It’s easy to scoff at 2000-year-old treatments that seem more like magic than science. In fact, from the 1970s until around his 2005, the scientific evidence showing that acupuncture works and why it worked was weak, and clinical trials were small and of low quality, so the skeptics’ point of view was understandable. .
But things have changed since then. a lot.
Thanks to the development of effective placebo controls (e.g., retractable “sham” devices that look like acupuncture needles but do not penetrate the skin) and the publication of several large, well-designed clinical trials in the past decade , we begin to build a solid foundation for truly understanding the effects of acupuncture.
How do you know if acupuncture really helps your pain?
Separate large-scale clinical studies have consistently demonstrated that acupuncture provides superior pain relief compared to usual care. However, most studies also show that there is little difference between real and sham acupuncture. To address this concern, a 2012 meta-analysis combined data from approximately 18,000 individual patients in 23 high-quality randomized controlled trials of acupuncture for common pain conditions. Ta. This analysis shows that acupuncture is superior to sham treatment for low back pain, headaches, and osteoarthritis, and the improvements seen are similar to other widely used non-opiate pain medications. has been conclusively proven.
Acupuncture also has an excellent safety profile, with few adverse events when performed by trained physicians. Meanwhile, basic science research on acupuncture in animals and humans has shown other potential benefits, from lowering blood pressure to long-term improvements in brain function. More broadly, acupuncture research has led to many insights and advances in biomedicine, with applications beyond the field of acupuncture itself.
Is it really acupuncture? that good?
We understand why there is still some skepticism towards acupuncture. There has been ambiguity in the language that acupuncture researchers use to describe acupuncture, and confusion surrounding the ancient concepts of acupuncture points and meridians that are central to the practice of acupuncture. In fact, the question of whether acupuncture points actually “exist” has been largely avoided by the acupuncture research community, even though the term acupuncture points continues to be used in research studies. Therefore, it is no exaggeration to say that acupuncture researchers are fostering skepticism about acupuncture, and a concerted effort is needed to resolve this issue. Nevertheless, acupuncture has emerged as an important non-drug option to help chronic pain patients avoid the use of potentially harmful drugs, especially opiates, which carry a serious risk of substance use disorder.
find a balanced perspective
Last year’s post about acupuncture dismissed acupuncture for headaches as an expensive, ineffective, and dangerous treatment. This has led us to point out the need to look at the existing evidence with care and balance, especially when compared with other treatments. Although the responses following this article were overwhelmingly supportive of acupuncture, there remain concerns that this treatment method attracts this type of attack. Acupuncturists and researchers must take responsibility for addressing deficiencies in acupuncture’s knowledge base and clarifying its terminology.
That being said, we need to recognize that acupuncture can be part of the solution to the immense problems of chronic pain and opiate addiction that plague our society. That this solution originates from an ancient practice with a theoretical basis that is incompletely understood by modern science should make it even more interesting and worthy of attention. Clinicians have a duty to their patients to learn about non-drug treatment alternatives and to answer patient questions and concerns knowledgeably and respectfully.
source of information
Acupuncture in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized trial. lancetJuly 2005.
Acupuncture in patients with chronic low back pain: a randomized controlled trial.JAMA Internal MedicineFebruary 2006.
Acupuncture in patients with tension-type headache: a randomized controlled trial.BMJAugust 2005.
Acupuncture for migraine patients: a randomized controlled trial.Japan Automobile Manufacturers AssociationMay 2005.
Acupuncture for chronic pain: a meta-analysis of individual patient data..JAMA Internal MedicineOctober 2012.
Study of Adverse Events After Acupuncture (SAFA): A prospective study of 32,000 consultations..Acupuncture in medicineDecember 2001.
Safety of acupuncture: Results of a prospective observational study of 229,230 patients and introduction of medical information and consent forms.complementary medicine researchApril 2009.
Safety of acupuncture during pregnancy: a systematic review.Acupuncture in medicineJune 2014.
Cost-effectiveness of adjunctive non-pharmacological treatments for knee osteoarthritis.pro swanMarch 2017.
Contradictions in acupuncture research: Strategies for moving forward..Complementary and alternative medicine based on scientific evidence,2011.
Long-term effects of acupuncture in migraine prevention: a randomized clinical trial.JAMA Internal MedicineApril 2017.
