Characteristics of electrical skin resistance at acupuncture points in healthy humans - PubMed (original) (raw)
Clinical Trial
. 2009 May;15(5):495-500.
doi: 10.1089/acm.2008.0331.
Affiliations
- PMID: 19422323
- DOI: 10.1089/acm.2008.0331
Clinical Trial
Characteristics of electrical skin resistance at acupuncture points in healthy humans
Sybille Kramer et al. J Altern Complement Med. 2009 May.
Abstract
Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the phenomenon of electrical skin resistance (ESR) changes at different acupuncture points (APs).
Setting: This single-blinded study was performed at the hospital of the University of Munich.
Design: Six common APs were measured (TE5, PC6, LU6, ST36, SP6, GB39) in 53 subjects. Subgroups were formed with varying time intervals for follow-ups (1 minute, 1 hour, 1 week) and a varying grade of reduction of the stratum corneum.
Methods: Electrical skin resistance measurements (ESRMs) were taken from a skin area of 6 x 6 cm using an array consisting of 64 (8 x 8) electrodes. The electrodes corresponding to the AP were located and the ESRM results were compared to those of the surrounding electrodes. The methodological setting made it possible to minimize major influence factors on electrical skin impedance measurements.
Results: A total of 631 ESRMs was evaluated: In 62.8% of the measured APs, no significant ESR difference was found. In 234 (37.2%) of the ESRMs, the ESR at the AP was significantly different from the surrounding skin area, with 163 (25.9%) points showing a lower and 71 (11.3%) points showing a higher ESR. Reproducibility was extremely high after 1 minute but was low after 1 hour and 1 week.
Conclusions: This study shows that electrical skin resistance at APs can either be lower or higher compared to the surrounding area. The phenomenon is characterized by high short-term and low long-term reproducibility. Therefore, we conclude that APs might possess specific transient electrical properties. However, as the majority of the measured APs did not show a changed ESR, it cannot be concluded from our data that electrical skin resistance measurements can be used for acupuncture point localization or diagnostic/therapeutic purposes.
Comment in
- The ongoing debate: do acupuncture points have lower skin resistance than nonacupuncture sites?
Colbert A. Colbert A. J Altern Complement Med. 2009 Oct;15(10):1059. doi: 10.1089/acm.2009.0308. J Altern Complement Med. 2009. PMID: 19821715 No abstract available.
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