Health

Acupuncture is part of China’s updated Covid-19 guidelines

Beijing, Mar 19 (EFE).- Acupuncture is now a part of China’s updated Covid-19 prevention and control protocol, with experts saying that the therapy effectively treats people suffering from mild or severe symptoms of the disease.

The official Global Times reported that the new guidelines, updated earlier this week, said acupuncture needles applied at different points for different patients might hold the key.

For example, the acupuncture point “hegu” can be used to treat mild symptoms by promoting blood circulation and clearing heat.

Acupoint “kongzui” is among the acupoints for treating patients with asthma and hemoptysis, said the ninth version of the Covid-19 prevention guidelines, released Tuesday.

The Global Times quoted Zhang Boli, an academician from the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of the Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), as saying that the updated coronavirus manual with acupuncture therapy “provides a powerful guidance for the treatment of Covid-19 at home and abroad.”

Zhang said that stimulating the acupoints “dispels pestilence, improves self-protection ability of the viscera and organs to alleviate the damage caused by the virus to the organs.”

The ancient Chinese therapy “can help improve lung function, improve innate immunity, and balance anti-inflammatory and pro-inflammatory factors in patients’ body,” Zhang said.

He said the traditional Chinese medicine used to treat Covid-19 patients had reduced the number of severe cases and deaths.

“It plays positive roles in disease prevention, treatment, and recovery,” Zhang said.

The expert said the mutations had not affected the effectiveness of the traditional Chinese medicine since the treatment “is not aimed at the virus itself, instead it works to improve the human immune system.”

The therapy was already used with conventional medicine to treat Covid-19 patients since the pandemic began.

Lawmakers approved the law on the traditional Chinese medicine in 2016.

The government implemented it in mid-2017 to protect the ancient medical system and “give it a greater role” in the health system and place it “at the same level as Western medicine.”

With more than 2,000 years of history, traditional Chinese medicine is widely used by patients, especially in mild or chronic illnesses. EFE

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