Fake acupuncture 'aids migraines'

[CFLarsen]

Fake acupuncture works just as well as the real thing in relieving migraines, scientists have found.

In a study of more than 300 patients, both genuine and sham acupuncture reduced the intensity of headache compared with no treatment at all.

But real acupuncture was no better than needles placed at non-acupuncture points on the body, the Journal of the American Medical Association reports.

Source

Conclusion Acupuncture was no more effective than sham acupuncture in reducing migraine headaches although both interventions were more effective than a waiting list control.

Source: The Journal of the American Medical Association

Please note that several of the researchers came from pro-acupuncture organizations, so let's have none of this "Oh, it was biased against acupuncture" manure.

 

[Quasi]

Red flag alert:

"Acupuncture treatment is different for each person. The formulaic treatment part of the study would be inappropriate for some patients. This would reduce the apparent effectiveness in the acupuncture group."

They are already retreating to the castle of homeopathy.
Also, I do not have access to the paper, but often the acupuncture treatment is accompanied by conventional treatments such as resting in a quiet, darkened room. If the control group does not receive this treatment, then the study is pretty much invalid. These results have already been known from previous studies on how there are no real acupuncture points, just sharp needles (see quackwatch.)
Once again, nothing new here move along.
BTW: A family member of mine was stripped of their life savings by a certified acupuncturist for migraine. Because they were "licensed" you cannot file a lawsuit unless you can prove they were not "aligning the chi" properly which is impossible. IMHO acupuncture is worse than useless.

 

[chillzero]

...BTW: A family member of mine was stripped of their life savings by a certified acupuncturist for migraine. Because they were "licensed" you cannot file a lawsuit unless you can prove they were not "aligning the chi" properly which is impossible. IMHO acupuncture is worse than useless.

That's quite interesting. So, how do they become licenced? Wouldn't they have to prove they know how to align the chi properly? So if they can prove they are fit to be licenced, aren't they fit to be tested?

Could you not sue if they have promised to improve your health, and then fail to do so? If your health gets worse instead of better they are obviously doing something wrong.

I'm not as naive as this is coming across - just raising a few points. I think I would have challenged the practitioner, or at least stopped treatment long before I lost loads of money. Having suffered from migraines myself in the past, I know how hopeless things can seem when they are at their worst, but I wouldn't continue any treatment that wasn't helping - for me that included several different types of supposedly effective drugs, none of which helped. (In the end it was stopping a particular drug which provided the 'cure').

 

[Orangutan]

Cabby,

Was It Caffine? I realised caffine withdrawal was the cause of my Migraines when I complained I always got them at the weekends. That was when I realised the thing I was doing differently was not drinking 4 cups of coffee before lunch?

O.

 

[Quasi]

That's quite interesting. So, how do they become licenced? Wouldn't they have to prove they know how to align the chi properly? So if they can prove they are fit to be licenced, aren't they fit to be tested?

Could you not sue if they have promised to improve your health, and then fail to do so? If your health gets worse instead of better they are obviously doing something wrong.

I'm not as naive as this is coming across - just raising a few points. I think I would have challenged the practitioner, or at least stopped treatment long before I lost loads of money. Having suffered from migraines myself in the past, I know how hopeless things can seem when they are at their worst, but I wouldn't continue any treatment that wasn't helping - for me that included several different types of supposedly effective drugs, none of which helped. (In the end it was stopping a particular drug which provided the 'cure').

If you read most states licensure board rules, they are specifically geared towards protecting the quacks, which is the opposite of evidence based medicine. All you need to do in my home state to be licensed is to take some classes, and then an exam. The rules are very lax for "herbal" consultations as an acupuncturist as well. If you take and pass the course, you have proven you can manipulate the chi. Essentially it is a protected racket. I have no doubt that many people have good anecdotes about TCM, but with each trial it becomes clearer there is not much to it at all, and the claims are certainly exagerrated in the extreme.

 

[Yaotl]

Cabby,

Was It Caffine? I realised caffine withdrawal was the cause of my Migraines when I complained I always got them at the weekends. That was when I realised the thing I was doing differently was not drinking 4 cups of coffee before lunch?

O.

Caffiene withdrawals are hell. I take a bottle of excedrin with me whenever I go anywhere I even suspect won't have some form of it.