The concept of "patient's satisfaction"has become increasingly important among healthcare providers during the past decade. Acupuncture and moxibustion therapists have relatively longer contact time with patients, and a certain proportion of users of these remedies seek care for conditions that had not been satisfactorily managed with conventional care. Also, the comfortable process of the treatment is one of its beneficial characteristics. However, the characteristics and opinions of the users of acupuncture and moxibustion in Japan have long remained unclear. We have conducted a series of nation-wide surveys between 2003-2007 with grants from the Foundation for Training and Licensure Examination in Anma-Massage-Acupressure, Acupuncture and Moxibustion. The questions in these surveys included utilization rates, patient satisfaction, reasons for discontinuation, opinions on costs, and so on. The results of these surveys are provided along with some discussion in this article.

As a preparatory study for treating diabetic neuropathy by acupuncture, we investigated the effect of electroacupuncture on the sciatic blood flow in rats. Nerve blood flow was measured with a laser doppler flowmeter. Different treatments were applied to three groups of rats as follows:
1) those stimulated with low-frequency (1Hz, 5Hz) electroacupuncture,
2) those stimulated with high-frequency (20Hz, 100Hz) electroacupuncture and
3) those stimulated by pinching in the tails.
In the electroacupuncture groups, stimulation was applied to the plantae. While little change was observed in the rats stimulated with low-frequency electroacupuncture, temporary increases in both blood flow and blood pressure were observed in the rats stimulated with high-frequency electroacupuncture and in the rats subjected to pinch stimulation.
These reactions were all inhibited by the administration of phentolamine (α receptor blocker).
These results suggest that the increase in sciatic blood flow induced by high-frequency electroacupuncture and pinch simulation are dependent on the blood pressure.

Background
Although there are several reports that electroacupuncture (EA) in the abdomen reduces fasting blood glucose and improves insulin sensitivity, the effects under a glucose load or hyperinsulinemic conditions have not yet been studied. In this study, we investigated the effect of EA at Zhongwan (CV12) under the conditions of an intravenous glucose tolerance test (IVGTT) and a hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp in normal Sprague-Dawlay (SD) rats.
Methods
Male SD rats were anesthetized with pentobarbital (40mg/kg i. p.) and then maintained by continuous infusion through a tail vein. Blood samples were drawn from the ventral tail artery during the fasting stage (baseline and 30min after), and at 2, 5, 10, 20, 30, 45, 60min after a glucose load (0.5g/kg). EA was performed for 30min (EA30, n=8) during the fasting stage and for 90min (EA90, n=8) during both the fasting and IVGTT periods. In the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp experiments, insulin (2mU/kg/min) was infused through the tail vein, followed by infusion of 20% glucose at variable rates to maintain fasting blood glucose levels. EA was performed for 40min after a steady-state was achieved.
Results
Significant decreases in fasting blood glucose and increase in plasma insulin concentration were observed during the fasting period in rats in both the EA30 and EA90 groups, whereas rats in the control group (n=8) which did not receive any EA stimulation showed no such changes. Total glucose levels during the IVGTT were lower in the EA30 and EA90 groups compared to controls, with a significantly higher level of relative insulin secretion. During the hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp, glucose consumption was increased significantly by EA stimulation with a marked increase in both insulin concentration and sensitivity.
Conclusion
EA at CV12 accelerates glucose consumption during IVGTT and hyperinsulinemic conditions probably as a consequence of increased insulin sensitivity and/or increased plasma insulin concentration.

[Background] Elderly people often have disturbances of bowel habits, including irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). IBS is one of the most common gastrointestinal disorders, affecting more than 15% of the general population. It is characterized by a wide variety of persistent symptoms (abdominal pain or discomfort, bloating, transit disorders) without any clear organic causes. Because medical treatments are sometimes ineffective, some patients with IBS seek alternative therapies to manage the condition. There is very little research examining IBS in the elderly. We report two elderly patients with IBS successfully treated with acupuncture.
[Cases and Methods] A 72-year-old woman and an 88-year-old man with IBS were treated with acupuncture according to theory of traditional Chinese medicine. Gastrointestinal Symptoms Rating Scale (GSRS), frequency of defecation, softness of the stool, intensity of abdominal pain or abdominal fullness were recorded over the periods.
During the treatment period, both patients showed a remarkable improvement in lower abdominal pain, bloating and quality of life evaluated with GSRS.
[Result and Discussion] In both cases, acupuncture treatment was effective for alleviating abdominal symptoms with IBS. The result of these cases indicated that acupuncture might be useful for the management of the condition with elderly IBS.

