Scientists have shown a direct connection between acupuncture and physical mechanisms that heal sepsis, a common condition in hospital intensive care units that springs from infection and inflammation, causing 250,000 deaths a year. Researchers from Rutgers University Medical School published their results in the journal Nature Medicine. They already knew that stimulating the vagus nerve activates mechanisms in the body that reduce inflammation. In mice having septic infections, the researchers demonstrated that treating the body with acupuncture stimulates cytokines (which help reduce inflammation), and reduced deaths from sepsis by 50%. They say their findings are significant because they provide evidence of acupuncture's benefits beyond what has been shown before, and they also show uses for treating other inflammatory diseases besides sepsis, such as rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis and Crohn's disease.
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