Acupuncture may aid spinal recovery

London, April 27 (ANI): Acupuncture - the procedure of inserting and manipulating filiform needles into various points on the body to relieve pain - may aid spinal injury recovery, says a new study.

A previous study showed that acupuncture can improve the sensory and motor functions of people with spinal cord injuries.

More recently, researchers at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea, tried to find out why, reports New Scientist.

Doo Choi and his colleagues damaged the spines of 75 rats. One third were treated with acupuncture.

After 35 days, the rats that received the needle treatment stood and walked better than those that did not.

What's more, the acupuncture-treated rats had less nerve cell death and lower levels of the protein that causes inflammation.

The researchers hypothesize that the needles cause a stress response in the body that lessens inflammation.

The inflammation that occurs after spinal cord injuries causes nerve cell death and lessens the chance of recovery.

The study may have implications for spinal injury treatment in humans, though more research is needed.

The study's results were published in the most recent edition of Neurobiology of Disease. (ANI)