Acupuncture in Scientific American on PBS

[Guest guest]

In preperation for an article that i am preparing on the standards and

results of Acupuncture trials, i have become rather immersed in the

subject. As it happens this evening i was watching Scientific American

on PBS. What drew me was the discussion of an L-Dopa trial with

Parkinson's patients. In this study a placebo saline solution prompted

the exact firing of Dopamine receptors as the actual drug.

The next section of the episode then covered Acupuncture and i want to

briefly write about one aspect of the episode (though there are many

that noteworthy and profound to the practice of the medicine).

Firstly, in the L-Dopa study, i was curious to see what questions

would then be asked of the physician as to the tangible effects of the

placebo and how they then compared to the questions raised in Acu trial.

In the Acu trial Alda asked the L.Ac. who was part of the trial how he

would feel if " sham " needles were found to produce results similar to

" real " needles? He asked essentially that if Acupuncture is placebo

driven, you're profession might be placebo (ie. of no to little

worth), where would the practitioner's profession stand if that's the

case? "

Understand that the show was mostly favorable to the medicine, but one

must look to subtext and philosophic bias whenever the medicine is

addressed.

The L-Dopa physician was never asked such a question. If i was to have

conducted the interview i would have asked " if there is no discernible

difference between this very strong mind altering drug with serious

side effects and placebo, how do you justify using the drug? Aren't

you concerned that chemical based medicine is at risk if the placebo

causes the same response. Can't we extrapolate issues with all such

trials? " But this question wasn't asked.

The other issue that i personally have is the explanation that

Acupuncture works because of this mysterious rather unscientific (ie.

primitive) notion of " Qi " that runs through these as yet unidentified

things called meridians.

I personally have never stated to a patient that the medicine works in

this manner. I do not believe this to be the case, and if i did, i

would still offer multiple viewpoints. I find it unfortunate and

damaging to the profession that this stereotype of diagnostic

understanding is perpetuated in the media.

It's also interesting to note that the Diagnosis the Chinese

practitioner was " Heart Qi Deficiency " , i laughed as i had just read

the recent posts concerning herbal diagnostics not applicable to

Acupuncture. In fact i had predicted that the first person to discuss

the medicine would be an old Chinese practitioner using phrases the

American population would not understand.

On the positive side Dr. Kaptchuk has created a " sham " needle that

does not penetrate the skin, this will provide much cleaner data for

future trials.

Regards, Tymothy