They Discover An Organ That Can Explain How Acupuncture Works

American scientists have discovered a new organ in the human body that could help understand the workings and efficacy of complementary and alternative therapies such as osteopathy and acupuncture.

The new organ, which has been called the interstitium, extends under the skin, between the muscles, and into the lining of the lungs, blood vessels, digestive system, and excretory system.

According to the researchers, this new organ connects almost the entire body through cavities that fill and empty with moving fluid. These cavities are formed by a structure of collagen and elastin, and the fluid that fills them is produced by the cells of the organ itself.

This organ has been seen thanks to a technology called confocal laser endomicroscopy, in which a flexible tube equipped with a laser and sensors that detect fluorescent reflections from the tissues is inserted into the body. Thus they were able to observe the spaces that under traditional microscopes are flattened and disappear.

The new organ is capable of transmitting sound and electrical signals

The study, published in the journal Scientific Report, suggests that the new organ could function as a buffer that protects organs and tissues. But it also indicates a communication function between different body systems, since the fluid in the interstitium feeds the lymphatic system, which is part of the circulatory and immune systems.

It is, therefore, a great physiological structure that has gone unnoticed until now and that could, according to the study authors themselves, help to understand the operation of therapies such as acupuncture.

Two authors of the discovery link it to acupuncture

Two of the authors of the work, Dr. Neil Theise, professor of pathology at the New York University School of Medicine, and Rebecca Wells, professor of medicine and bioengineering at the University of Pennsylvania, have declared to Public International Radio thatthe interstitium could explain how acupuncture needles act on the body.

Osteopaths and acupuncturists often refer to the fascia and connective tissues as the media on which they would act and which could transmit the stimulation of needles or manual manipulations to internal or remote parts of the body.

Found in connective tissues

Fascia and connective tissues are known structures, denser than the new organ discovered now, but Theise and Wells confirm that the new organ is precisely there.

Theise even mentioned a study that has proven that, when a needle is inserted into the skin, sound waves are produced that are transmitted through the energy meridians described by traditional Chinese medicine. The interstitium would be the medium through which these waves would propagate.

Wells supported this view, explaining that the collagen in the interstitium has the ability to transmit electrical signals, which could also carry stimuli from acupuncture needles to remote corners of the body.

It can also explain the action of tai chi or yoga

Dr. Shaista Malik, director of the Susan Samueli Center for Integrative Medicine at the University of California at Irvine, confirms that the new organ “is a very interesting finding that could improve the explanation of why a local therapy, which stimulates only certain points , it can produce systemic effects “.

It could also explain the effectiveness of other therapies like tai chi or yoga, Malik adds.