Scalp Acupuncture Autism

Scalp Acupuncture May Help Children With Ausm By Editorial Staf 

With the growing concern over a possible lin between childhood vaccinaons and ausm! any good news "or praconers and parents regarding this mysterious disorder certainly is welcome#

A group o" Egypan researchers published $ndings in the March %&&' issue o" (he )ournal o" Alternave and Complementary Medicine that suggest the use o" scalp acupuncture might help boost language sills * an area in which children with ausm generally are delayed# +n the study! %& children ages , to - with ausm and language delay were divided into two groups. one receiving scalp acupuncture twice weely in addion to language therapy and the other receiving only language therapy#

(he points used were /u %&! %0! 12 3-! three temple needles and two 4amamoto 4S5A points 6cerebrum and aphasia7# (he needles were inserted to a depth o" 8 to 3 cun unl 9i was achieved# Electrical smulaon was not used# 5eedles were retained "or %& minutes# (reatment (reatment was given "or two months! "ollowed by two wees o" rest "or the nine*month duraon o" the study# study#

:aents were tested in the "ollowing areas.

overall a;enon< ability to recogni=e diferent diferent semanc groups as body parts! animals! "ood utensils! colors! etc#! in addion to the ability to recogni=e concepts< ability to name diferent semanc groups and to verbali=e concepts< ability to understand a short and a long sentence! in addion to understanding locaves! locaves! verb tenses! me indicators! and singular and plural nouns! ad>ecves! con>uncons! negaon "orms! comparaves! comparaves! etc#< ability to u;er all the previous items< ability to understand and respond to a sentence carrying pragmac intenons! illustrang "unconalism! sense*maing! and maintaining and ending a topic< and

ability to u;er speech sounds# At the end o" nine months! while both groups showed improvement in cognive and e?pressive language sills! those children who also received scalp acupuncture showed a signi$cantly greater improvement in those areas#

(he researchers ofered an e?planaon as to why scalp acupuncture was parcularly efecve in these children# @Acupuncture is highly efecve in children< a "act that can be secondary to the development rate o" the cerebrum in children< which is higher than that o" adults# (hus! intervenon caused by the inseron o" needles on the scalp is more apt to regulate the brain "uncon# Aer the age o" 3% years! the cerebrum reaches adult*level shape and "orm# Hence! the regulatory "uncons o" acupuncture become more limited# Be;er cognive per"ormance achieved by the la;er group was due to the added efect o" the acupuncture sessions! which increased the blood*ow velocity to the brain#@