Comparison of the Efficacy between Fine Ceramic Semiconductor and Traditional Chinese Physical Therapies

We carried out comparison of treatment with fine ceramic semiconductor (Fc) and traditional Chinese therapies by Vaccaria semen (Va), Sinapis semen (Ba), and ear needle (Ne), which were embedded in acupuncture point (Zusanli, S36). The efficacy of these treatments were evaluated by the sleeping time induced by hexobarbital, the onset and duration of convulsions induced by strychnine, picrotoxin or pentylenetetrazol, formalin test, the writhing response induced by acetic acid, and swimming test. We found that the effects of Fc were equivalent to those of Va, Ba, and Ne, in all but the swimming test. Fc was more effective in prolonging the mice swimming time than Va, Ba, and Ne. The results indicate that mechanisms of some effects of Fe may be different from the traditional Chinese physical therapies and also suggest that Fe treatment may be valuable in clinical use. The underlying mechanisms, however, remain unclear and require further investigation.