He Says Acupuncture Is Quackery.

[Braden]

Out of curiosity, what's an objective qualifier for distinguishing between 'herbal' and 'pharmaceutical'?

P.S. Yes, the original article is ridiculous.

[Former castleva]

"P.S. Yes, the original article is ridiculous."

Why is that?

[Repulsive Monkey]

I think mostly because it is totally riddled with things just aren't true, and so his lack of decent research on the subject has lead to him potraying Acupuncture as something that purely is bollox.
Never would an Acupunturist inject sterile water or homeopathic remedies, never has acupuncture believed that initially that there was 365 points to match the days in the year , this is just crap information that I can only guess he got out of some cheap hippy, new age paperback.
Its also the blaring generalisations which he uses as fortified fact that astonishes me e.g. "The quality of TCM research in China has been extremely poor", I would love to know where he gleaned such erroneous garbage from.
The whole manner that this diatribe has been presented is so biased that there never was any intention in this persons mind to try and give accurate information so as to allow Acupuncture to be portrayed in a balanced way.

On the whole text like that should be quite happily disposed of as it seeks to purely be destructive for the reasons of baised supremacy of one idea over another. In this life not everything has to fall onto a linear top ten list with number one being the best and 10 needs to be avoided. However this is the nature immature and decreptid thinking.

[RAF]

Yahoo! News Tue, Dec 16, 2003

Acupuncture May Ease Cancer Pain
Mon Dec 15, 7:00 PM ET

Cancer patients who aren't getting enough pain control from conventional medications may be able to find relief in the ancient Chinese practice of acupuncture. A recent study found that this complementary therapy reduced pain by 36% in people with advanced cancer.

Acupuncture has been used in the United States for many years as a treatment for chronic muscle pain. Only recently, however, has it been tried as a remedy for other types of pain, including cancer pain, said Gary Deng, MD, PhD. Deng is an internist who specializes in integrative (complementary) medicine at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York. The center has a large service that provides complementary therapies like acupuncture, massage, reflexology, nutritional and herbal counseling, and music therapy to cancer patients and other community members.

The new findings, published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology (Vol. 21, No. 22: 4120-4126), add to a growing body of evidence that acupuncture can be effective against cancer pain.

Needles in the Ear

The French researchers studied 79 people at a clinic who had been treated unsuccessfully with conventional drugs for cancer-related pain. After rating their pain in a questionnaire, the patients were divided into three groups: one that received acupuncture with needles inserted into valid acupuncture points (points where an electrical signal was detected) on the ear; one that had needles inserted into placebo points on the ear (points not considered legitimate acupuncture points); and one that had steel beads applied to placebo points on the ear with a sticky patch.

The patients were instructed to leave the tiny needles and steel beads in place until they fell out on their own. (Typically, in the US, needles would be removed after 20-40 minutes, and are not usually inserted in the ear.) After 1 month, the patients returned and rated their pain again.

All the participants reported similar levels of pain before the study began. But at the second evaluation, the people who got true acupuncture ? needles in acupuncture points - reported less pain than people in the other two groups. After 2 months, people in the acupuncture group reported a 36% drop in their pain level, while people in the placebo group reported only a 2% decline.

Acupuncture Not for Everyone

"For people who have acute pain, or just started having pain, the typical treatment is NSAIDs [non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs] or narcotics, and they might respond very well to that," he said. "But for people with intractable pain, when conventional treatment isn't producing results, it's reasonable to try acupuncture from a trained, experienced practitioner," Deng said.

But not all cancer patients are suitable candidates for acupuncture, he warned. People who have a low white blood cell count (neutropenia) or low blood platelets (thrombocytopenia) are at greater risk of infection and bleeding. Likewise, a patient with lymphedema (a swelling of the arms or legs) might have a higher risk of infection if acupuncture is performed on the swollen limb.

Experience Counts

Cancer patients who are considering acupuncture should talk with their doctor to make sure it's a safe option for them, Deng said. And finding an experienced acupuncturist is key.


Lily Zhang, MS, who manages the acupuncture program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, agreed.


"It's important that the acupuncturist should have experience working (news - web sites) with patients who have cancer, or at least experience working with patients in the hospital," she said. "The acupuncturist should have a close relationship with the oncologist so if there are any concerns, the acupuncturist can communicate it to the doctor right away."


It's a good idea, Zhang added, for a cancer patient to bring treatment notes to acupuncture therapy, so the acupuncturist can see what type of treatment the patient is receiving and adjust the acupuncture accordingly.

[aelward]

I agree, this guy tries to appear objective but his own framework of understanding is too stilted. Just the fact that he does not mention that most of the organ punctures in the United States are the result of poorly trained M.D.s trying to do acupuncture says a lot about his belief that acupuncturists should have medical training.

Interestingly enough, while most acupuncturists do not have MDs, most curriculae in the United States have significant portions dedicated to Western Medicine-- while programs in Asia are even more stringent.

From the guy's attitude, I would guess that he does not see patients himself because the demogoguery of his attitude would be sure to turn off a lot of people...

[yuanfen]

John-
acupuncture definitely hasa place ine the healing systems. No healing system is a cure all. I would go only to an experienced and well trained acupuncturist.
I would not go to an MD or a chiropractor doing acupuncture.
Years ago an acupuncturist was not able to help me with my hearing loss-though there was a tempoary improvement. Could be that I should have finished the recommended number of treatments which I didnt..
My current acupuncturist has helped me and others substatntially.
He is very good in both diagnosis and treatment. He also was a faculty member in Tianjin and his training included western med courses as well in the first several years.
I have osteoarthritis in my left knee and narrowing of bone space
in the knee joint and bone spurs to boot. Given my love of CMA- an artificial knee is out of the question-it would put an end to stancing, kicking , footwork abd everything else except walking pain free. (An orthopedist was shocked at what I could do with that knee- in spite of the xrays)
Ibuprofen does zilch for me. But accupuncture treatments keeps my pain at bay and keeps me efficient and mobile and effective in martial arts.
There are good and bad MDs- a bad one can kill you. And there are good and bad acupuncturists.
BTW my acupumcturist is an herbalist too and has helped people who I have known.
Aletrnative medicine including good acupuncture is definitely here to stay.

[fragbot]

Originally posted by prana
Eastern medicine works on a very spiritual level.

I'd like to use this as my signature. Would you mind if I did? I'd be sure and attribute it to you.