There’s a new study that’s making the rounds about how ZOMG ACUPUNCTURE WORKS!!!! Only, the trouble is that the study really doesn’t say that at all. Orac made a good post about the reaction from media and how this is really a clear case of spin, but I was really impressed with the article Steven Novella wrote that first talks about the actual science of the discovery, and then talks about the spin.

In broad strokes, there was a study which you can read here that looked at acupuncture as a means of pain management. They used mice as a model, which is a correct first step but hardly the be-all-end-all of research that needs to be done on the topic. What they found was that using acupuncture needles triggered the release of adenosine triphosphate, which, quoting from Dr. Novella, “correlates with a decreased pain response in the mice. Further, if drugs are given that prolong the effect of adenosine, the analgesic effect itself is prolonged.”

That’s great news. However, it has nothing to do with acupuncture unless you can then use this to validate any of the particular claims of acupuncture. Is there something about the particular needles or style of insertion that is unique to acupuncture and triggers the adenosine reaction that cannot be triggered by other needles of insertion methods? Does the adenosine reaction only occur along the alleged meridians of acupuncture?

The reality is that it’s great news. Pain management is a major issue for the health care system on the whole, and if we can find ways to utilize this adenosine reaction properly, it may well lead us to solutions that are less threatening in terms of addiction and harmful side effects. However, this would need to be studied before we can ethically determine that it’s actually safe on people and will result in the effects we are imagining. There’s a lot of work to do here to validate the claim, and we’re really early on in this particular game. Mice are good models, but that hardly means their reactions will be the same as ours. How much pain can we realistically manage in this way? Stubbed toe pain? Surgery pain? Chemotherapy pain?

But the creepy side of this story is of course the spin. Rather than focus on the interesting pain management side of this evidence, the practitioners have leaped straight to arguing that it is proof of the effectiveness of acupuncture. But as I have said, there is nothing in their experiment that tests acupuncture at all. If they were testing acupuncture, they would have to have comparable tests run that would show that the particulars of acupuncture were what actually made the difference, rather than a pain stimulus that could as easily be a toothpick as an acupuncture needle.

By spinning the idea into proof that acupuncture works, they’re attempting to mislead the public into faith in a system of so-called medicine that has yet to stand up to any kind of legitimate scientific evaluation. And pain management is just one of the zillions of health claims that acupuncturists make, none of which have any rigorous science behind them to validate the claims. It’s absolutely interesting research and could very well lead us in new directions in terms of pain management, but it is anything but a confirmation of acupuncture.

Jim