Episode #5: How Does Acupuncture Work!? with Mel Hopper Koppelman

We are delighted to be joined by Mel Hopper Koppelman from Evidence Based Acupuncture where we discuss the BIG question: how does acupuncture work!?

Strap in for this one folks as we take a deep dive into the role of purinergic signalling, ATP and mitochondria in acupuncture. We also put acupuncture's clinical research into the context; comparative effectiveness with other treatments and its safety profile compared to common drug side effects.

About Mel

Mel is passionate about improving people's access to safe and effective health care by communicating acupuncture's scientific evidence. She is the Executive Director of Evidence Based Acupuncture, an international non-profit organisation dedicated to improving public health through better information about acupuncture’s considerable evidence base. Mel completed her MSc in Acupuncture from the Northern College of Acupuncture in York, UK in 2012 and a second MSc in Nutrition and Functional Medicine from the University of Western States in Portland, Oregon, USA in 2015. She has published numerous articles about acupuncture research. Mel is a guest lecturer at a number of universities, including the Northern College of Acupuncture Masters programme in York, UK. She practices at her clinic, Harbor Integrative Health in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA, and is in the process of launching Synthesis Health Lab, an online group for acupuncturists who want to learn how to incorporate biochemical testing their practices. She lives with her wife, daughter, boisterous chocolate lab and cantankerous Bengal cat.

References from the show

Purinergic signalling

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41392-021-00553-z

https://bpspubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1038/sj.bjp.0706429

When you block purinergic signalling, you block acupuncture:

https://www.nature.com/articles/nn.2562

Acupuncture in clinical guidelines

https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/acm.2018.0092

 Increasing volume of acupuncture research

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7023857/

Dangers of Tylenol/paracetamol in pregnancy

https://www.nature.com/articles/%20s41574-021-00553-7

Increased risk of heart attacks associated with NSAIDs/Ibuprofen

https://www.bmj.com/content/357/bmj.j1909.long

Drug induced mitochondrial toxicity

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6628177/

https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/article/162/1/15/4798828

https://bmcbioinformatics.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12859-021-04285-3