A study published in the July issue of Neuroscience Research and conducted by the Division of Neuroscience at Sun Yat-Sen University demonstrated that electro-acupuncture stimulated spinal cord repair following injury.

The experiment was performed on rats with spinal cords from which the myelin sheath was removed in the thoracic vertebrae region at T10. The myelin sheath serves like insulation around a wire to speed up nerve signal transmission and to reduce signal loss with distance. Myelin can be damaged by traumatic injury or diseases like multiple sclerosis. Repair of myelin is crucial to the normal functioning of the spinal cord.

The researchers stimulated locations along the spine with electro-acupuncture. Compared with a sham electro-acupuncture control group, measurements taken after 15 and 30 days of electro-acupuncture showed greater remyelination in the demyelinated spinal cord as well as the functional improvement of demyelinated spinal cord.