, Caroline A Smith, Charlie C Xue, Brenda Golianu
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23476696/
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From single-target mechanisms to multi-target network regulation: Mechanisms of acupuncture in migraine
Han Xiang, Cai-feng Zhu, Gao-shang Yang, Bing-yuan Zhou, Xue-wei Wang, Da-hong Gao, Shi-hao Jiang
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1003525726000449
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Mediators, Receptors, and Signalling Pathways in the Anti-Inflammatory and Antihyperalgesic Effects of Acupuncture
McDonald JL, Cripps AW, Smith PK. - Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2015;2015:975632. doi: 10.1155/2015/975632. Epub 2015 Aug 3.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26339274/
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Acupuncture for chronic pain: individual patient data meta-analysis
Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, Lewith G, MacPherson H, Foster NE, Sherman KJ, Witt CM, Linde K; Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration. Arch Intern Med. 2012 Oct 22;172(19):1444-53. doi: 10.1001/archinternmed.2012.3654.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22965186/
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Acupuncture for Chronic Pain: Update of an Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis
Vickers AJ, Cronin AM, Maschino AC, Lewith G, MacPherson H, Foster NE, Sherman KJ, Witt CM, Linde K; Acupuncture Trialists' Collaboration
J Pain. 2018 May;19(5):455-474. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2017.11.005. Epub 2017 Dec 2.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29198932/
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​​Acupuncture As an Integrative Approach for the Treatment of Hot Flashes in Women With Breast Cancer: A Prospective Multicenter Randomized Controlled Trial (AcCliMaT)​
Lesi G, Razzini G, Musti MA, Stivanello E, Petrucci C, Benedetti B, Rondini E, Ligabue MB, Scaltriti L, Botti A, Artioli F, Mancuso P, Cardini F, Pandolfi P.
J Clin Oncol. 2016 May 20;34(15):1795-802. doi: 10.1200/JCO.2015.63.2893. Epub 2016 Mar 28.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27022113/
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Acupuncture for Depression: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
​Armour M, Smith CA, Wang LQ, Naidoo D, Yang GY, MacPherson H, Lee MS, Hay P.
J Clin Med. 2019 Jul 31;8(8):1140. doi: 10.3390/jcm8081140.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31370200/
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Effect of Acupuncture for Methadone Reduction : A Randomized Clinical Trial
Lu L, Chen C, Chen Y, Dong Y, Chen R, Wei X, Tao C, Li C, Wang Y, Fan B, Tang X, Xu S, He Z, Mo G, Liu Y, Gu H, Li X, Cao F, Xu H, Zhang Y, Li G, Liu X, Zeng J, Tang C, Xu N.
Ann Intern Med. 2024 Aug;177(8):1039-1047. doi: 10.7326/M23-2721. Epub 2024 Jul 9. Erratum in: Ann Intern Med. 2025 Nov;178(11):1676. doi: 10.7326/ANNALS-25-04162.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38976882/
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Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache
Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, Fei Y, Mehring M, Shin BC, Vickers A, White AR. Acupuncture for the prevention of tension-type headache.
Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016 Apr 19;4(4):CD007587. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD007587.pub2.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27092807/
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Acupuncture-Mediated Neuro–Immune Regulation in Musculoskeletal Pain: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Perspectives
Jiang T, Wang T, Shi H, Dong S, Gao Y, Wang S. J Pain Res. 2026;19:632269
https://doi.org/10.2147/JPR.S632269
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