More evidence that acupuncture works Acupuncture is probably the one alternative treatment that both mainstream and natural medicine agree on -- at least somewhat. While the mainstream has yet to come around enough to give it a ringing endorsement, it has (albeit somewhat grudgingly) acknowledged that the studies done on acupuncture do show positive results. And those positive results just keep rolling in. Take the latest study, for example. It was the largest trial performed on acupuncture to date, involving over 11,000 participants, and the results were published in the prestigious American Journal of Epidemiology.
The condition in question this time around? Chronic low back pain. (No wonder the researchers were able to recruit such a large pool of volunteers: Back pain is one of the most common health complaints there is.)
According to the research team, previous studies of acupuncture's effects on low back pain have "yielded mixed results" (I'm not so sure about that: When it comes to alternative therapies, the term "mixed results" is usually code for flawed research methods. But I digress...). So they set out to determine whether this treatment is in fact a viable option in terms of cost and effectiveness for helping patients manage chronic low back pain.
The majority of the study participants were assigned to a nonrandomized acupuncture group, while about 3,100 were randomly assigned to either the acupuncture group or to a control group that received "routine care" for their back pain. After three months, more than 52 percent of the acupuncture group showed significantly better back function, compared to just 26 percent of the control group.
The researchers noted that acupuncture was more expensive than "routine care," but that the benefits the patients experienced did qualify it as a cost-effective method of treatment. Keep in mind as well that many insurance companies now cover at least some portion of acupuncture treatments: Check with your health insurance company to see if it's included in your benefits.
To find an acupuncturist near you, contact the National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine by calling (703)548-9004 or visiting their website, www.nccaom.org. |
