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To investigate the effects of stimulated and non-stimulated manual acupuncture at ST36 and PC6 on gastric myoelectrical activity and autonomic function.A total of 65 healthy volunteers were randomly assigned to a 1: 1: 2 ratio to receive either 15 min of verum acupuncture (VA) with stimulation followed by 15 min of VA without stimulation (nsVA), or 15 min of nsVA followed by 15 min of VA with stimulation (sVA), or 30 min of sham acupuncture (SA). Measures of autonomic function included electrogastrogram, electrocardiogram, impedance cardiography and assessment of blood pressure, breathing frequency, and electrodermal activity. Outcome parameters were compared between VA and SA, and between sVA and nsVA. The percentage of regular gastric slow waves (normogastria) was defined as the primary outcome.The percentage of normogastria was not significantly different between VA and SA. Differences in secondary outcomes such as power spectrum of gastric slow waves and heart rate variability parameters were pronounced in the comparison of sVA and nsVA. During sVA, the percentage of normogastria was lower (P = 0.005), the percentage of bradygastria was higher (P = 0.003) and power ratio was higher (P0.001), systolic blood pressure was lower (P = 0.039) and RMSSD was higher (P0.001) as compared with nsVA.Our study suggests that manual stimulation of acupuncture needles at ST36 and PC6 affects gastric myoelectrical as well as cardiac activities in healthy volunteers. The effect of stimulation in acupuncture deserves further investigation.

In Germany, acupuncture is one of the most frequently used complementary and alternative therapies. In the year 2000, we initiated three large projects in co-operation with statutory health insurance companies to assess the effectiveness, safety and costs of acupuncture in patients with chronic headache, low back pain and pain due to osteoarthritis. Our findings showed that acupuncture was more effective than conventional standard treatment, treatment without acupuncture or a waiting list control. A significant difference between acupuncture and sham acupuncture was only seen for arthritis of the knee; for the other diagnoses, both forms of acupuncture showed similar effects. Whether the effects of acupuncture are due primarily to specific or unspecific mechanisms appears to depend on the diagnosis and should be investigated in further studies.