Traditional acupuncturists claim that energy (Chi) is added to the body at each acupuncture treatment. However, they cannot explain what kind of energy is Chi and this is crucial for the communication of acupuncturists with physicians and scientists. Thus, Chi is energy, but what kind of energy? In a previous article, the author proved that the changes in the body after acupuncture are the same as the changes after any mild stressor. Based on this, the author claims that Chi is the stress energy explained in the works of Hans Selye, who claimed that chronic diseases result from strong or prolonged stress, to which the body failed to adapt adequately. The result is maladaptation manifested as chronic disease. Since strong or prolonged stressors dragged the body to the state of chronic disease, the chronic diseases are far-from-equilibrium states with deep energy minimum. For the first time, the author applies the nonequilibrium theory of Prigogine to chronic diseases and explains with success why their cure is difficult (it requires a series of daily acupuncture treatments) and unpredictable (more than one series might be necessary). Acupuncture is the only cure for chronic diseases and it is achieved through accumulation of the stimulation effects of daily acupuncture treatments, which by adding energy to the body every day bring the body to the initial state of health.

Keywords: chronic diseases result from strong or prolonged stress, to which the body failed to adapt, chronic diseases are maladaptation, chronic diseases are far-from-equilibrium states (non-equilibrium theory of Prigogine)

This article attempts to explain scientifically how acupuncture cures chronic diseases from the viewpoint of energy. Ancient acupuncture books teach that each treatment of an acupuncture point with a needle add energy (Chi) to the body.

In a paper “Akupunktur und Stress” published in Deutche Zeitschrift fur Akupunktur in 1984, the author¹ compared the body changes monitored after mild stressors, such as cooling of the body and other types of stressors, with the changes monitored after acupuncture treatment. They were the same. In this way, it was proved that acupuncture cures as a mild stressor; it stimulates or adds energy to the body as every mild stressor would do. This is the nonspecific effect of acupuncture, which means energy is added to the body at each acupuncture treatment regardless which points are treated. This is because the body is mobilized for response to the stressor (acupuncture treatment) regardless where the needles are applied. This mobilization energy is called stress energy. However, before to explain farther what stress energy is, we need to say that beside the nonspecific effect acupuncture has (of course) specific effect, in which it matters which points are treated for what kind of disease.

Hans Selye, who is considered the Father of Stress, spent 40 years of his life studying stress. He was the first to use the word stress for psychological tension and he borrowed the word from engineering, where stress was the applied force that can crack or break a material.

Based on his experiments, Selye claims² that the stress energy is not energy assimilated from food. According to him, it depends on the type of neurohormonal balance, which is genetically inherited, and relates to vitality. "Vitality is like a special kind of bank account, which you can be used up by withdrawals but cannot increase by deposits."           

According to Selye: "Our reserve of stress energy is an inherited finite amount, which cannot be regenerated". "Your only control over this most precious fortune is the rate of withdrawals. Experiments with animals show that each exposure to stress leaves an indelible scar in... Restoring is possible, but not entirely, always with a deficit of stress energy. Even when the state of exhaustion is reached the organism can be slowly restored by ‘frozen reserves’. This form of stress energy storage protects the organism from wasting valuable stress energy".²

Are there indeed ‘frozen reserves’, or is the stress energy restored by other factors? Moldovian sources convey: “When a stressor is mild, or with low intensity, it stimulates (p. 95,132, 163, 243),³ and to stimulate means to add energy to the body and make the processes run faster. If all mild stressors stimulate (add energy to) the body, they are the potential candidates for stress-energy rechargers.

According to Moldovian biochemical studies of stress (p.163),³ we always need three to four weak stressors or positive emotions to compensate for the effect of one strong stressor or one negative emotion. As a result the balance never seems to be perfect, and the recharge full. Part of the energy consumed during stress always remains unrestored ... (details can be found in the author’s books: M. Kuman, What Everybody Needs to Know about Chronic Pain, Chronic Diseases and Cancer⁴ and M. Kuman, Stress as Killer, Stress as Healer5⁵ (www.mariakuman.com).

Let different mild stressors influence a body through long time intervals so that the effect of each stressor is independent. Since the stressors are mild, the mobilization energy required to adapt to them is small. This allows preservation of the internal integrity of the system, called homeostasis (homeo=internal integrity, stasis=static), and the body remains healthy.

Following the nonequilibrium theory of Prigogine,⁶ when mild independent forces influence the body through large time intervals, the body adapts to each of them by evolving to a series of different near-to-equilibrium states (NESs). Since the adaptation to mild stressors requires small energy, these NESs will have shallow energetic minima with similar energy. The transfers among them will be easy, reversible, and will stimulate the body. They will be described by linear equations.

The body responds to each stressor specifically and with a nonspecific mobilization reaction, which means that the body responds to all stressors with the same mobilization reaction manifested with a release of the same hormones,⁸ neurotransmitters,⁷ and stress proteins.⁹

According to Moldovian studies, usually the body needs two to three days to wash away these substances.³ This long relaxation time (the time the system needs to return to norm) is what allows stress accumulation. Since the nonspecific effect is the same for all stressors, when a series of different mild stressors actthrough relatively shorttime intervals, their effects on the body accumulate.

Prolonged stress (or series of stressors acting through short interval of time) led to the chronic disease and only a series of daily acupuncture treatments acting as a series of mild stressors can cure the disease (Figure 1). The disease has lower energy minimum because some energy has been lost in mobilization reactions for response to the stressors.

Figure 1 A series of different mild stressors act through relatively short time intervals, their effects on the body accumulate.

