A new lens from modern acupuncture medicine
GOOD MEDICINE
By Dr. Hyun K. Lee
For decades, modern medicine has approached diabetes primarily through the lens of pancreatic dysfunction — a problem of insulin deficiency or resistance. This view has shaped nearly all therapeutic strategies: insulin injections, glucose-lowering drugs, and dietary restrictions designed to control blood sugar by compensating for the pancreas.
Yet, this narrow focus has obscured a deeper truth: the liver plays an equally vital, if not greater, role in glucose regulation. The liver governs how glucose is produced, stored, and released. It is also the body’s main site of protein synthesis, including the enzymes that convert glucose into glycogen for muscular storage. When hepatic protein synthesis declines — whether from aging, inflammation, or nutritional imbalance — the muscles lose their ability to store glucose effectively. The result is persistent hyperglycemia, even when insulin is present and functioning.
In other words, many diabetic patients are not suffering only from a pancreatic disorder but from a hepatic-protein dysfunction that distorts the body’s entire energy economy.
From the standpoint of acupuncture and traditional Korean medicine, this insight carries profound implications. The liver is regarded as the organ that “governs the smooth flow of Qi and blood.” In modern physiological terms, this corresponds to hepatic circulation, detoxification, and metabolic regulation. When liver function is restored — both energetically and biochemically — the body’s protein metabolism improves, muscular glucose uptake increases, and blood sugar levels stabilize naturally.
Acupuncture offers a uniquely systemic approach. By stimulating key points that modulate hepatic circulation and autonomic balance, we can enhance the liver’s enzymatic activity and protein synthesis, indirectly improving glucose metabolism. Rather than forcing the pancreas to compensate, we help the liver restore metabolic harmony throughout the body.
This hepato-centric model does not reject the pancreatic framework; it complements it. Insulin remains important — but it cannot act efficiently if the liver’s biochemical foundation is compromised. Supporting hepatic recovery through acupuncture, nutrition, and lifestyle medicine allows for a more sustainable glycemic balance — less dependent on medication and more aligned with the body’s own physiology.
Clinically, this perspective is especially valuable for patients with fatigue-dominant diabetes, muscle loss, or age-related metabolic decline. Such individuals often experience unstable blood sugar despite medication. When hepatic circulation improves and protein metabolism is reactivated, they regain vitality, their energy stabilizes, and blood glucose levels become easier to manage.
In essence, the liver is not an accessory to glucose control — it is the biochemical conductor. To truly manage diabetes, we must look beyond the pancreas and toward the metabolic orchestra it leads.
Modern acupuncture medicine offers a bridge between ancient understanding and modern biochemistry: a way to heal the root, not just the symptom.
Dr. Lee’s office is located at 175 McMurray Road, Suite G, Buellton. Dr. Lee also has offices in Los Angeles and Paso Robles. To make an appointment, call (805) 693-5162 or (310) 666-8021.
