By Eric Brand

Today I was alerted to this link about the New England School of Acupuncture, check it out! Apparently NESA just received a $1.2 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Defense to research the efficacy of acupuncture treatment for patients suffering from Gulf War Illness. According to the article, more than 100,000 Gulf War veterans suffer from complex, multi-symptom illnesses that persist for years. In their research study, NESA will be treating 120 veterans with Gulf War Illness to test the efficacy of acupuncture in such patients.

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I think it is fantastic that NESA was able to get this grant for acupuncture research. There is a tremendous amount of research funding available for topics related to acupuncture and herbal medicine, so it is encouraging to see that more and more of our colleagues are learning how to navigate the system. All too often, we bemoan the poor study designs and misguided conclusions of acupuncture research that fails to preserve the spirit of Chinese medicine, when really what we need to do is rise to the challenge and conduct the research properly ourselves. Kudos to NESA for leading the way, and congratulations on the grant!