title: Relative specificity of acupuncture reinforcing and reducing methods.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To probe the effects of acupuncture reinforcing and reducing methods on the human body.
  
  
  METHODS
  Studied acupuncture reinforcing and reducing actions in the ancient literature, based on modern clinical and experimental studies, in combination with experience of acupuncture teaching and clinical treatment.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The key to the generation of reinforcing and reducing actions is not the acupuncture reinforcing and reducing methods themselves, but instead the functional state of the patient during the acupuncture. When reinforcing and reducing methods act on the human body, a reinforcing-reducing effect is produced through regulation of Qi, indicating that the production of the reinforcing-reducing effect requires a certain condition. Specifically, acupuncture does not produce the reinforcing-reducing effect under all conditions, but can produce a reinforcing effect in patients with deficiency syndrome and a reducing effect in patients with excess syndrome.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Reinforcing and reducing methods each have therapeutic effects on both deficiency syndrome and excess syndrome, but a reinforcing method should be selected first for deficiency syndrome and a reducing method should be selected first for excess syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Henan TCM College, Zhengzhou 450008, China. gaoxiyan@yeah.net
authors.forename: Xiyan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Danyi
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gao
authors.forename: Ronghui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Gao
mesh_terms: D026881:Acupuncture / Q000193:education / Q000379:methods*; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods* / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D012054:Reinforcement, Psychology