Reproduction of scalp acupuncture therapy on strokes in the model rats, spontaneous hypertensive rats-stroke prone (SHR-SP).

Scalp acupuncture (SA) therapy on strokes has been empirically established and widely used in clinics in China. SA is particularly effective at ameliorating paralyses and speech disturbances, and the recovery rate is twice that for those treated with medication alone. To investigate the effects of SA on a scientific basis, we have developed a new experimental system that provides reliable controls and excludes psychological effects by using a genetic strain of rats, spontaneous hypertensive rats-stroke prone. Here we report that SA indeed has rapid and powerful effects to remove limb paralyses caused either by cerebral infarct or by cerebral haemorrhage. This model is well suited to study the mechanism of the effects of SA in parallel with clinical studies, and to describe the whole recovery process after the stroke onset. Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ireland Ltd.