Dyspepsia is a common syndrome in the population, although it is hardly known by its name. A doctor will usually diagnose a person as suffering from dyspepsia if the tests performed on him are normal but he suffers from one or more of the following symptoms for at least 6 months: fullness after eating, early satiety, epigastric pain or a burning sensation in the epigastrium. The symptoms must affect daily activities and appear at least 3 times a week for 3 months.
In recent years, several interesting and high-quality studies have been published that examined the effect of Chinese acupuncture on dyspepsia.
3 particularly interesting studies were published by the same group of researchers (with certain modifications) that decided to examine the effect of acupuncture on dyspepsia from different angles.
In a study  published in the high-quality journal Alimentary Pharmacology and Therapeutics (1), the researchers examined 712 patients who were divided into 6 groups. The researchers' goal was to test whether the location of the acupuncture points being pricked matters, so four groups received acupuncture at different points on the body, a fifth group received acupuncture at fake points (placebo acupuncture), and a sixth group received medication. The patients were asked to fill out dyspepsia symptom questionnaires before the treatments, after 4 weeks of treatment, and after an additional 12 weeks in which they did not receive treatment.
After 4 weeks of treatment, it was seen that group A, which received acupuncture at points ST34, ST36, ST40, and ST42, had the greatest improvement (70% of the patients reported a positive response, meaning complete disappearance of symptoms or an improvement of at least 2 points on a symptom scale of 0-3). The group that reported the least improvement (34%) was the placebo acupuncture group. In the other groups, including the group that received medication, 40-50% of the patients reported a positive response. It is important to note that the results were also maintained 12 weeks after the end of the treatments. The researchers concluded that acupuncture is an effective treatment for dyspepsia and that the choice of acupuncture points is important.
Another study  conducted by a certain part of the previous group of researchers was published in 2015 in the journal Neurogastroenterology and motility (2). This time, the researchers examined the effect of acupuncture on brain activity. They took 19 people with symptoms of dyspepsia and divided them into two groups: each group received acupuncture treatment at different points (the points were different between groups and were identical to the acupuncture performed in groups 2 and 4 in the previous study). The subjects filled out questionnaires on symptoms, quality of life, and mental state (anxiety and depression) and underwent a PET-CT scan before the start of the treatments. The people were then treated for 4 weeks, 5 treatments per week as is customary in China, and upon completion of the treatments, they underwent another PET-CT scan and filled out the questionnaires again. 
The results of the study showed that in terms of symptoms, both groups improved very similarly after 4 weeks, but interestingly, the areas of the brain affected were somewhat different. The similarity between the two groups was in the effect on visceral regulation and sensory transduction. The difference between the groups was in the effect on cognition and emotions, which reinforces the fact that different acupuncture points have different effects on brain activity.
Research Third and last (in the meantime…) was also published in the journal Neurogastroenterology and motility in 2018 (3). In this study, the researchers sought to test whether acupuncture could relieve refractory dyspepsia: that which has been present for at least a year and does not respond to medication. The researchers recruited 200 patients who were divided into two groups – real acupuncture that was specifically tailored to the patient according to symptoms and acupuncture at non-real acupuncture points (placebo acupuncture). The patients were treated for 4 weeks and then followed up for an additional 5 months to see if the improvement was maintained. The results of the study showed that acupuncture can treat refractory dyspepsia. After 4 months, 62% of patients in the real acupuncture group reported at least an 80% improvement in symptoms, while only 22% in the placebo group reported a similar improvement. 17% of patients reported complete resolution of symptoms in the real acupuncture group, while in the placebo group only 6% of patients reported a similar result.
If you suffer from dyspepsia or other digestive problems, I would be happy to advise and help, Dana Tzur Dip.CM Chinese Medicine for Digestive Disorders.