Sometimes, old technology is the best medicine. Acupuncture has been effectively used for centuries in Asia. One of the major challenges with acupuncture in the United States is this: you may not know whether your healthcare practitioner is adequately qualified. You can get licensed and certified in acupuncture.
Here are some groups you may want to get familiar with:
- National Certification Commission for Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
- American Academy of Medical Acupuncture
- American Board of Medical Acupuncture
- Acupuncture Society of America
Hi Dr. Kim,
ReplyDeleteOut of curiousity, what is your stance on "alternative" medicine? In my opinion, "alternative" medicine that works is simply medicine.
What concerns me is the willingness of medical doctors to subscribe to the ideas of a methodology that has been around for thousands of years--yet lacks any sort of clinical proof that it works. In fact, one study has shown "fake" acupunture to be more effective than "real" acupuncture. (JAMA. 2005;293:2118-2125)
I invite you to a blog I frequent, sciencebasedmedicine.com. There a panel of doctors from different fields post entries dealing with science-based medicine as well as the faith-based alternatives.
shawmutt, thanks again. I actually do frequent ScienceBasedMedicine. What is my personal stance on alternative medicine? It depends, and let me explain: I believe that certain alternative therapies work and are supported by clinical evidence. However, there are so many confounders (including the placebo effect) that it's hard to say whether a certain therapy will work for an individual. Therefore, if someone offers services in alternative medicine, how will I know if he/she is effective? How will I know if he/she knows what he/she is really doing? I am a strong proponent of the placebo effect, so that's where I think much of the benefit comes from.
ReplyDeleteI find the reliance on placebo effect in a clinical setting to be ethically questionable at best.
ReplyDeleteThe AMA goes further and rejects such practice: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama1/pub/upload/mm/369/ceja_recs_2i06.pdf
Sorry, link got cut off, it should be .pdf at the end
ReplyDeleteEven though the placebo effect is real, it is not ethical. OBECALP pills shouldn't be given out. I don't advocate alternative medicine purely for the placebo effect alone. I do think that complementary medicine has efficacy.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you believe that complementary medicine has efficacy?
ReplyDeleteThere is no evidence to indicate this. Meta-analysis of research has shown no effect other than a placebo.