INTRODUCTION:Acupuncture has been reported to be useful for both physical and psychological symptoms. Here we report a case who complained of various physical symptoms due to advanced hepatocellular carcinoma effectively cared for with acupuncture.
Case:A 64-year-old female complained of general fatigue, constipation, and pain in the lower back and leg during her hospitalization for leg edema due to advanced hepatocellular carcinoma. Although the leg edema was improved by the administration of albumin, physical symptoms such as pain in the lower back and leg, constipation, or general fatigue remained.
We applied acupuncture with aiming at relaxing muscles (erector spinae, rectus femoris, right adductor) by a local needling approach, and to improve incomplete defecation by applying moxibustion at the acupoint on the abdomen.
METHOD:Faces Scale was used to evaluate general condition. Evaluation of the pain in the lower back and lower extremities were made with a Numerical Scale where 10 indicates the most painful, while 0 indicates no pain.
RESULT:Both general fatigue and pain in the lower extremities wererelieved after acupuncture treatments (FS for general condition improved from 3to 1, NS for pain decreased from 7 to 4). Also, the feeling of incomplete defecation disappeared.

The Fifth Session of the Sixth Executive Committee (EC), the Seventh General Assembly (GA), and the First Session of the Seventh EC and 2009 World Acupuncture Congress of the World Federation of Acupuncture-Moxibustion societies (WFAS) were held at European parliament in Strasbourg, France on 3-7 November 2009.
New EC members for the year of 2009-2013were elected in the GA. The Seventh EC commenced and now consists of 49 members. Host countries for the future meetings were also approved.
In the Seventh EC, the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (JSAM) made a proposal regarding WFAS administrative duties. It consisted of eight items, and among them, the request for making the minutes of EC meetings was most important because WFAS EC meeting minutes have never been sent to the EC members except once, for the Bali, Indonesia meeting in 2006.
Papers regarding acupuncture education, legislation, traditional research and scientific research were also presented in the academic meeting.
JSAM will continue to support the enhancement of the academic level of WFAS and make any necessary proposals toward the further development of WFAS.

The 2012 WFAS International Congress and Workshop on Acupuncture were held at Mason Pines Hotel in Bandung, Indonesia on November 16-18, 2012. The last congress held in Indonesia was in 2006 in Bali. This was the second congress held in Indonesia since the establishment of the WFAS in 1987.
The number of participants in the workshop and in the congress were 109 and 260, respectively, from 24 countries. There were seven keynote lectures and 51 oral presentations, including 5 by Japanese scientists.
In addition, the 4th session of the 7th Executive Committee of WFAS was held on November 16, 2012 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Mason Pines Hotel.
In this report, the agenda, a discussion of the WFAS Executive Committee meeting, and an outline of the oral presentations are introduced.

Executive members of the World Federation of Acupuncture and Moxibustion Societies (WFAS) are elected in the general assembly (GA), which is held once every four years. In addition, member societies that will host the upcoming WFAS conferences over the next 4 years are determined in the GA.
Japan hosted the 3rd World Congress of Acupuncture and Moxibustion in 1993, but has not been invited to host the WFAS annual conference for the past 20 years. In the 8 th WFAS GA held in the Sydney Convention Centre Darling Harbour, Sydney, Australia on 1 November 2013, Japan was elected as the host country for the 2016 WFAS Annual Conference. Thus, the 2016 WFAS Annual Conference will be held in Tokyo, and hosted by the Japan Society of Acupuncture and Moxibustion (JSAM) and Japanese Traditional Acupuncture and Moxibustion Society (JTAMS).
In the election of Executive Members, Shuichi Katai was elected as vice-president of WFAS and Ikuro Wakayama and Naoto Ishizaki were elected as executive members. The term for executive members is four years. In addition, Kiichiro Tsutani, former vice-president of WFAS, was appointed as honorable vice-president, and Yukio Kurosu, former honorable vice-president, was appointed as advisor.
Academic programs were carried out for three days from 2 November 2013. In the WFAS conferences usually more than half of the papers are presented in Chinese, but in Sydney, most papers were presented in English. There were one invited lecture and 13presentations from Japan.