Researchers from the Department of Chinese Medicine, Chi-Mei Medical Center, Tainan, Taiwan, have shown that treating patients with traumatic brain injuries with Electroacupuncture (EA) for one hour – in the acute stage – was shown to be able to increase regional blood flows and attenuate the levels of transforming growth-interacting factor (TGIF) in the injured cortex.
The research, published in Acupuncture Medicine, indicated that this might then lead to a decrease in neuronal apoptosis and cell infarction volume, and might represent one mechanism by which functional recovery may occur.
The researchers found that the regional blood flow was significantly increased by EA treatment for 60 minutes immediately after traumatic brain injuries, compared with the control groups.