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What is Acupuncture? Originating in China 5,000 years ago, acupuncture is the oldest continuously practiced medical system in the world. Outside of China, in other parts of Asia, Europe, and South America acupuncture has been used for about 200 years. In the United States, acupuncture has been available since 1972, when an aide of President Nixon was successfully treated in China. All told, acupuncture is used by nearly one-third of the world as a primary health care system and many more as an adjunctive therapy. The fundamental principles of acupuncture are to treat the person as an intergrated whole in body, mind and spirit, and to remedy the root cause of the illness and disease, not only the symptoms. Although well known in the U.S. for pain relief, acupuncture is effective for a wide variety of problems. It has been endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the United Nations and the National Institute of Health. These bodies have declared acupuncture an effective treatment for the following conditions:
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