Classical Chinese Medicine Correlations to Homeostasis: Treating Chronic Pain & Disease

One of the earliest sources of acupuncture and meridian therapy is The Yellow Emperor’s Classic of Internal Medicine,¹ also known as the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen translation of Huang Di’s Inner Classic – Basic Questions.² The focus of the Huang Di Nei Jing (HDNJ) is education on the use of acupuncture and meridians in the treatment of a variety of diseases and alignments,³ accomplished by restoring the balance of yin and yang.³

Harmony is the ideal state in the human body.⁴ The human body and its functions are best apprehended through understanding that harmony is derived from opposites.⁵ Balance and harmony are reached through constant adjustments of yin and yang.⁴ In the Ling Shu, fine needles are used to open conduits and vessels. This in turn keeps the body harmonized.⁴

Maintaining Harmony: The Role of the Autonomic Nervous System (ANS)

Wei Li, et al.,⁶ state that acupuncture maintains homeostasis through the autonomic nervous system (ANS). The ANS is constantly interpreting input from our external and internal environments via the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.⁶

The ANS maintains many of our physiological functions.⁷ The ANS regulates “temperature, respiration, heartbeat, digestion, excretion, and immune functions to regulate the body’s metabolism.”⁶ Acupuncture affects the ANS, which helps regulate homeostasis.⁶

A variety of ANS disorders are treated with acupuncture,⁶ including migraines, depression, insomnia, digestive disorders, inflammation, and pain via the efferent nerves of the ANS.⁵ ANS disorders also include cardiovascular disease because the ANS controls blood pressure and heart rate.⁸

In the HDNJ, “Yin-Yang Doctrine encouraged its followers to distinguish among functions and tangible components of the human body as being either of the yin/yang category.”⁴ This correlation can be seen with the ANS. “The Sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems are functionally opposite to each other in the same way as the yang (active) and the yin (passive) pair in Taoist concept.”⁹ The functional goal of a two-part nervous system is to balance the visceral activities.⁹

The two branches of the ANS oversee the body’s fight-or-flight response.¹⁰ The sympathetic system is triggered during life-threatening events.⁹ In the Ling Shu, the conduit vessels can be compared to the ANS. Huang Di states that “the conduit vessels enable one to determine death and survival, to cope with the hundred diseases, and to balance depletion and repletion.”⁴

Acupoints and the ANS

There has been much research on how most acupoints are superficial to major neuronal bundles.³ In the Ling Shu, the conduit vessels follow similar descriptions to the modern-day explanations of acupuncture points along peripheral nerve endings. The description of the large intestine channel can be used as an example for comparison.

In the Ling Shu, the conduit vessels of the large intestine start at the tip of the fingers.⁴ These branches extend to the outer edge of the index finger and line up at the two bones where HeGu is located.⁴ The branches continue upward and enter the sinew of the outer edge of the arm.⁴

Up into the shoulder to the clavicle bones, these branches continue to rise to the nape and the cheeks, through the mouth and ending at the nasal passageway.⁴

The acupuncture points on the forearm and hand follow the radial, median and ulnar nerves.³ These acupoints can treat diseases related to the head, face and chest. HeGu is located on the hand, and it was found that there were type II afferent nerves that extend from HeGu.³

As stated above, the large intestine channel extends to the mouth and cheeks, and ends at the nasal passage.⁴ The conduit passages of the large intestine can be compared to the descriptions of the facial nerves. Zhou and Benharash (2014) state that the acupoints along the face are located along the facial nerves.³

One of the main facial nerves, known as the vagus nerve, can be compared to the conduit branches of the large intestine.¹⁰ The vagus nerve passes along the neck in the LI 18 area. The vagus nerve is the only cranial nerve that passes down the neck through the chest and connects to all the internal organs.¹¹

Another example of the correlations with the ANS can be seen in the points along the spinal column. Chapter 51 of the Ling Shu states that the big transport openings are located along the shuttle bones on the back.⁴ The shuttle bones are along the mastoid process of the vertebrae:

“The transport [openings] of the lungs are located near the third [vertebra]. The transport [openings] of the heart are located near the fifth [vertebra]. The transport [openings] of the diaphragm are located near the seventh [vertebra]. The transport [openings] of the liver are near the ninth [vertebra]. The transport [openings] of the spleen are located near the eleventh vertebra. The transport [openings] of the kidneys are located near the fourteenth vertebra. They all are located to the side of the spine in the distance of ca. 3 inches.”⁴

The sympathetic nerves are located along the spinal column.¹¹ The spinal nerves have branches that extend to the skin in the thorax and abdominal areas. These branches correspond to organs that are in the same spinal segment.³ The organs’ shu points are located along the spinal column.

Each internal organ has its own shu point.⁵ These are known as the energy source points of each organ.¹¹

One of the major functions of the ANS is to control heart rate and blood pressure.⁶ In the passage from the Ling Shu, the heart has its major transport area coming from the 5^th vertebra.⁴ The sympathetic ganglion nerve bundles that are located along the spinal cord at T1-T5 innervate the myocardium and coronary artery.³ The heart’s rhythm is controlled by the sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves.¹⁰ One nerve is speeding the heart rate and the other is slowing it down.¹¹.

References

1. Wei TH, Hsieh CL. Effect of acupuncture on the p38 signaling pathway in several nervous system diseases: a systematic review. Int J Molec Sci, 2020 Jun 30;21(13):4693.
2. Unschuld UP, et al. Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen, Volume 1. Berkley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 2011.
3. Zhou W, Benharash P. Effects and mechanisms of acupuncture based on the principle of meridians. J Acu Merid Stud, 2014 Aug;7(4):190-3.
4. Unschuld UP. Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu: The Ancient Classic on Needle Therapy. Oakland, CA: University of California Press, 2016.
5. Fritz S. Mosby’s Essential Sciences for Therapeutic Massage, 4^th Edition. Maryland Heights, MO: Elsevier Inc., 2013.
6. Li YW, et al. The autonomic nervous system: a potential link to the efficacy of acupuncture. Front Neurosci, 2022 Dec 8;16:1038945.
7. Shu Q, et al. Acupuncture and moxibustion have different effects on fatigue by regulating the autonomic nervous system: a pilot controlled clinical trial. Scientific Rep, 2016 Nov 25;6:37846.
8. Li QQ, et al. Acupuncture effect and central autonomic regulation. Evid Based Compl Alt Med, 2013;2013:267959.
9. Ma TY, et al. Biomedical Acupuncture for Pain Management: An integrative Approach. St. Louis MO: Elsevier Churchill Livinsgstone, 2005.
10. Shields D, et al. Hole’s Essentials of Human Anatomy and Physiology, 9^th Edition. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, 2006.
11. Tam T. Healing Cancer With the Nervous System. Oriental Culture institute, 2012.