title: Acupuncture application for neurological disorders.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acupuncture has been widely used for a range of neurological disorders. Despite its popularity, the evidence to support the use of acupuncture is contradictory.
  
  
  METHODS
  This review was designed to summarize and to evaluate the available evidence of acupuncture for neurological disorders.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Most of the reviewed studies suffer from lack of methodological rigor. Owing to paucity and poor quality of the primary studies, no firm conclusion could be drawn on the use of acupuncture for epilepsy, Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, ataxic disorders, multiple sclerosis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and spinal cord injury. For stroke rehabilitation, the evidence from recent high-quality trials and previous systematic reviews is not convincing.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  More rigorous trials are warranted to establish acupuncture's role in neurological disorders.
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
authors.forename: Hyangsook
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Hi-Joon
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Jongbae
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Park
authors.forename: Mi-Ja
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Meesuk
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hong
authors.forename: Jongsoo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Sunmi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Hyejung
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lee
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000628:therapy*