ACUPUNCTURE AND COVID LONG - HAULERS

Chinese Medicine has a beautiful way of getting to the core principles of a disorder as an efficient way to inform appropriate treatment. While terms like deficiency, excess, stagnation, and retained pathogens may seem simple, they can be related to modern medical explanations of diseases (like post-COVID syndrome). Western biomedical research into Long-Haul COVID (LHC) looks at immune and cellular dysfunction that can lead to organ and tissue damage.

These play out in the body in ways that Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) recognizes as specific patterns of imbalance. TCM considers these imbalances the root of the various LHC symptoms like fatigue and chronic pain. There’s a lot of overlap in Eastern vs. Western understanding of possible causes...Chinese Medicine’s just been treating it a lot longer.

Acupuncture has a long history of treating lingering symptoms from epidemics. For the past 2,000 years, acupuncturists have successfully documented how to treat these patterns. Chinese physicians described acupuncture methods to re-energize the patient, move blocked energy, apparent pathogenic “dampness” (i.e., fluid imbalance, mucous and biofilm buildup, etc.), and cool or warm the body as needed. They also outlined treatment approaches for complex relapsing cases with weak Wei qi (immunity).

Acupuncture has thus had many years to hone its skills in treating post-viral syndromes. And while research on long covid has only just begun (and many clinical trials are currently underway), there is already a growing body of present-day evidence supporting its worth. The British Acupuncture Council (BAcC) data showed an overall positive response to acupuncture.

Many patients reported improvement with long Covid symptoms like chronic fatigue, heart arrhythmias, and nausea. In another analysis of acupuncture for LHC, it was shown to help with headaches, myalgia, and abdominal pain. Preliminary findings from some of the new clinical studies show strong support for the role of acupuncture in treating the post-COVID syndrome.

One study involving 85 patients found that over 70% were cured of irregular menstruation, while over 80% of all participants were cured of fatigue, shortness of breath, body pain, and brain fog.

So how is it helping from a biomedical perspective?

Here we’ll look at two main mechanisms of action relevant to the current understanding of LHC.

IMMUNE REGULATION

The latest research suggests that acupuncture’s overall regulatory effects come from its interaction with our nervous and immune systems, giving it the upper hand in dealing with LHC. Its ability to stimulate or sedate immune function, evidenced by measurable changes in various immune cells, can help fight infections and calm any immune over-reactions. When acupuncture successfully regulates immunity, it protects the cells, tissues, and organs from further harm from infection and inflammation and allows the body to shift into healing and repair mode.

MITOCHONDRIAL SUPPORT

The mitochondria is an intracellular structure known as the ‘powerhouse’ of the cell because it is the site of ATP (energy) production. Viral diseases, like SARS-CoV-2,

are known for disrupting the intracellular environment, with a particular focus on our little energy factories. Not only does this activate inflammatory pathways via the immune system, but it also deprives the body of energy leading to what many know as “covid fatigue” and “brain fog.”

Increasing evidence supports the efficacy of acupuncture for improving the mitochondrial structure and protecting mitochondrial functions. Acupuncture intervention has even been shown in numerous studies to reverse mitochondrial damage. Acupuncture, with very few side effects, is known in TCM to boost qi (energy), and its role in mitochondrial support could be one of the main ways it accomplishes this.