Acupunture: scientific basis and applications

Acupuncture is used for the therapy and illness cure through the application of stimuli in the skin. This is obtained by inserting needles into cutaneous specific points. Such technique was omitted from the occidental world for millennia partially due to its own reasoning and style, which limits the acupuncture to be accepted in the Occident. In addition, the acupuncture practice in the Occident faces a lack of instruction and scientific diffusion. However, the efficacy of such therapy guided the World Health Organisation to list diseases that can be treated through acupuncture. Recently, this therapy was recognised as a veterinary medicine speciality in Brazil. Therefore, research in acupuncture is a very important task and a challenge in the sense it can become clearer millennial knowledge, contributing for its better acceptance and approval.

veterinary acupuncture; acupuncture history; inflammatory process; neurogenic inflammation