We have all been asking the question, how does Acupuncture work? Now 40 years after locating the inner working of Acupuncture Channels we have a definitive answer.
A group of Korean researchers have rediscovered threadlike microscopic anatomical structures that correspond with the layout of traditional acupuncture channels are no longer imaginary lines, but specific anatomical structures. These channels have been found inside of blood and lymphatic vessels and they also form networks that overlay internal organs.
The channels are called Bonghan channels after
Kim Bonghan, a North Korean who published papers describing them in the 1960s, a decade before acupuncture was introduced to the American
public. Although his discoveries were confirmed by the Japanese researchers Fujiwara and Yu in 1967, his work was discounted by other scientists because he never revealed his formula for the staining dye that revealed these structures.
Almost 40 years later, Kim’s discoveries have been confirmed by stereo-microscope photographs and images from transmission electron microscopy in the research papers show assemblies of tubular structures 30 to 100 μm wide (red blood cells are 6-8 μm in diameter).
These structures have remained undiscovered for so long because they are almost transparent and so thin that they are barely visible with low-magnification surgical microscopes. They are also easily confused with fibrin, which coagulates and obscures these structures when there is bleeding in dissected tissues. Now that they have been rediscovered, researchers are investigating their composition and function. The tubular structures that make up Bonghan channels contain a flowing liquid that includes abundant hyaluronic acid, a substance that cushions and lubricates the joints, eyes, skin and even heart valves. Also visible in the photographs are small granules of DNA or microcells about 1-2 μm in diameter that contain chromosomal material highly reactive to stem-cell antibody stains. When these cells were isolated and then induced to differentiate, they grew into cells of all three germ layers. These may be our body’s natural source of pluripotent adult stem cells, with the potential to develop into any cell in the body.
Bonghan channels are being compared to fiber-optic channels in the body. These channels may be able to carry an extremely high density of information far beyond the limited, one-way signals of the nervous system or the diffusive information carried by hormones in the blood stream.
Kim Bonghan believed that the meridian system of communication was in charge of the formation of the embryo and the control of growth throughout the organism. He did a series of studies on the embryonic development of the meridian systems of various animals. He found that a chicken embryo begins to develop Bonghan channels within 15 hours of conception. It appears that Bonghan-channel communication directs the development of all internal organs and may provide critical information- feedback loops that create bilateral symmetry in our body.