How does acupuncture work? | RMIT University

RMIT University academic Dr Zhen Zheng explains how acupuncture works.

Watch other videos in this series http://goo.gl/sHD22

And if you have a question about how something works that you want answered, hit us up here ‪http://ow.ly/7LQJQ

Study Chinese Medicine at RMIT http://www.rmit.edu.au/chinese-med


Relevant links with further information about the research on acupuncture:
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture
http://rheumatology.oxfordjournals.or...

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  Education

[rmitmedia]

Thanks for your comments.

Acupuncture has a strong scientific base. Over 40 years, 3,975 papers have been published in peer-reviewed journals. Many studies have identified biomedical mechanisms that can explain the effect of acupuncture. It is now accepted for non-specific low back pain by the NHS in the UK, & is recommended for pain after operations by the National Health & Medical Research Council in Australia.

Shoot us an email at news@rmit.edu.au if you'd like the academic references.

[rmitmedia]

We have had some requests for these references. We have listed 2 good sites in the video's description which outline some of the research behind acupuncture.

[SeanTalksTooMuch]

Can "chi" be measured or defined? The peer-reviewed literature is abundant with studies that show acupuncture as being no more effective than placebo. Could you point me in the direction of peer reviewed studies that support acupuncture as an effective treatment?

I am just very skeptical of a treatment that has no clearly defined causal mechanism, holds a potential risk of infection and nerve damage, and to my knowledge has never been shown to be more effective than placebo treatment.

[rmitmedia]

@SeanTalksTooMuch Hi Sean, thanks for your comment. Drop us an email at interact@rmit.edu.au and we'll get someone to respond to you.

[GPeterD]

Agree with @SeanTalksTooMuch. Acupuncture is essentially discredited. Read Singh's book: Trick or Treatment and Bad Science website.(I have no commercial connection with the book nor any connection with Singh nor with @SeanTalksTooMuch.) It is amazing that unis (not just RMIT) promote practices that have little scientific foundation. Can someone please answer @SeanTalksTooMuch 's questions on this site, not as a private communication with him/her?

[Kaer Fyzarc]

Hahahaha, Acupuncture. Do you guys have a course in "Defence agains the Dark Arts"?

[M. Brown]

scientists and other rational-thinkers are skeptical of anything that isn't supported by evidence. Anecdotal evidence is not considered relevant evidence in the academic community, because if it was then there is plenty of evidence for ghosts, miracles, ufo's, etc. Because we know that pain is the result of nerves communicating back and forth to the brain, and that the placebo effect is very real and demonstrable, we can have a theory that explains acupuncture, but this doesn't justify its use.

[inaicrnd]

Tell that to David Ho, named "1996 Man of the Year" by Time Magazine for his role in developing the "drug cocktail" therapy that has been largely successful in prolonging the life of HIV patients.

The only difference between alternative medicine, and science based medicine, is that science based medicine has been vigorously tested and proven to be effective, without relying on anecdotal evidence.

It's best not to ignore all the valuable contributions from multitudes of real Chinese scientists.

[burf69]

I respect your opinion and applaud anyone who is skeptical, but consider this (taken from the wiki page): "A 2009 Cochrane Review of the use of acupuncture for migraine treatment concluded that "true" acupuncture wasn't more efficient than sham acupuncture, however, both "true" and sham acupuncture appear to be more effective than routine care in the treatment of migraines, with fewer adverse effects than prophylactic drug treatment".

[inaicrnd]

To elaborate, the acupuncture "theory" of Chi meridian points was invalidated back in 2009 with a study entitled "Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis".

It confirmed that the efficacy associated with acupuncture is no different to the effect experienced with random "sham" acupuncture points used as the control.

Studies may have shown the benefits of needle pricking in some cases, but acupuncture "theory" (or unsubstantiated 'hypothesis') has the same validity as a pair of dice.

Pseudoscience!

[inaicrnd]

How does acupuncture work? Through the abundance of people that lack the critical thinking skills needed to distinguish between the anecdotal based evidence of pseudoscience and real science-based medicine.

Current studies (Google is your friend) show that the efficacy associated with acupuncture is no different to the placebo effect experienced with random "sham" acupuncture points used as the control.

This means a pair of dice is equal to a 4 year degree in this rot. RMIT what a disgrace!

[H kn]

If acupuncture was invented by white people, there wouldn't have been so much skepticism. You know its true.

[ballsofstu]

Asking the tough questions. I have a background in biology and happen to agree with most of what you've said on this video. The biggest problem with alternative therapies is that they direct patients, time, money and attention away from empirically tested medicine. I have eczema and nothing infuriates me more than someone trivializing my condition by asking me "oh, have you tried taking lemon myrtle supplements?" or "you should rub manuka honey all over yourself every night before bed."

[mary Jones]

we know what corporations and capital interests want us to know, and that means what they CAN CONTROL and what they can SELL back to us, not amazing things like "energy medicine" and homeopathy which is essentially free.

[ujkavlasta]

I cant believe a distinguished Uni like RMIT actually promotes and teaches such quackery! The Australian Medical Association does not recognise this mode of whatever you wish to call it. Lets say fairy tale placebo.

In the video she says "lets imagine your body is a city, and a car is broken down...and lets imagine there are meridians and lets imagine there is chi"? and little green men and some fairies...give me a break! Really!??

4000 years ago you could be excused for using it...not now days.