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Updated: Aug 14, 2026

Acupuncture in a Rat Model of Asthma
Published on: August 25, 2020
Acupuncture resulting in immediate bronchodilating response in asthma patients
Kuo-An Chu1, Yi-Chin Wu, Min-Hsi Lin
1Division of Chest Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, 386, Ta-Chung 1st Road, Kaohsiung 813, Taiwan, ROC. kachu@vghks.gov.tw
Abstract:
There are some encouraging results in the English literature that show acupuncture resulting in an immediate improvement in pulmonary function, but there are also studies that have not demonstrated any benefit. We present 3 patients with persistent asthma who experienced immediate bronchodilatation after acupuncture without the use of any short-acting bronchodilator. After needle stimulation on selected acupoints, clinical symptoms such as dyspnea and wheezing improved. Pulmonary function test showed immediate improvement in forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), more than 20% as compared with baseline FEV1. Pulmonary function returned to baseline within 4 hours after acupuncture in 2 patients. From our observations of these 3 asthma patients, acupuncture may improve clinical dyspnea symptoms and performance on pulmonary function tests. Further large-scale controlled studies should be conducted to determine the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of asthma.
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