French researchers in the late 1970s demonstrated the ability of acupuncture to affect T and B-lymphocytes. The most well known effects of acupuncture are its ability to lessen pain and produce a calmer state of mind, two effects which are most likely related to its ability to increase the production of endorphins. Endorphins are a substance which the body produces to help regulate the immune system, especially in response to forms of stress such as a viral infection. They trigger transmitters which affect the spinal cord and brain, lessening the pain. As a practitioner in the field of TCM and acupuncture for over a decade, I have observed the positive impact which acupuncture can have.
Acupuncture can help to alleviate the side effects of toxic chemotherapeutic agents.
From an article by Jackie Haught, D.Ac., Dipl. Cat's claw Uncaria tomentosa is an herb that grows wild in the highlands of the Peruvian Amazon. It has been used for hundreds, perhaps thousands, of years by the native Ashanica Indians for treatment of a wide range of health problems associated with the immune and digestive systems. In its healing ability and benfit to the immune system, Uncaria tomentosa appears to have so many therapeutic applications that it far surpasses such well known herbs as Pau d'Arco, Echinacea, Golden Seal, Astragalus and Siberian Ginseng, as well as Reishi and Shitake mushrooms, and other natural products such as Citrus Seed Extract, Caprylic Acid and Shark Cartilage. This information is from from an article dated May 1994 in The Townsend Letter for Doctors.