By Dr. Aaron Cashman, DAOM | May 17, 2026

On Mother’s Day, I had the good fortune to meet up with some old friends and their families, people we’ve known for many years.  Since none of my friends at this gathering are acupuncturists or herbalists—and because I suspect a few of them find my work somewhat mysterious—I often get questions whenever we meet.

This time, I fielded questions about cupping with lancets, whether the war has affected my practice, and a handful of other acupuncture-related topics. Fortunately, the medical discussion remained fairly brief, and we spent most of the afternoon enjoying the park and watching their young children play.

While we were there, one of our friends, a research economist, mentioned that The Economist magazine has recently begun publishing weekly exposés on various health-related topics that many people consider questionable or controversial. One recent piece focused on bone broth. Another explored acupuncture.

Naturally, I asked what conclusions they had reached.

He explained that, according to The Economist, the research on acupuncture strongly supports its effectiveness for various pain-related conditions, though the evidence is considered less robust for many other applications.

I responded that during my doctoral research, I learned that the U.S. opioid crisis largely drove the surge in government-backed funding for acupuncture research related to pain management. Unfortunately, the enormous financial investment required for large-scale “gold standard” clinical research in other areas of acupuncture treatment simply has not been available—and likely will not be anytime soon.

I also mentioned that vast numbers of studies on acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine herbalism exist throughout East Asia, where these medical systems originated and continue to thrive. However, many Western researchers remain skeptical of much of this literature because it often does not meet the specific methodological standards required in the United States.

My friend paused and then replied:

“I guess it’s kind of like Columbus ‘discovering’ America.”

In other words—or at least how I interpreted his comment—acupuncture and its effectiveness may have always been realities for those who practiced and experienced it, even if they had not yet been fully validated through the lens of modern Western scientific standards.

Coincidentally, the very next day, May 11, The New York Times Magazine published an article about the interstitium, a “new” organ-like system that was only formally adopted by modern medicine in 2018.  More 1specifically, the interstitium is a newly characterized network of fluid-filled connective tissue spaces found throughout the entire body.

In the article, the author explored the possibility that this discovery may help explain how the acupuncture meridian system functions as an interconnected network throughout the body.

Dr. Neil Theise, one of the researchers involved in publishing the groundbreaking paper on the interstitium, recalled attending a medical conference in China where a Chinese medicine practitioner reportedly told him:

“We’ve been talking about it for 4,000 years.”

The following morning, my inbox was flooded with messages from friends who had read the article and immediately thought of me.

I quickly read the piece myself and felt genuinely excited to see the interstitium finally receiving broader public attention. I had first heard about it several years earlier through a fascinating Radiolab podcast featuring one of the physicians involved in the discovery.

At the time, I assumed this “new organ” discovery would make a much larger splash in mainstream media and public scientific discussion. Surprisingly, it did not. It took several more years—and a feature in The New York Times Magazine—for the topic to receive widespread attention.

And yes, I agree with the article’s broader implication: the discovery of the interstitium may ultimately prove enormously important, not only for modern medicine in general, but perhaps also for helping explain acupuncture through a contemporary scientific lens.

Of course, I couldn’t resist sharing the article with my economist friend who had joked about Columbus “discovering” America.

Later that day, I texted him the link along with the caption:

“…speaking of ‘discovering’ America.”

Discoveries like the interstitium remind us that medicine is always evolving.  There is still so much we do not fully understand about the human body and mind. I am certain many more discoveries of this magnitude await us in the years ahead.

Ultimately, whether we are discussing acupuncture, the interstitium, or future discoveries yet to come, I believe medicine works best when curiosity, humility, and careful observation remain at the center of patient care.

The New York Times Magazine article on the interstitium:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/05/11/magazine/interstitium-anatomy-acupuncturemedicine.html

The Radiolab podcast on the interstitium:
https://radiolab.org/podcast/interstitium