MOXIBUSTION IN TREATMENT OF ACUTE MYOCARDIAC ISCHEMIA

Cheng Yanjiang, Yin Zuoqing, Peng Chunfeng, Zhao Zhengyin, Meng Fanhun

(Department of Physiology, Changchun College of TCM, ]iUn)

Why could moxibustion be used to treat diseases? There have been two opinions for a long time. One supports drug property of moxa, while the other supports the heat function of its burning. Which is right? We did the experiments as ollows:

We prepared the models of acute myocardiac ischemia of rabbits by pituitrin intravenously, and divided them into 5 groups, that is, the group of control, moxa, electrocautery, wire of electric stove and light of incandescent lamp. Except the control group, the other four were burned over "Quze" respectively, keeping the surface temperature of acupoint at about 42°C for 10 mins. Within 30 minutes, we observed and compared the changes of ECG at certain intervals when injecting pituitrin.

The results showed that all moxibustion, either moxa or electric instruments, inhibited the decreasing of heart rate of the the experimental model. There were obvious differences between the control group and the other four, P<0.05, 0.01, 0.01, 0.05, respectly. But when the group of moxa was compared with three groups of electric instruments, there were no distinct differences, P>0.05. In this way, the effect of the moxibustion of moxa was similar to that of other three electric instruments without moxa. Therefore, the results suggested that the effects of moxibustion could be related to the heat produced by burning but the property of drug of moxa did not play an important role in moxibustion.