4.7: Does acupuncture work?
Description
This article is from the Scientific Skepticism FAQ, by Paul Johnson Paul@treetop.demon.co.uk with numerous contributions by others.
4.7: Does acupuncture work?
There is evidence that acupuncture treatment has an analgesic ("pain
killing") effect. The mechanism seems to involve the endogenous
opiate system (at least in part), but the exact mechanism by which
endogenous opiates are released by acupuncture skin stimulation is not
yet known. It does not appear that the effect can be explained simply
by pain caused by the needles. However it is possible to achieve
similar effects by suggestion alone, suggesting that acupuncture is no
more than a placebo.
There have been reports of measurable physiological effects,
apparently via local changes in the activity of the sympathetic and
parasympathetic nervous systems. While much more detail remains to be
elucidated, this is at least a testable hypothesis which brings
acupuncture within the realm of science.
This suggests that acupuncture might be a useful tool in pain
management, but that it is unlikely to be of value in curing the
underlying cause of the pain.
The traditional theory of acupuncture involves balancing the yin and
yang (male and female principles) which flow in pathways through the
body. Nothing bearing any resemblance to this has been found by
medical researchers.
References:
Skrabanek, Petr: Acupuncture: Past, Present and Future. In: Examining
Holistic Medicine by Stalker D & Glymour G (eds), Prometheus Books, NY
Skrabanek, Petr: Acupuncture and Endorphins. Lancet 1984;i:220
Skrabanek, Petr: Acupuncture and the Age of Unreason. Lancet
1984;i:1169-1171
Skrabanek, Petr: Acupuncture-Needless Needles. Irish Medical
Journal1986;79:334-335
A 1977 study, Stern, Brown, Ulett, and Sletten, 'A comparison of
hypnosis, acupuncture, morphine, Valium, aspirin, and placebo in the
management of experimentally induced pain,' Annals_of_the_New_York"
Academy_of_Sciences, 296, 175-193, found that acupuncture,
morphine, and hypnostic analgesia all produced significantly reduced
pain ratings for cold pressor and ischemic pain.
Mayer,Price, Raffi, 1977,
"Antagonism of acupuncture analgesia in man by the narcotic
antagonist naloxone," "Brain_Research", 121, 368-372.
Sjolund, Terenius, Erikson, 1977,
"Increased cerebrospinal fluid levels of endorphins after electroacupuncture,"
Acta_Physiologica_Scandinavica, 100, 382-384.
"Practical application of acupuncture analgesia" and it's by Cheng,
SB (1973 Apr 27), "Nature 242(5400)": 559-60.
"Electrophysiological measures during acupuncture-induced surgical
analgesia" by Starr A (1989 Sep) "Arch Neurol 46(9)": 1010-12.
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