[Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine]

Acupuncture and other therapeutic techniques of traditional Chinese medicine (moxibustion, herbal therapy, massage and physiokinesitherapy, Chinese medical exercises) were introduced in Italy and Europe after the Second World War. Especially acupuncture is utilized in private and public health services; in Italy only medical doctors can practice acupuncture because it is considered a "medical act" from 1982. Some private schools organize four years courses of acupuncture and Chinese medicine and have acquired an interesting experience in teaching, clinical practice and editing in this field. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in USA stated, in a consensus conference held in November 1977, that "there is clear evidence that needle acupuncture is efficacious for adult post-operative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and probably for the nausea of pregnancy".