Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease that often leads to diarrhea or other symptoms.  It generally follows a pattern of flare-ups and remittance and is a common reason for a visit to an acupuncturist.  Moxibustion is a technique used within Chinese Medicine to promote circulation, reduce inflammation and aid immunity - in short to tonify the body. It is also given as a home treatment by many practitioners for certain conditions.

Researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Meridians recently conducted an animal study exploring the effects of moxibustion on the digestive tissue.

As many studies performed previously have shown moxibustion having a beneficial effect on the healing of various internal injuries, researchers here performed detailed analysis on the mechanism to repair the intestinal epithelium in Crohn's disease.

As proper analysis is an invasive procedure, rat models were used. Treatment involved moxibustion at ST 25 and CV 6 over 14 days. Through detailed chemical analysis of the tissues the researchers found significant improvements in the epithelial tissue - in effect reducing inflammation in the GI tract.