Advances in the mechanism and clinical research of acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia

Inhalt:
In recent years, acupuncture has become a hot topic in the treatment of insomnia, and as a result, some progress has been made in terms of mechanism of action as well as clinical efficacy. This review analyses and discusses the mechanisms and clinical efficacy of acupuncture in the treatment of insomnia. Insomnia refers to difficulties in falling asleep, easy waking and early awakening in the middle of sleep, low quality of sleep, and a significant reduction in sleep time, with the lighter cases being difficulties in falling asleep, not sleeping soundly, waking up at times or not being able to go back to sleep after waking up, and the heavier cases being sleepless all night.In Chinese medicine, it is called Bu Mei. long-term insomnia can lead to neurological weakness and disorders of the human nervous system. This leads to symptoms such as dizziness, headache, palpitations, shortness of breath and memory loss, further causing endocrine and immune system dysfunction, which affects people's daily life and work.In recent years, the incidence of sleep disorders has been increasing year by year, and the age of onset is becoming younger. Studies have shown that 15% to 30% of adults and 10% of adolescents worldwide have varying degrees of sleep disorders [1-2].Western medicine mainly treats insomnia with medication, such as alprazolam, but there is a certain degree of dependency and tolerance to medication, which is not a long-term solution to treat insomnia.There are many different ways to treat insomnia in Chinese medicine, including acupuncture, tui na and Chinese herbal remedies, among which acupuncture is popular as a major treatment with few side effects, easy and effective. It is now widely used in the treatment of insomnia and has played an important role.A large number of experimental studies as well as clinical studies have shown that acupuncture significantly improves sleep quality and has good clinical efficacy in the treatment of insomnia. This paper presents a review of the mechanisms and clinical studies on the treatment of insomnia by acupuncture.