What the Experts Say | Acupuncture, Health, Research, Back,

What the Experts Say

ACUPUNCTURE

What do the experts say?

Current estimates show that 1 in 5 people in the UK use some form of complimentary and alternative medicine. Acupunture is by far the most popular.

Here at the T.C.M. Clinic in Denny we believe that Acupuncture has a beneficial treatment for a wide range of ailments and medical problems.

Well, we would say that wouldn’t we, what about hard evidence?

Research into Acupuncture has been carried out in USA, Canada, Australia, Germany France and UK, mostly on a small scale (less than 500 sample), and on specific illnesses and medical problems, i.e. blood pressure reduction, back injuries, Headaches etc.

All of this research shows Acupuncture to have a beneficial effect, and virtually all of it asks for larger clinical trials. Funding for such trials is hard to obtain.

Large scale clinical trials and research has taken place over the last 50 years in China. However, this evidence is not thought relevant by most Western academics, mainly because few translations are available and, it was carried out during the Cold War, where communist China, and all material coming from it was viewed with some suspicion. It has to be said however, that most Countries Health authorities would wish there own trials, to there own standards when assessing a treatment.

In this country the Department of Health Sciences at the University of York and the University of Sheffield Medical Care Research Unit have both published research into Acupuncture on specific ailments and found on all of the studies done, that, "Acupuncture had a beneficial effect."

The National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) whose remit is; “To produce independent research information about the effectiveness costs and broader impact of healthcare treatments and tests for those who plan, provide or receive care in the NHS.

NHS studies into lower back pain, carried out by (NIHR) on behalf of the NHS, concluded with the following.

“There are long term clinical and economical benefits in offering acupuncture care to patients with chronic lower back pain.”

These studies are part of widening debate about Acupuncture and the NHS.

Health writer and broadcaster Gill Cox, who, on her article on Acupuncture for the monthly Health Magazine Candis, writes that; “while UK clinical researchers forge ahead with super-drugs and treatments straight from sci-fi, increasing numbers of doctors are finding benefits in treatments used for thousands of years.”

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