Acupuncture Placebo?

Acupuncture is Not a Placebo

Much research and personal experience say emphatically, "Acupuncture is NOT a placebo."

Richard came to see me for the sequelae of stroke. I continually tried to convince him to stop smoking, to no avail. One day he came in and said, "I've been thinking about quitting smoking." I said, "Great!" Nothing more was said as the conversation veered elsewhere, so as I treated him for the original condition, I also added additional points to stop smoking.

The next week he came in and said, "I've had the weirdest week. I have had absolutely no desire to smoke, and as a result haven't had a single cigarette! I have no idea why!" I responded, "Well, you said you wanted to quit smoking, so I added acupuncture points geared to help you quit." He jumped up and said, "I didn't say I wanted to quit! I said I was thinking about it!" We laughed. He quit because he had no desire, and had no knowledge that I had treated him for it.

Second experience: I belonged to a group of doctors and private pilots called the Flying Samaritans. We'd travel into remote areas of Mexico and treat for free anyone who needed care. Our clinics were equipped and staffed (when we'd come) with dentists and medical doctors mostly, and me.

One day, a woman there knew ear acupuncture was effective for weight loss/appetite control. When she learned there was an acupuncturist there, she spread the word, and soon I had 54 women lined up for ear tacks for weight control. One person in line was the wife of one of our pilots. I treated her as I had the others.

That night at dinner, her husband noted she wasn't eating and asked why. She said, "I don't know. I just don't have any appetite." He said, "Do you feel well?" She said, "I feel great!" Later, when she still wasn't eating, one of the doctors at the table repeated the same line of questioning. When he got the same response, he said (with derision), "Maybe Holly's acupuncture for weight loss is why you have no appetite." She said "No. She treated me for back pain." I looked at her and said, "No. You were in the line for weight loss. I treated you for appetite suppression." Her jaw fell open and so did the doctors', who were of the mind-set that acupuncture was placebo. No denying it works now!

Animals are another testimony to the effectiveness of acupuncture. They respond extremely well. Animals aren't subject to placebo effect.

Recent research published in the JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association) found that acupuncture had significantly greater reductions in pain than both non-treatment control groups and sham-acupuncture control groups. In a meta-analysis (review of multiple high-quality studies), acupuncture was found effective for reducing pain associated with osteoarthritis, headaches, shoulder pain, musculoskeletal pain, neck pain and back pain.

In addition, researchers from the Rutgers University Medical School have proven that acupuncture prevents inflammation. While sham points did not exert anti-inflammatory responses, only true acupuncture was effective in regulating both dopamine and cytokine levels, and produced anti-inflammatory effects.

The bottom line...acupuncture works!

Source of the article is here.