http://www.opposingviews.com/questions/does-acupuncture-work Opposing Views - Does Acupuncture Work? http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/meta-analyses-are-not-predictive According to a paper written about randomization in clinical trials, the authors' state "RCTs are considered the most reliable form of scientific evidence in healthcare because they eliminate spurious causality and bias." Most healthcare... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:37:24 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/meta-analyses-are-not-predictive http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/lame-and-false-argument-from-authority That some physicians are using acupuncture says absolutely nothing about the evidence for it. This is a lame attempt at an argument from authority. Further, the vast majority of doctors do no use acupuncture. In a recent survey only 6% of patients... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:37:03 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/lame-and-false-argument-from-authority http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/meta-analyses-are-not-predictive I did not ask for meta-analyses - rather I said that a systematic review of the literature is necessary to know what the evidence says. A meta-analysis is not a systematic review, and generally suffers from the "garbage in - garbage out" problem. A... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:36:58 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/meta-analyses-are-not-predictive http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/fmris-are-tricky The reason is that MRI's are EXPENSIVE.  To run a study with hundreds of patients performing before/after MRI's is cost prohibitive.  If we had all the money in the world to throw at detailed studies of acupuncture, it would... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:26 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/fmris-are-tricky http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/fmris-are-tricky I am a neuroscientist and have read much fMRI (functional MRI) literature. This is a very tricky technique requiring many subjects and strict protocol - because the brain is constantly displaying chaotic activity and responding to a host of internal... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:25 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/fmris-are-tricky http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/another-argument-from-authority Dr. Novella, you're burying your head in the sand.  Actuarial science has a high degree of accuracy.  If you SMOKE, your automobile insurance will be higher than a non-smoker because statistically you'll be in more accidents due to the... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:25 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/another-argument-from-authority http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/undeniable-evidence-of-acupuncture-and-knee-osteoarthritis Reddy claims that by my logic one study would show that acupuncture works - but this is the exact opposite of what I said. My point is that you have to look at the whole literature. One study is never compelling. Also - I am not checking picking - I... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/undeniable-evidence-of-acupuncture-and-knee-osteoarthritis http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/pre-scientific-yes-superstition-no None of this establishes the existence of qi, or meridians. These are pre-scientific notions that have been discarded by modern biology, chemistry, and physics. The vitalists lost this debate 150 years ago - there is no life force. Qi does not... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/pre-scientific-yes-superstition-no http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/according-to-nih-acupuncture-has-plausible-mechanisms First - the "NIH" statement was by the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM) and was packed with acupuncture proponents and devoid of skeptics or even neutral scientists. I hardly consider that statement authoritative or... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/according-to-nih-acupuncture-has-plausible-mechanisms http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/argument-from-authority This is an obvious logical fallacy - the argument from authority. I work at Yale and I have seen exactly how politics and misguided political correctness has allowed a minority of proponents to insert their preferred modalities into academic... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/argument-from-authority http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/another-argument-from-authority This is just nonsense. Insurance companies are companies - they will cover what is cheapest (whether it works or not, especially for symptomatic therapy, rather than preventive or curative treatments). Also, they want to attract customers and will... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:26:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/another-argument-from-authority http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/undeniable-evidence-of-acupuncture-and-knee-osteoarthritis You make the statement that under tightly controlled studies, the results of acupuncture are negative.  I beg to differ.  You also say that proponents of acupuncture "cherry pick" studies, yet you cherry pick studies with negative results. Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:25:58 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/undeniable-evidence-of-acupuncture-and-knee-osteoarthritis http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/pre-scientific-yes-superstition-no You state that "Acupuncture is the practice of placing thin needles at acupuncture points, which are said to coincide with points at which meridians cross..." I'm not too sure what comic book you read to learn about acupuncture, but in 361... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:23:36 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/pre-scientific-yes-superstition-no http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/animal-studies-demonstrate-measurable-changes Do the animals in these studies feel "good" about acupuncture or the acupuncturist treating them?  Do they have nice music in the background and candles burning during the experiments to relax the animals? In the study report entitled... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:23:30 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/animal-studies-demonstrate-measurable-changes http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/there-s-been-strong-and-reproducible-evidence-of-meridians You say that "Meridans andd acupuncture points are a myth".  Meridians or Energy pathways in the body that form the foundation of Traditional Chinese Medicine are, in fact, WELL DOCUMENTED, as early as 1950 by Yoshio Nakatani and later... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:23:28 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/there-s-been-strong-and-reproducible-evidence-of-meridians http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/according-to-nih-acupuncture-has-plausible-mechanisms Once again, according to the NIH consensus statement on acupuncture ( http://consensus.nih.gov/1997/1997Acupuncture107html.htm ), they state "Many studies in animals and humans have demonstrated that acupuncture can cause multiple biological... Bill Reddy Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:23:23 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/according-to-nih-acupuncture-has-plausible-mechanisms http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-anecdontes-not-data This is nothing more than an argument ad populi and appeal to anecdotal evidence. As I have already argued, blood letting survived for over 2,000 years as the standard accepted practice. The placebo effect is well documented, as well as a variety of... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:22:55 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/the-plural-of-anecdote-is-anecdontes-not-data http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/risk-vs-benefit This argument is yet another logical fallacy – a non sequitur. The state of modern science-based medicine says nothing about the purported mechanisms and effectiveness of acupuncture. You could use the same line of argument to... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:22:52 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/risk-vs-benefit http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/systematic-reviews-show-the-evidence-is-negative This argument shows very poor scientific reasoning. Arguments concerning mechanism of action and efficacy are mixed together in a confusing way. The lack of a plausible mechanism makes acupuncture very suspect, and raises the bar for an appropriate... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:22:50 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/systematic-reviews-show-the-evidence-is-negative http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/the-who-and-nccam Bill Reddy asserts that the WHO and NCCAM in 1983 have reviewed the evidence and support acupuncture as safe and effective for a number of medical conditions, but this assertion is simply wrong. Bill does not provide a specific reference or any... Steven Novella, MD Fri, 07 Nov 2008 10:22:47 -0600 http://www.opposingviews.com/counters/the-who-and-nccam