Let a mild stressor 1 influence the body at moment 1 and let the body uses energy E₁ to mobilize for response to this mild stressor 1. Before the body is entirely back to norm, let mild stressor 2 influence the body at moment 2, and the body uses additional energy E₂ to mobilize for response to mild stressor 2. The energy E₂ will be added to the residual energy of the first mild stressor E₁(residual). Now the effect of both stressors is E₁(residual) + E₂. The effect of a series of n mild stressors (prolonged stress) is illustrated in Figure 1 as energetic levels E₁ , E₂ , E₃ , ...

 Hans Selye found that the same strong or prolonged stress causes different diseases in different individuals. He explained this with the fact that the genetically inherited weak organ is different for different individuals and the genetically inherited weak organ, being with lowest energy and lowest stress tolerance, is the organ that cracks first under the stress.⁷ When the strong or prolonged stress surpasses the critical level of ultimate stress Ec, which the genetically inherited weak organ can tolerate, the organ starts malfunctioning or suffers chronic disease.

In our book, Science Speaks of God,⁸ we have the proof that strong negative emotions (like anger, fear, or hatred, which are emotional stress) can gobble enough energy from the genetically weak organ to make it sick. When an organ is sick the vitality of the whole body is low, and low vitality means low energy, because a lot of vital energy has been used to mobilize for response to stressors. Here is our explanation of how strong or prolonged stress causes diseases: Each organ has its limit of successful adaptation to stressors. This means there is a critical value of ultimate stress energy Ec, which each organ can tolerate, and beyond which the organ cannot successfully adapt to stressors any more.When as a result of strong or prolonged stress the genetically inherited weak organ (with lowest energy and lowest stress tolerance) has reached its critical limit Ec of stress tolerance, the organ cannot successfully adapt any more. This will result in maladaptations, which manifest itself as pathology or chronic disease.

According to Hans Selye, “all chronic diseases are diseases of maladaptation”.⁷ The genetically inherited weak organ, with lowest stress tolerance Ec, is the one to break first under prolonged stress and suffer chronic disease.

Usually, the reaction to a stressor is proportionate to the stressor's intensity,¹⁰ but when the critical level of stress Ec, which the weak organ can tolerate, is reached, the functioning of the organ loses stability... Ec is a turning point. At this very point, the sign of the physiological effect of stress changes from positive - stimulation (when the stressor is mild), to negative - pathology (when the stressor is strong or prolonged). The critical point Ec is the ultimate stress at which the successful adaptation ends, and maladaptation leading to chronic diseases starts.

In the non-equilibrium theory of Prigogine,⁶ Ec is called bifurcation point. "Bifurcation is simply the appearance of a new solution of the equation for some critical value" (p. 105).¹¹ Beyond the point Ec, a new possibility for the organ exists: to evolve to a state of chronic disease. Since strong or prolonged stressors caused it, and a lot of stress energy has been used for mobilization to the stressors, the new state will have deep energetic minimum and will be a stable far-from-equilibrium state.

If each chronic disease is a result of a series of stressors acting through relatively short time intervals (prolonged stress), a simple idea comes into mind - to use a series of mild stressors, acting through relatively short time intervals to cure chronic diseases. Daily acupuncture treatments are such a series of mild stressors.¹ Acupuncture has been used for cure of chronic diseases for many thousands of years. During all these years the acupuncture points were treated with needles, moxa (temperature treatment), garlic (chemically), or pressure (acupressure), which are mild stressors. This means that mild stressors have been used for cure for many thousands of yearsand in principle, any mild stressor can cure.

Since each chronic disease is a far-from-equilibrium state, to cure a chronic disease would mean through a series of acupuncture treatments, by accumulation of the stimulation effect of each treatment, to shift energetically the body back to one of the near-to-equilibrium states of health. According to the non-equilibrium theory of Prigogine,^6,11 each transfer from a far-from-equilibrium state to near-to-equilibrium state is difficult and contains elements of unpredictability.

This explains why the cure of chronic diseases is difficult (it requires series of acupuncture treatments), and contains elements of unpredictability. Unpredictability means that sometimes the series of treatments needs to be repeated for the disease to be cured. It is not because the acupuncturist didn’t do a good job, but because the cure of chronic disease is unpredictable in principle.

The cure, which is a transfer from the far-from-equilibrium state of chronic disease to one of the near-to-equilibrium states of health, could be described only by nonlinear mathematical equations (For details see the author’s book: Maria Kuman, What Everybody Ought to Know about Chronic Pain, Chronic Diseases and Cancer).⁴

Thus, each chronic disease is a maladaptation or a failure to adapt to strong, prolonged stress, or a series of different stressors acting through small intervals of time. This strong or prolonged stress has dragged the body to a far-from-equilibrium state with a deep energetic minimum because the body has lost a lot of energy in mobilization reactions for response to the stressors.

Since mild stressors stimulate or add energy to the body, it seems natural to try to cure the chronic disease with a series of daily acupuncture treatments. Through accumulation of the stimulation effect of each acupuncture treatment, the missing energy will be added back to the body and the state of health would be restored. Acupuncture does not necessarily mean needles. In traditional acupuncture moxa, garlic, etc. mild stressors have been used. Modern acupuncture treats the acupuncture points with magnets, lasers, infrared light. Any mild stressor could be used for cure, like moderate cooling, moderate starvation, etc.

This article explains the nature of the stress-induced chronic diseases and how acupuncture cure chronic diseases – through accumulation of the stimulation effect of a series of 14 to 20 daily acupuncture treatments (the older the disease the longer the series). This is an original author’s work. The author reached this understanding after many years of measurements with her patented supersensitive energy meter. I hope many researchers and practitioners can benefit from it. The connection with non-equilibrium theory of Prigogine would benefit the acupuncturist by taking the blame from them if the chronic disease is not cured with the first series of treatments and the series need to be repeated.

None.

Authors declare there is no conflict of interest towards this manuscript.