For the last few year Acupuncture has become the subject of world-wide interest as well as the subject of criticism.
The commonest question which occurs to the investigative medical mind is what is Acupuncture? What are its applications ? And how it works?

Neither it is magic nor quackery but it is a scientific method of treating various disease by inserting very fine needles into the specific points of the body.

In Latin "Acus" means "Pricking". According to traditional Chinese medicine the whole body is endowed with a number of channels or meridians, through which the vitallife force or "Chi" travels in a particular direction. These merdians are said to be charged by a Yang or +ve force and Yin or -ve force. The distrubances of these forces cause the disease. By needling and stimulating the prescribed points, the imbalances is corrected and a state of harmonious energy flow is established which is called as "cure" of the disease.

According to traditional Chinese concepts of five elements, and Zang-Fu, theory, the explanation of association of organs, meridians points and the cure of disease brought about by the rolling of points appears facinatingly scientific. Various disease in which acupuncture has proved very successful after careful selection of cases are as follows :

1. Psychiabic disease : Anxiety neurosis and Neurasthenia, Insomnia, Anorexia nervosa, Frigidity, Impotency, Nocturnal eneuresis, Various addictions like Alchol, Tabacco, Drugs, Tics(habit spasms) Mental retardation, Hysteria, Schizophernia.

2. Neurological disease : Headache, Vertigo and Migrain, Trigeminal Neuralgia, Bell's palsy, Hemiplegia, Monoplegia, Quadriplegia with associated complications such as incontinence of urin and stools, Depression, Bed sores, Polio-myelitis, Wrist drop, Foot drop,Cerebral palsy, Peripheral neuropathy, Post-herpetic neuralagia, Epilepsy, Parkinsonism.

3. Musculo-skeletal disease : Various types of Arthritis of all joints of body- the commonest are Rheumotoid arthritis, Carpal tunnel syndrome, Tennis elbow, Pulled elbow, Forzen shoulder, Plantar fascitis, Ankylosing spondylitis, Cervical spondylitis, Backache, Sciatica, Wry neck, Chest myalgia or Costochondritis, Post-Operative weakness in limbs espacially after plaster removal and in case which require long term physiotherapy.

4. Disease of special sense organs : Opthalmic : Squint, Ptosis, Myopia, Glaucoma, Night blindness, Colour bilnness, Optic neuritis, Optic artophy artrophy, Detachment of Retina.

Ear Disease : Tinnitus, Vertigo, Minier's Syndrome, Deaf-mustism.
Disease of mouth : Apththous ulcer, painful and sersitive teeth.

5. Gastro-intestinal disease : Indigestion, Pain in abdomen, Peptic ulcer, Acute and chronic diarrhoea, Dysentary, Fullness of abdomine,Chronic, Constipution, Chronic Cholecystitis, Viral Hepatitis, Hepatosplenomegalies, Ascitxes, Cirrhosis.

6. Respiratory disease : Chronic Bronchitis, Broncial Asthma, Laryngitis, Pleural effusion, Viral infections.

7. Cardiovascular disease : Cardiac neurosis, Angina pectoris, Palpitations, Tachycardia, Bradycardia, Hypertension, Burger's disease.

8. Urological disorders : Retension of urine, Anuria Oedema, Chronic nephritis, Nephrotic syndrome.

9. Gynaecological and Obstetric disorders : Infertility, Menstrual irregularities, Dysmenorrhoea, Leucorrhoea, Management painless labovr and retained placenta.

10. Metabolic disease : Obesity, Diabetes Mellitus.

11. Skin disease : Eczema, Psoriasis, Acnevulgaris, Vitiligo, Alopecia, Chronic urticaria.

12. Medical emergencies : Fever, Shock Convulsions, High fever of any origin, Heat strokes, Unconsciousness.

13. Miscellaneous disease : Allergy, Debility, Infections not responding to antibiotics, Inflammations not responding to anti-inflammatory drugs.

14. Anaesthesia :Almost all surgical procedures right from hernioplasty to open heart surgery and orthopedic procedure to neurosurgery have been done under acupuncture anaesthesia in China and this method is still under research in other countries.
Thus Acupuncture is the story of march of traditional Chinese treatment technique over the past 5000 years. This is such a long period of time that any art of healing which could emerge alive through this period certainly cannot be called an ardinary procedure of needling and stimulation, and it does deserve the attentaion, interest, research, evaluation and above all a Warm Welcome by the modern medical world.