Animal Acupuncture: More Pets Get the Point

[Guest guest]

Animal Acupuncture: More Pets Get the Point

 

 

Sean Markey

National Geographic News

November 25, 2002

 

 

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. Neither was acceptable to Morrison,

so she chose an alternative: acupuncture.

 

 

Three times a month for the past year, Morrison has brought Shadow to the

Del Ray Animal Clinic in Alexandria, Virginia. At the clinic Shadow is

treated by Anne Mixson, a board-certified veterinarian trained in

veterinary acupuncture, who inserts up to a dozen needles into various

acupuncture points on the dog's skin during a typical 20-minute session.

 

 

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, " said Morrison. " We

haven't felt like she was ready to be put down. "

 

 

Shadow represents both the promise and challenge facing veterinary

acupuncture today. While there is wide anecdotal evidence to suggest

acupuncture is an effective treatment for a host of ailments in animals,

much remains unknown about how and why acupuncture works. The challenge

now, supporters say, is to bridge the research gap to better understand the

promise of this alternative therapy.

 

 

According to the American Academy of Veterinary Acupuncture, acupuncture

can be used to treat ailments ranging from hip dysplasia and chronic

degenerative joint disease to various respiratory, gastrointestinal,

neurological, and urinary tract disorders. Horses, cows, dogs, and cats are

the most commonly treated animals. But acupuncture can be applied to more

exotic pets like ferrets, rabbits, and birds.

 

 

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, " said Kevin Haussler, a lecturer with

the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Cornell University's College of

Veterinary Medicine. " [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, " said 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 was first developed and used on people more than 4,500 years

ago in China. It is the process by which small needles are inserted into

specific locations, or acupuncture points, on the body to stimulate healing.

 

 

The first use of acupuncture on animals can be traced to the Western Jin

Dynasty period of China from 136 to 265 A.D. The technique in this early

form used sharp stones to cut and bleed specific locations on horses and

other large animals used in agriculture.

 

 

In the United States, interest in the use of acupuncture on people

mushroomed in the early 1970s after James Reston, a reporter for the New

York Times who was covering United States President Richard M. Nixon's

historic 1972 visit to China, fell ill with appendicitis. Chinese doctors

used acupuncture to treat Reston before and after surgery. Acupuncture has

been used in veterinary medicine in the United States since the early 1970s.

 

 

Acupuncture is explained in traditional Eastern medicine 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 is believed to be

caused by blocks or imbalance in the body's qi. To correct these

imbalances, small needles are inserted in any number of 365 basic

acupunture points to redirect the flow of energy and bring the body back

into health.

 

 

Western explanations of acupuncture center instead on the fact that most of

the body's 365 main acupuncture points are located at clusters of nerves

and blood vessels. Stimulating these areas trigger a host of local and

general physiological effects in the body, leveraging the body's own

healing mechanisms.

 

 

Studies have shown that acupuncture causes specific physiological effects

in the body, such as increased blood flow, lower heart rate, and improved

immune function. Acupuncture is also known to stimulate 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 for Animals

 

 

A small number of scientists are leading research into the veterinary

applications of acupuncture. Some of that research is taking place at

Colorado State University's College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical

Sciences in Ft. Collins.

 

 

Researchers there are exploring how acupuncture used in conjunction with

anesthesia during and after surgery can reduce the amount of anesthetic gas

and post-operative pain medicine required for a patient. 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 leading research in the veterinary program at Colorado State

University.

 

 

" I think the thrust of all this [research] is, how can we improve patient

safety from medicial procedures and [improve] their quality of life, " said

Robinson. " 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. "

 

 

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/11/1125_021125_vetacupuncture.html