Acupuncture

Question: How might a person test the effectiveness of alternative therapies (e.g. acupuncture)?

(Posted by: bolmedias14 on 2008-11-22 07:57:48)

Whenever I think it over in my head, it sounds very difficult, because I can't for the life of me figure out how you would have a control/ placebo group. My only initial thought is that you would either put the needles in at different places (which may not be very wise), or maybe put needles in at the right places, but not to the full depth. Is this do- able? Would this work as an experiment?

Posted by: yoonhangkim on 2008-11-22, 10:29:19

Yes, in research that is done all the time. It is called control or sham acupuncture group. There is a treatment outcome effect through non-specific or placebo effect of acupuncture. Many randomized controlled trials use both treatment group (group receiving true treatment) and control group (group receiving sham acupuncture). Very common in research. Not done in a clinical setting due to ethical reasons of clinical setting being different than the research.

Posted by: tripeace on 2008-11-22, 08:52:45

Accupuncture is part of Asian Bodywork Therapy--ABT. This is also a part of massage therapy. Accupuncture needles are placed right beneath the dermis (visible layer) of the skin in order to access the corresponding energy channels in the body. You barely even feel the needles. It is similar to testing the effectiveness of a massage. When a massage client is experiencing pain, trigger points become tense (firm) and refer (send) pain to the area of the body associated with the trigger point. To determine effectiveness during a massage, you apply pressure and hold the trigger point for a few seconds to feel it softening, which means that the tension, which causes the pain is being released. To understand this, you need to have a working knowledge of the anatomy of muscles, such as their origin and attachment sites, bony landmarks and trigger points. That is the best way I can explain it.

Posted by: Peter H on 2008-11-22, 09:10:01

Good question. There are ways round this problem. If the patient does not know much about acupuncture it is perfectly reasonable to offer "sham " acupuncture (needles in the wrong place) to the control group. All the patients have to be fully informed of the details of the trial beforehand. The results need to be evaluated by someone who was not involved in the administration of the acupuncture. If the acupuncture was for pain, then counting the painkillers taken by each group is as useful as the patients' personal pain assessment. I know, for example, of one study in which acupuncture reduced the need for opioids in patients undergoing cardiac surgery. In that case the anaesthetised control group did not need the sham acupuncture.