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Treatment by auricular acupuncture has a long history. Ear-acupoint research has been advancing step by step in China and also in Europe. Auricles are rich in nerves, therefore a close relationship with different functions of the human body has been proved by the research teams of the two main authors of this article from China and Austria. In recent years, great progress has been made in the research of regulating human body functions through electroacupuncture at the auricular branch of the vagus nerve, which is part of auricular acupuncture therapy. It is well known that the auricular branch of the vagus nerve is the only peripheral pathway to the cerebral cortex. Studies of the Chinese team on hypertension, diabetes, epilepsy and depression have shown that the mechanism of auricular vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) may be comparable with cervical VNS in terms of pathways. Auricular VNS has a broad clinical application prospect.

A variable heartbeat was considered a sign of good health by ancient Asian physicians. Today, new computer-based methods (e.g., "Fire of Life" analysis) allow quantification of heart rate and heart rate variability during acupuncture. The objective of this article is to compare different acupuncture methods to evaluate the influence of acupuncture on heart rhythm in short-term and long-term measurements. There were four main sections in this study: (A) a randomized controlled study using needle acupuncture and acupressure at Yintang (Ex1); (B) an innovative blue (violet) laser acupuncture randomized controlled study in Asian volunteers; (C) a comparative study using moxibustion methods; and (D) teleacupuncture. A total of 72 patients (mean age ± SD: 27.9 ± 8.6 years) were monitored over periods of 20 minutes to 24 hours in Asia and Austria. Acupuncture was performed with metal needles (in sections A, C and D) or blue laser (in section B) on Yintang, Neiguan, Guanyuan or a special acupuncture regimen for stress disorders (in sections A, B, C and D, respectively). Significant decreases in heart rate after verum intervention at Yintang, Neiguan and Guanyuan were found. Improvements in state of health following teleacupuncture were also noted. Computer-based heart rate and heart rate variability analysis was demonstrated to be effective in evaluating the status of health during acupuncture., (Copyright © 2010 Korean Pharmacopuncture Institute.)

The purpose of this randomized, placebo-controlled, cross-over study was to investigate mean blood flow velocity (v(m)) of the ophthalmic (OA) and the middle cerebral (MCA) artery during traditional Chinese acupuncture (TCA), ear acupuncture (EA), Korean hand acupuncture (KHA) and placebo needling (PN) by simultaneous and continuous transcranial Doppler sonographic monitoring. We examined 20 healthy volunteers 19-45 years old (mean age +/- SD, 26.2 + 6.0 years). Vm in OA was significantly increased during needling vision-related acupoints of TCA (p < 0.001), EA (p < 0.05) and KHA (p < 0.05), whereas nonsignificant alterations occurred in Vm of MCA. All subjects showed insignificant changes in mean arterial blood pressure. The study design does not allow to evaluate why and how the different acupuncture methods have an effect on the brain and eye, however it proves that acupuncture can provide scientifically measurable effects.