Feb 11 2010
New Acupuncture Research: A Needle in Bologna
Placebos can have treatment value and so they do have their place. If one thing can be safely said about acupuncture is that it has proven to effectively elicit a placebo-like response for a variety of conditions. But does it deserve to be classified as anything more than a placebo or placebo-like treatment? I don’t think so. Not at this point. Why? Because research has shown it to be no more effective than sham acupuncture: it doesn’t matter where the needles go or even if they penetrate the skin — the effect is the same (see the Skeptic’s Dictionary for more). Any expert on acupuncture should know this.
Alas, research underway at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago manifests ignorance. And likely promotes it.
The article announcing the new research, Young patients with chronic illnesses find relief in acupuncture, has much in it to criticize.
“Treating children with acupuncture is a new frontier,” said Dr. Paul Kent, pediatric hematology and oncology expert.
Yes, but is that a new frontier that you want to exploit with an ancient treatment of dubious merit?
“Acupuncture could be a potential solution to this dilemma of controlling pain in pediatric patients,” said Angela Johnson, Chinese medicine practitioner at Rush. [bold mine]
Sure, acupuncture could be effective. As could allowing the children to watch their favorite cartoons. Or a number of other benign therapy-ish activities. As for the bold text . . . egads. It seems they are already acupuncture-friendly at Rush, so I’m wondering how objective the results, and the reporting of the results, will be.
Now get a load of this. Here comes the bologna:
Acupuncture is the use of tiny, hair-thin needles which are gently inserted along various parts of the body. The therapy is based on the premise that patterns of energy flowing through the body are essential for health. This energy, called Qi, flows along certain pathways. It is believed that placing the tiny needles at points along the pathways reduce pain and improve the healing process. [bold mine]
What!!! That in a science article? How many people are going to swallow that bologna without chewing? If a treatment work is a separate question for how it works. And the above explanation is pure voodoo. There is absolutely no evidence for Qi and its presumed flow. None. And the fact that sham acupuncture research has shown needle placement to be irrelevant is strong evidence that the “points along the pathways” element is pure bunk.
The article closes with this sentence:
“Parents should be aware that integrative therapies like acupuncture can be helpful from the onset of disease and can have a tremendously positive influence on a child’s quality of life.” [bold mine]
Question: What do you get when you combine a treatment that effectively elicits a placebo-like response with a sales pitch consisting of ancient healing dogma?
Answer: Integrative therapies. Or, in this case, a needle in bologna.
Sales without substance has no place in modern medicine.
