Acupuncture eases chronic pain--study

rnAcupuncture could be the natural cure for many patients with chronic pain suggests a new study. Acupuncture has been a popular medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but many people have remained skeptical, because the procedure has not been understood completely. Researchers found the needle pricking technique involved in acupuncture alleviates back and neck pain, arthritis and headaches. Lead researcher, Andrew J. Vickers, D.Phil., of Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York stated, “We thought for a long time that the reason why acupuncture worked was just because people believed it work. “We now know that the effect of acupuncture goes above and beyond the placebo effect. Acupuncture is a reasonable option for chronic pain.” Meta-analysis conductedrnIn order to compare the impact of traditional acupuncture, standard care and a sham procedure (performed with blunt needles that don't penetrate the skin) in relieving some chronic pain conditions, the researchers conducted a study. They analyzed data from previous randomized controlled trials (RCTs) involving a total of 17,922 patients from the United States, United Kingdom, Germany, Spain and Sweden. The analysis revealed patients receiving genuine acupuncture would have a 50 percent or more reduction in their pain compared with 30 percent in the no treatment group and about 43 percent having a stimulated procedure. Observations by investigatorsrnThe researchers found that both the authentic acupuncture and sham procedures were equally effective in lessening pain in patients compared to standard care. The effect was similar for chronic back and neck pain, osteoarthritis, or headache. This evidence suggests that it may not be the acupuncture itself, whether real or fake, but something about patients’ expectations and their interactions with acupuncturists, that helps the treatment work. The authors conclude, "We found acupuncture to be superior to both no-acupuncture control and sham acupuncture for the treatment of chronic pain. Although the data indicate that acupuncture is more than a placebo, the differences between true and sham acupuncture are relatively modest, suggesting that factors in addition to the specific effects of needling are important contributors to therapeutic effects." The study is released online in the Archives of Internal Medicine. A little about acupuncturernAcupuncture originated in China more than 2,000 years ago. It is a simple form of treatment, which has no side effects or risk of addiction. This technique involves insertion of very fine needles, (sometimes in conjunction with electrical stimulus), on the body's surface, in order to influence physiological functioning of the body. This therapy is known to reduce nausea and vomiting after surgery and chemotherapy. It can also alleviate pain and suffering. There are different theories to explain how acupuncture works, one is that the needles block the pain impulse as it moves through the central nervous system and prevent it from reaching the brain. Another is that the needles stimulate the release our bodies' own natural pain killers.