The Healthcare Medicine Institute reports on a study that focused on the effects of manual acupuncture and assessed its working mechanisms.

The researchers cite acupuncture’s ability to benefit sleep as an underlying mechanism for its effective therapeutic actions. The researchers cited Bosch et al. whose methodologies included the Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index as a method of evaluation. Bosch et al. “found a significant improvement of sleep quality” from acupuncture treatments for patients with depression or schizophrenia. Additional research employing objective measures of sleep improvement, including actigraphs, demonstrated sleep improvements from acupuncture treatments in patients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorders. The improvements include reduced activity levels during sleep, less night awake time, ability to fall asleep faster, and less daytime sleepiness.