This week we've been talking about pain. Specifically we watched a movie about acupuncture induced analgesia. I'm interested in whether acupuncture analgesia is attenuated by the introduction of antagonists for endogenous opiates. I'm also interested in whether the analgesia is attenuated by antagonists for the NSAIDs. I'm not sure if a study has been conducted to test this. Concluding whether the analgesic mechanism activated by acupuncture is mediated by these circuits or others would shed light onto acupuncture's exact mechanism of action. If we know exactly how it works, we may be able to use it in a clinical setting to our advantage, or synthesize drugs that duplicate the actions of acupuncture without the necessary expert who knows the acupuncture techniques.
This is the week before spring break, so my entry is kind of short.