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      Safety of Moxibustion: A Systematic Review of Case Reports

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          Abstract

          Moxibustion is a traditional medical treatment originating in China. It involves using the heat of burning moxa to stimulate acupoints. It is considered safe and effective and is widely used throughout the world. The increasing use of moxibustion has drawn attention to the procedure's adverse events (AEs). This review covers a total of 64 cases of AEs associated with moxibustion in 24 articles, reported in six countries. Some evidence of the risks of moxibustion has been found in these cases. AEs include allergies, burns, infection, coughing, nausea, vomiting, fetal distress, premature birth, basal cell carcinoma (BCC), ectropion, hyperpigmentation, and even death. The position, duration, distance between moxa and skin, proficiency of the practitioners, conditions of the patients, presence of smoke, and even the environment of treatment can affect the safety of moxibustion. Improving practitioner skill and regulating operations may reduce the incidence of adverse reactions and improve the security of moxibustion.

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          The York acupuncture safety study: prospective survey of 34 000 treatments by traditional acupuncturists.

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            Prospective investigation of adverse effects of acupuncture in 97 733 patients.

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              The Mechanism of Moxibustion: Ancient Theory and Modern Research

              The moxibustion has a dual effect of tonification and purgation in TCM theories, which are based on two aspects: the actions of the meridian system and the roles of moxa and fire. Modern research works of the moxibustion mechanism mainly relate to the thermal effects, radiation effects, and pharmacological actions of moxa and its combustion products. Experimental results showed that moxibustion thermal stimulation affects both shallow and deep tissues of the skin, and the warm-heat effects of moxibustion have a close relation to the warm receptors or/and the polymodal receptor. The burning moxa radiation spectrum ranges from 0.8 to 5.6  μ m; peak is nearby 1.5  μ m, lying within the near infrared portion. There is an amazing consistency in the infrared spectrums of three types of indirect moxibustion and the unified spectrum of acupoints; all have their peaks of radiation near 10  μ m. Lots of ingredients had been identified from mugwort leaves and moxa smoke, which have a variety of biological activities; they were considered to participate in the comprehensive effects of moxibustion. Although lots of research works have been carried out and made some progress, there is still a great distance from fully understanding the mechanism of moxibustion.
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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
                Evid Based Complement Alternat Med
                ECAM
                Evidence-based Complementary and Alternative Medicine : eCAM
                Hindawi Publishing Corporation
                1741-427X
                1741-4288
                2014
                26 May 2014
                26 May 2014
                : 2014
                : 783704
                Affiliations
                1Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China
                2Shanghai Research Center of Acupuncture & Meridian, Shanghai 201203, China
                Author notes

                Academic Editor: Cheng Ke

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6438-198X
                Article
                10.1155/2014/783704
                4058265
                24976851
                cd66d182-e766-4362-b743-6eba08580b9e
                Copyright © 2014 Ji Xu et al.

                This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

                History
                : 14 February 2014
                : 26 April 2014
                : 9 May 2014
                Funding
                Funded by: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100001809 National Natural Science Foundation of China
                Award ID: 81320108028
                Funded by: State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine of China
                Award ID: ZYSNXD-CC-ZDXK-07
                Funded by: Shanghai Municipal Science Foundation
                Award ID: 11DZ1973300
                Categories
                Review Article

                Complementary & Alternative medicine
                Complementary & Alternative medicine

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