We examined the effect of acupuncture treatment in the supine position, sitting position, and horseback riding posture on a horseback riding simulator at a standstill from the aspects of physical movement, psychological assessment, and autonomic nerve activity. Twenty-nine university students suffering from pain and stiffness during lateral hip flexion and extension movement of the Straight Leg Raising and movement of the neck and shoulders were randomly assigned to the supine position, sitting position, and horseback riding posture, and a tape-type press needle was attached at four acupuncture points on both lower limbs. Regarding the measuring method, we conducted M-Test movement assessment, two-dimensional mood standard (TDMS-ST), and heart rate variability analysis. There was no difference in the baseline among the three groups prior to the experiment and the improvement in the movement of the neck, SLR, and hip flexion (knee flexed position) for all three groups along with the comfort level of TDMS-ST significantly increased following treatment. Moreover, while we also observed a significant increase in HF (parasympathetic activity index) for all three groups following treatment, no change was observed in the LF/HF ratio (sympathetic activity index). These findings suggest that the stimulation from the press needle by the M-Test method achieved a relaxing effect regardless of the posture because the stimulation had a low degree of invasiveness, and it was also not associated with any pain.

Introduction : We investigated the effects of skin stimulation with noninvasive microcones on constipation in university students.
Methods : 17 university students with constipation were studied. Students were randomly assigned to either Group S (n=9) that received skin stimulation of the auricle using microcones, or Group P (n=8) that were given placebo treatment. Both groups received 4 weeks of treatment.
Results : There were no significant differences in the mean baseline CAS-J (Japanese Version of Constipation Assessment Scale) values between the two groups. After 4 weeks, subjects in Group S had significantly lower CAS-J values compared with baseline (P=0.02). No significant changes were noted in the values for Group P.
Conclusion : These results suggested that skin stimulation with noninvasive microcones improved constipation in university students, and may be a viable option for self-care of this condition.

[Objective]The purpose of this study is to investigate a situation of practitioner-patient risk communication about acupuncture and moxibustion treatment.
[Methods]The subjects of this study were 250 Fukuoka City Acupuncture and Moxibustion Association's members and their 1,250 patients in Japan. The practitioner and patient questionnaires included the same items, with the same response categories.
[Results]Ninety-one practitioners (36.40%) and 407 patients (32.56%) returned questionnaires. The 'practitioner better'situation (i.e. when practitioners'evaluations were better than patients'evaluations) had the most negative influence on patient outcome measures compared with the other situations. For the explanation of medical testing, 'length of clinical experience'[OR 1.30, 95%CI 1.00 to 1.68]was a significant predictor of the practitioner-better situation. For the explanation of treatment, 'length of clinical experience'[OR 1.05, 95%CI 1.02 to 1.08]was a significant predictor of the practitioner-better situation. Most patients (73.21%) had not been asked about acupuncture and moxibustion therapy use by their physician. Twenty-seven (48.21%) patients informed their physicians about acupuncture and moxibustion therapy use. Five (4.00%) side effects were reported. The side effect occurred regardless of a practitioner and patient characteristics, and did not influence the patient's outcomes.
[Discussion]It is thought that obtaining knowledge is useful in the architecture of a person for future better practitioner-patient relations.

It is indicated in this Symposium that a goal of Japanese Acupuncture Study is to establish culture-based medicine. However, because of insufficient understanding of modern medicine among acupuncturists in Japan, systematic postgraduate training has become one of the most urgent programs. Acupuncturists in Japan should be included in the medical system as co-medical staff such as nurses, PTs, and so on, in the near future.
All speakers emphasized that Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion have developed their identity using various methods in the past, although there a healing was popular in the public apart from the main medical field. It is, therefore, agreeable to standardize the educational system in its present medical field in Japan.
On the other hand, it is interestingly accepted for foreign researchers that Japanese acupuncture and moxibustion are well recognized as characteristic treatment with specifically delicate and fine techniques and tools. Even so, they originated from Traditional Chinese Medicine over twenty centuries.
Since the recent introduction of Oriental Medicine to the regular curriculum of modern medical education in all Japanese Medical Colleges, acupuncture and moxibustion as well as Kampo have born an important role as a holistic medicine with a recognition of an illness perceived by the patient in the 21 st century.

A seminar was held with “the development of research on auricular acupuncture” as the main theme. In this seminar, the recent development of auricular acupuncture in Japan and abroad, its action mechanism, and clinical effects were reviewed, and the findings were comprehensively evaluated.
Concerning basic research on the effects of auricular acupuncture on obesity, the relationship between the auricle and hypothalamo-autonomic system and individual variation associated with differences in the condition of patients receiving the treatment were reported. As for the action mechanism, leptin expressed in white adi-pose tissue (WAT) due to acupuncture stimulation of the auricle was reported to bind to leptin receptors (Ob-R) in both peripheries and the center and suppress food intake.
Concerning clinical effects of auricular acupuncture, the results reported in Japan indicating its effectiveness for the treatment of obesity were presented. However, no overall conclusion was reached, because papers published abroad were not consistent in the therapeutic procedure or evaluation parameters. Auricular acupuncture appeared to be clinically effective for analgesia and the treatment of drug addiction but ineffective as an anti-smoking treatment.

Four speakers : one researcher-educator, two acupuncturists and one medical doctor, stated their opinions onthe Essence of Acupuncture and Moxibustion from their various viewpoints. Their opinions are summarized as follows : The practitioners of acupuncture and moxibustion uniquely understand their patients as the Mind-Body unity and they balance the Mind-Body unity by moving Qi. There are many systems of diagnosis and treatment within the practice of acupuncture and moxibustion, such as Meridian Therapy, which was developed in Japan. The common characteristic shared by these systems is that they established treatment concepts and methods which enable beginners to treat as effectively as masters, according to their knowledge. Needless to say, skills of diagnosis and assessment, as well as techniques of treatment that are based on comprehensive judgments made after carefully taking a history and evaluating findings, are more important than a masterly performance. As acupuncture and moxibustion have vast roles in modem medical care, today's acupuncturist can be in a position usually occupied by a general physician. For this reason, an innovative method of acupuncture and moxibustion has to be developed, spread abroad and handed down to the next generation; one that employs diagnosis and assessment, as well as techniques which adopt a scientific approach of western medicine while respecting tradition, and empirical knowledge and skills.

We employed the Meridian Test to study the effects of acupuncture on m otor organ diseases and medical expenses of workers in a company, where health promotion is a priority. Our two-month trial was done at one factory which employs mainly physical labor workers. Acupuncture treatments were given for pain in the neckshoulder, knee and lumbar regions. After 8 weeks of our treatment, 83% of neck-shoulder pain cases, 77% of lumbar pain cases, and 88% of knee pain cases reported that their pain was reduced more than 50%. The results of a mental test (POMS test) showed a significant decrease in tension, depression, anger, fatigue and mental confusion. In terms of acupuncture treatment, numbers of visits to conventional hospitals were significantly decreased and average medical expenses were reduced to about 30%. These reductions continued for the next 3 months. Acupuncture treatment using the Meridian Test could benefit corporations where health promotion of workers is an urgent priority.