There
was a study conducted recently that exposed acupuncture as pseudoscience. It
found the placebo effect may be the cause of any relief experienced from
acupuncture. Researchers studied forty-seven women being treated with aromatase
inhibitors. This is a medication for breast cancer that causes the user to
experience symptoms of menopause along with muscle and joint pain. Twenty-three
of these women received acupuncture for relief while the rest received sham acupuncture
where needles are placed randomly but not actually inserted. After the eight
weeks of this, all patients reported relief especially when it came to the hot
flashes. Because of this, it seems the placebo effect is responsible for the
relief. How else would one explain the relief experienced by the women who did
not receive acupuncture?
In
class we have talked a lot about the placebo effect so far. We have also
discussed how if people believe they will get better because of the steps they
are taking then they usually will. It seems this kind of thinking may actually
go along with acupuncture which has been around for a while. It would be
interesting to perform similar studies on a more varied group to see if the
placebo is consistently a factor. It is still believed to work because it is a traditional
way to find relief in many cultures.
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