Veterinary Acupuncture More Pets Get the Point
Sean Markey
National Geographic News
National Geographic News
When Mary
Morrison's 16-year-old border collie, Shadow, was diagnosed with kidney disease
last year, traditional veterinary medicine offered two options: kidney dialysis
or euthanasia.
Morrison chose another option altogether: acupuncture.
Three times a month for the past year, Morrison has brought Shadow to the
Del Ray Animal Clinic in Alexandria, Virginia. There, during a typical 20-minute
session, Anne Mixson, a board-certified veterinarian trained in veterinary
acupuncture, inserts up to a dozen needles into various acupuncture points on
Shadow's skin.
Acupuncture has not cured Shadow's kidney disease or slowed the decline of
old age. But it has helped alleviate the collie's symptoms and discomfort.
"She has more interest in life, more pep. She's eating," says Morrison. "We
haven't felt like she was ready to be put down."
Shadow represents both the promise and challenge facing veterinary
acupuncture. Anecdotal evidence suggests that acupuncture is an effective
treatment for a host of ailments in animals. But researchers still understand
relatively little about why and how this alternative therapy works.
The American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture in Hygiene, Colorado, says
that acupuncture can treat ailments ranging from hip dysplasia and chronic
degenerative joint disease to respiratory, gastrointestinal, neurological and
urinary tract disorders.
Vets most commonly apply acupuncture to cats, dogs, cows and horses. But they
also can treat pets like birds, ferrets and rabbits.
Veterinarians in the United States have practiced acupuncture since the early
1970s. The demand for acupuncture services has increased over the last decade,
and it is raising fewer eyebrows from skeptical colleagues, practitioners say.
"Clients are asking for it every day," says Kevin Haussler, a lecturer with
the department of biomedical sciences at Cornell University's College of
Veterinary Medicine, in Ithaca, N.Y. "[They] are the number one reason why any
of us are doing alternative therapies like acupuncture or chiropractic, because
they want something more than just drugs or surgery."
"Within the greater veterinary medical community, I would say that
acupuncture is very well accepted," says Haussler. "Because we're always looking
for the next thing that is going to make animals feel better [and] reduce pain."
Historical Uses of Acupuncture
Acupuncture has been practiced on humans in China for more than 4,500 years.
The first use of acupuncture on animals can be traced to the western Jin dynasty
period of China from 136 to 265 A.D.
In this early form, sharp stones were used to cut and bleed specific
locations on horses and other large working animals.
Traditional eastern medicine explains acupuncture as a method to assess and
rebalance the flow of qi, or energy, that travels along 12 main linear
pathways, or meridians, in the body.
Sickness comes from blocks or imbalance in the body's qi. To correct
these imbalances, small needles, inserted in any number of 365 basic acupunture
points, redirect the flow of energy and restore the body to health.
The West explains acupuncture by pointing out that most of the body's 365
main acupuncture points are located at clusters of nerves and blood vessels.
Stimulating these areas triggers a host of local and general physiological
effects, leveraging the body's own healing power.
Studies have shown that acupuncture can increase blood flow, lower heart rate
and improve immune function.
Acupuncture also stimulates the release of certain neurotransmitters like
endorphins, the body's natural pain-killers, and smaller amounts of cortisal, an
anti-inflammatory steroid.
Closing the Research Gap
A leading research center on acupuncture and animals is Colorado State
University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Ft.
Collins.
Researchers there are exploring how acupuncture, in conjunction with
anesthesia during and after surgery, can reduce the amount of anesthetic gas and
post-operative pain medicine that a patient requires.
The reduction in medication can significantly lower the risk of adverse drug
reactions in patients, according to Narda Robinson, a veterinarian and adjunct
faculty member in the veterinary program at Colorado State University.
"I think the thrust of all this [research] is, how can we improve patient
safety from medical procedures and [improve] their quality of life," Robinson
said.
"The more that veterinarians learn and accept acupuncture and some of the
other complimentary [alternative] medical techniques, the safety of medical
intervention for animals will be that much better."
Source:nationalgeographic
