Acupuncture

I've had a hard time accepting accupuncture. It's philosophical basis in Chinese medicine is completely unscientific. But, on the other hand, I've seen some incredible surgeries done under the anaesthetic effect of acupuncture. These are hard to believe if there is no efficacy in the treatment. Here are some bits from an article by Ed Young in Discover magazine with the title A biological basis for acupuncture, or more evidence for a placebo effect?:

Nanna Goldman from the University of Rochester Medical Center claims to have found a biological explanation for the pain-relieving effects of acupuncture. She worked with mice that had inflamed paws, and managed to alleviate their pain by using a needle to pierce a traditional acupuncture point near the knee. This painkilling effect only happened when she rotated the needles after insertion.

This effect depended on a chemical called adenosine, which typically surges in concentration after any stress or injury. Adenosine works by docking at a protein called the adenosine A1 receptor, which has well established roles in suppressing pain and is found on neurons that transmit pain signals. Indeed, other chemicals that stimulated this protein had the same pain-relieving effects as acupuncture. Drugs that prevent the body from breaking down adenosine led to even more potent pain relief. And mice that lacked the A1 receptor altogether experienced no pain relief from the needles.

So far so good, but then Ed Young hits you with a sledgehammer:

After reading the paper, you might walk away with that idea that we’re one step closer to understanding how a treatment with real medical benefits really works. It’s littered with statements like “A1 receptor activation is both necessary and sufficient for the clinical benefits of acupuncture” and “medications that interfere with A1 recep tors or adenosine metabolism may improve the clinical benefit of acupuncture”. In the study’s press release, lead scientist Maiken Nedergaard even says, “The new findings add to the scientific heft underlying acupuncture.”

But these results have to be considered in the light of those that came before it. As mentioned above, new scientific discoveries stand on the shoulders of giants and in the case of acupuncture – one of the most well-researched of all “alternative therapies” – those shoulders are particularly large.

Many trials have demonstrated that acupuncture does have some pain-relieving effects – that is not in doubt. And as Steven Novella notes, unlike things like homeopathy or reiki, with acupuncture “something physical is actually happening… so it is therefore not impossible that a physiological response is happening”. But the big questions are whether this effect is genuine of nothing more than a placebo.

Go read the article to find out why you may want to be a bit critical and hesitant to buy into the breathlessly reported discovery of the physiological basis for acupuncture's efficacy.