Acupuncture is great at reducing stress. Even our patients who seek acupuncture for fertility report reduced anxiety. One of the first things they often notice is that sleep improves and they experience reduced irritability. They feel more relaxed both at work and at home.

Until recently, we didn’t fully understand how acupuncture helps with stress, we knew very little about what exactly happens on the cellular level. Researchers at the Georgetown University Medical Center made a breakthrough discovery. It turns out that acupuncture interferes with the very mechanism of stress by blocking the chronic, stress-induced elevations of the HPA axis hormones and the sympathetic NPY pathway.

How stress affects HPA

The HPA axis plays an essential role in neurohormonal regulation and is involved in the neurobiology many conditions such as anxiety disorder, bipolar disorder, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, major depressive disorder, burnout, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, and alcoholism.

Other studies on the mechanism of acupuncture have shown that acupuncture triggers an increase in neurotransmitter adenosine an incredible 24-fold. It also normalises the sympathetic nervous system helping PCOS patients restores ovulation.

Are you considering acupuncture for stress? Contact Dr Vitalis Acupuncture today!

Journal reference: Journal of Endocrinology