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Sat Jun 13 08:43:18 BST 2009

Many people have misrepresented this study.

Here is the way they present it:

Acupuncture is better than standard therapy.

Here is the way that they should present it:

Acupuncture is the same as placebo, when given in addition to standard
medical treatment. 

All of the patients were receiving the standard medical treatment. 

Some patients received individualized acupuncture in addition to
standard medical treatment.

Some patients received standard acupuncture in addition to standard
medical treatment.

Some patients received fake acupuncture in addition to standard medical
treatment.

If the criterion for not being snake oil is performing better than
placebo, acupuncture is clearly snake oil. 

Of course, this is just one study. It would be a mistake to base such a
harsh dismissal of acupuncture on just one study. 

Acupuncture has been studied before with the same result. 

Acupuncture = Placebo = Snake Oil

Tim Noonan.

Medscape needs to consider some continuing education on the scientific
method before they start hawking this swill. NCCAM proving exactly what
it is worth.

On Fri, 12 Jun 2009 23:24 -0430, "listasmsd" <listasmsd at gmail.com>
wrote:
> 
> >From Medscape Medical News
> 
> Actual or Simulated Acupuncture Therapy May Be Effective for Chronic Low 
> Back Pain CME/CE
> News Author: Laurie Barclay, MD
> CME Author: Désirée Lie, MD, MSEd
> 
> 
> CME/CE Released: 05/20/2009; Valid for credit through 05/20/2010
> 
> May 20, 2009 - Actual or simulated acupuncture therapy appears to be more 
> effective than usual care for chronic low back pain, according to the 
> results of a randomized controlled trial reported in the May 11 issue of
> the 
> Archives of Internal Medicine.
> 
> "Acupuncture is a popular complementary and alternative treatment for 
> chronic back pain," write Daniel C. Cherkin, PhD, from the Center for
> Health 
> Studies in Seattle, Washington, and colleagues. "Recent European trials 
> suggest similar short-term benefits from real and sham acupuncture
> needling. 
> This trial addresses the importance of needle placement and skin
> penetration 
> in eliciting acupuncture effects for patients with chronic low back
> pain."
> 
> In this study, 638 adults with chronic mechanical low back pain were 
> assigned to receive individualized acupuncture, standardized acupuncture, 
> simulated acupuncture, or usual care. All acupuncture groups received 10 
> treatments administered by experienced acupuncturists during a 7-week 
> period. The main endpoints of the study were back-related dysfunction 
> measured with the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (scored 0 - 23)
> and 
> symptom bothersomeness (scored 0 - 10), evaluated at baseline and after
> 8, 
> 26, and 52 weeks.
> 
> At 8 weeks, improvements in mean dysfunction scores were 2.1 points for 
> those receiving usual care, 4.4 points for individualized acupuncture,
> 4.5 
> points for standardized acupuncture, and 4.4 points for simulated 
> acupuncture (P < .001). Compared with participants receiving usual care, 
> those receiving real or simulated acupuncture were more likely to achieve 
> clinically meaningful improvements on the dysfunction scale (60% vs 39%;
> P < 
> .001).
> 
> In the usual-care group, symptoms improved by 0.7 points vs 1.6 to 1.9 
> points in the treatment groups (P < .001). Clinically meaningful 
> improvements in dysfunction persisted in the treatment groups vs the 
> usual-care group after 1 year (59% - 65% vs 50%, respectively; P = .02),
> but 
> symptom improvements were not significantly different among groups (P > 
> .05).
> 
> "Although acupuncture was found effective for chronic low back pain, 
> tailoring needling sites to each patient and penetration of the skin
> appear 
> to be unimportant in eliciting therapeutic benefits," the study authors 
> write. "These findings raise questions about acupuncture's purported 
> mechanisms of action. It remains unclear whether acupuncture or our 
> simulated method of acupuncture provide[s] physiologically important 
> stimulation or represent[s] placebo or nonspecific effects."
> 
> Limitations of this study include restricting treatment to only the
> needling 
> component of traditional Chinese acupuncture, predetermined number and 
> duration of treatments, limited conversation between the acupuncturists
> and 
> the patients, and lack of a medical care comparison group.
> 
> "The reduction in long-term exposure to the potential adverse effects of 
> medications is an important benefit that may enhance the safety of 
> conventional medical care," the study authors write. "The number of
> patients 
> who would need to be treated with insertive or superficial acupuncture 
> stimulation to result in 1 person achieving meaningful improvement in 
> function ranges from 5 (for short-term benefits) to 8 (for persisting 
> benefits)."
> 
> A National Institutes of Health Cooperative Agreement with the National 
> Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine funded this study.
> Lhasa 
> OMS, Inc, Weymouth, Massachusetts, donated the Seirin acupuncture needles 
> used in this study. The study authors have disclosed no relevant
> financial 
> relationships.
> 
> Arch Intern Med. 2009;169:858-866.
> 
> 
> 
> Open minded means being open to evidence.
>   Being open minded to things with no evidence means you've let your
> brain fall out.
> 
> Note: the 'open minded' defence is the classic tactic of alties. It
> signals that you have no evidence and therefore no argument, but just
> want to try and make the other person look bad. It's the equivalent of
> saying 'can't you take a joke' to someone you've just insulted.
> 
> Acupuncture has been extensively studied, as has the 'life force' and
> auras. See the James Randi Educational Foundation website, and more
> importantly, follow the challenge link on the site and see what
> happens when this stuff is put to the test.
> 
> I'm open minded - offer me reproducible positive studies, and
> falsifiable data, and I will change my mind in an instant. Belief
> should be reserved for religion, if you are that way inclined.
> 
> Fiona.
> 
> 
> 
> On 12/06/2009, at 6:50 PM, Lorick Fox, MPAS, PA-C wrote:
> 
> > Absence of proof is not proof of absence.
> > I tend to suspect that you are right, but as it has NOT been studied
> > (although there is some work comparing reports of "aura" among
> > people who
> > claimed to able to perceive such and it was neither consistent nor
> > supportive of their claims).
> >
> > I therefore reserve judgment.
> > I view keeping an open mind is the scientific approach.
> >
> >
> > Lorick Fox, MPAS, PA-C
> > Gianaclis Support Complex
> > +20-3-448-2335 or +20-45-240-9450
> > Fax +20-45-243-1191
> > Mobile +20-18-230-4448
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >>> To: Trauma-List [TRAUMA.ORG]
> >> Subject: Re: Alternative therapies (OT)
> >>
> >> There is no such thing as 'life energy' except the stuff that comes
> >> out of defibrillator paddles (and then only when it works)
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
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