Acupuncture Research

The science of Chinese medicine can be traced in its 2,000 year old clinical record, an unbroken legacy of healing work, passed on to today's students. However, as acupuncture use becomes more widespread in Western culture, it is understandable that its effects should be investigated by the standards of Western medicine.

When it comes to scientific standards of research, especially involving a double-blind placebo study, acupuncture, as a wholistic practice, presents unique challenges.  Among these are:

• The approach of acupuncture is to treat a person, not a disease; current Western research focuses on specific diseases/symptoms and looks for treatments to alleviate them. The acupuncturist's primary concern is with a human body/mind/spirit system, and how imbalance manifests as symptoms. This makes every acupuncture treatment unique, creating difficulties with the model of research that relies on large populations with the "same" condition being given the "same" treatment to prove effectiveness.

• The practice of acupuncture, especially as it is taught at the Swedish Institute, has both an "outer" and an "inner" aspect. Capturing the outer aspect—which might be measurable as blood, vital signs or function—is being pursued in controlled studies. However, the inner aspect—finding personal meaning and spiritual connections, also within the scope of practice of some acupuncturists—defies efforts to be standardized and quantified. The inner aspect can only be captured through individual stories.

• The insertion of a needle, the relationship between patient and practitioner, the patient's participation in the event, are crucial aspects of an acupuncture treatment that are difficult to match with a credible "placebo". (See the article by faculty member Wendy Whitman, L.Ac. on The Challenge of Acupuncture Research in SInews Vol. 2, Number 1, Page 8.)

Researchers are responding to the challenge. The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine (NCCAM), established by the National Institutes of Health in 1997, has recognized the unique approach of acupuncture treatments. Of the clinical trials in acupuncture funded by the NCCAM in 2001, forty percent allowed practitioners to assess patients and treat them according to the principles of Asian medicine, instead of using a standardized protocol.

Funding by the NCCAM for acupuncture research has steadily increased; in 2003 it allocated $9.5 million for eight acupuncture research projects.

An informative article that addresses questions raised by the energetic paradigm acupuncture introduces can be found in "Recommendations Regarding Definitions and Standards in Healing Research", in the February 2004 issue of the Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, the official journal of the Society of Acupuncture Research (SAR).

 Acupuncture Research Sources  >