ABSTRACT
Biochemistry is possibly the most important key to opening the secrets of acupuncture. Essentially, acupuncture is a useful tool to manage pain. How the pain is produced in the body, how the pain is transmitted from location to location, and how pain can be reduced or stopped will eventually have to be based on how much understanding there is with respect to the chemical substances that mediate the activities of pain. To keep acupoints in function, it is obvious that some biochemical media are required. These biochemical media are known as neurotransmitters. A great deal is known about neurotransmitters. However, their relationship to acupuncture is not totally clear. We know that if an acupoint is stimulated and the nerve that forms that acupoint is depolarized to generate an action potential, the depolarization is propagated and transmitted from nerve to nerve by certain neurotransmitters. The contents of this chapter are about the neurotransmitters that have a functional relationship to acupuncture.
