Acupuncture little better than 'sham' for migraine

BY AMY NORTON, REUTERS JANUARY 9, 2012

Traditional Chinese acupuncture seems little better than a "sham" version of the procedure when it comes to preventing migraines, a study published Monday suggests.

The findings, reported in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, add to a pattern commonly seen in studies on acupuncture and migraines.

Many have found that people with migraines can get relief from acupuncture. But often, "true" acupuncture has worked no better than "sham" acupuncture -- where the needles are inserted only to a superficial depth in the skin, or into sites that are not considered acupuncture points in traditional medicine.

That raises the question of whether acupuncture works by "non-specific" effects, according to the researchers on the new study, led by Dr. Ying Li of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in China.

That is, some people might feel better because they expect to, or because of the personal attention from the acupuncturist.

But other experts said that the findings do not mean that acupuncture offers nothing more than a "placebo effect" for migraine sufferers.

For the study, Li's team recruited 480 adults who had migraines at least twice a month.



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