Objectives: This study was undertaken to describe under real-life conditions the effects of acupuncture on symptomatic dyspepsia during pregnancy and to compare this with a group of patients undergoing conventional treatment alone. Methods: A total of 42 conventionally treated pregnant women were allocated by chance into two groups to be treated, or not, by acupuncture. They reported the severity of symptoms and the disability these were causing in daily aspects of life such as sleeping and eating, using a numerical rating scale. The study also observed the use of medications.

Complementary and alternative medicine, and in particular acupuncture, has been practised and taught in recent years in many universities in the Western world. Here, we relate our experiences since 1997 in teaching acupuncture to medical students at Rio Preto Medical School (Faculty of Medicine of São José do Rio Preto (FAMERP)), Brazil. Classes are given in the third and fifth years. The main goals of understanding the mechanisms of action and being able to recognise patients who may benefit from treatment and referring them have been well achieved, scoring 3.6 and 4.1, respectively, on a scale of 1–5. Also using that scale, medical students believe that acupuncture is important in the curriculum (4.6), course time is not sufficient (2.7) and they would like more information (4.6). To overcome these concerns, many students join an undergraduate study group (Acupuncture League) where they have more time to learn. We also describe the presence of foreign medical students who, since 2000, have enrolled in a course of 150 h in an exchange programme.

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The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Acupuncture in the postoperative arthroscopic knee surgery, using "The Opposite Side" technique from the Traditional Chinese Medicine. The 36 pain in the knee were grouped according to the disorders found during the arthroscopic surgery: 50% with isolated lesion of the medial meniscus, 19.44% with lesion of the medial meniscus associated to knee arthrosis ,11.11% with lesion of lateral meniscus associated to knee arthrosis, 8.33% with isolated lesion of lateral meniscus of the knee, 2.77% lesion of both isolated meniscus, 2.77%with lesion of both isolated meniscus, 2.77% with chrondomalacia patella, and 2.77% were free body carrier. Group I, 18 patients (Acupuncture) were submitted to 20 acupuncture session. Contralateral points of acupuncture were performed in the injured knee. Group II, 18 patients (Physiotherapy) were submitted to 20 physiotherapy sessions under the administration of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. The non-parametrical analysis of the results showed that either the subjective data (pain intensity, difficulty in walking, in crouching, on going upstairs/downstairs, on running, on using some support walking) presented good results in the majority of the studied parameters. Although, the results of the treatment were similar, the acupuncture showed better results since it presented earlier improvement than the physiotherapy.