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Sat 4 Mar, 2006 09:55 pm
Fake acupuncture 'as good as real'
BELIEF may be more important than medication in treating pain, according to a study which found migraine sufferers who get fake acupuncture treatment recover as quickly as people who take painkillers.
A German study of more than 1200 people found medication, real acupuncture and fake acupuncture were equally successfully in reducing the number of days in which patients suffered from migraine.
Researchers from the University of Essen were at a loss to explain why the fake treatment was so effective.
Lead researcher Hans-Christoph Diener said it was unclear whether the bogus treatment - which involved inserting needles into non-acupuncture points - had a physical or psychological effect.
"Needling at non-acupuncture points could exert biological effects similar to ones achieved when needling specific acupuncture points," Dr Diener said. "Another possible explanation of the mode of action of acupuncture is a powerful placebo effect. Placebo treatments exert powerful effects on pain modulating brain structures."
The patients were divided into three groups, one receiving medication for the pain and the other two receiving real or fake acupuncture. After 26 weeks, researchers found 47 per cent of those receiving genuine acupuncture, 39 per cent of those given sham acupuncture and 40 per cent of those given drugs had been migraine-free for at least 50 per cent of the time.
John Deare, chairman of the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association's research committee, said any insertion of needles, even in non-acupuncture points, would cause a physical reaction.
"When you break the skin with a needle, a neurophysiological change takes place in the spine and sends a signal to the body," he said. "But it may have been a mental placebo effect. If you get better, does it really matter how you get better?" "
Indeed.
Nothing like the brain!
In fact, "real" medication is often only very slightly more efficacious than placebo drugs.
I find acupuncture very efficacious for some things, and am very chuffed if to "just" leads my brain to make it better all by itself.
However, since acupuncture is now recommended for a number of things by the Australian medical powers that be, I suspect that, for those things (like chronic pain for example) that it likely scores better than placebo effect.
But wotthehell.....it is likely far healthier than lots of drugs.
dlowan, in hindsight this study should have included a group receiving placebo. but good point about acupuncture lacking side effects; do you suppose placebos can have side effects?
Oh my! Good question.
I imagine placebos would have side effects if we were warned about them.....
That is, if you gave placebos with the same side effects warnings as come with the active medication, then a percentage of us would get some of the side effects.
Don't tell my boss it don't work. He's an acupuncturist.
Any mother knows about placebos.
A kiss really does make it better.
In addition to the placebo effect -- "here, take this, it'll help" -- there is a documented laying-on-of-hands effect. That something about a medical professional of some kind listening, touching (if just incidental, steadying while listening to breath with stethoscope) and all the rest of it has a positive effect, itself. (Also supported by mothers' ability to cure with a hug and a kiss and some sympathetic listening...)
How many heads are enough to count?
Unfortunately... I believe that in order to look at this topic, the
data from such a very small scale simply can't be considered
scientifically serious, nor statistically significant. More data would
certainly be required.
Everyone is aware of the "placebo" effect. In fact, back in older
days, when patients never knew the name of what medication
they were taking - it was not uncommon for every town to have
AT LEAST 1 or 2 serious hypochondriac. And in order to satisfy
these patients need for the sensation of being medically treated,
the physician would order - (in Latin, of course) a placebo
specifying only the size of the gelatin capsule.
Lactose was the filling substance used. These were extremely
effective for the town hypochondriacs, but not helpful at all to
anyone in serious pain.
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