The Daily Telegraph reported today that “even ‘fake’ acupuncture reduces the severity of headaches and migraines”. It said that a major review of acupuncture studies has found that the treatment can help people who suffer from headache and migraine, “even when the needles are put in the ‘wrong’ place”. It said that the success of both traditional and ‘sham’ acupuncture suggested a strong placebo effect.
This thorough systematic review looked at acupuncture used for preventing tension headache or migraine. Acupuncture was found to reduce the frequency of headaches compared to taking no preventative measures (such as drugs or relaxation techniques). The review also found that traditional and sham acupuncture seemed to have the same success in preventing the onset of migraines.
These results suggest that acupuncture can potentially reduce the frequency of migraine or tension headaches. However, a systematic review is subject to the quality of the studies that it looks at, and these studies were of varying quality. Additionally, the review does not suggest that acupuncture is better than medicine at treating attacks, and there is limited evidence comparing acupuncture to preventive medicines.
Where did the story come from?
Klaus Linde from the University of Munich, Germany and colleagues from universities and medical centres in Italy, the US and UK carried out the research. The work was published as two papers – Acupuncture for Migraine Prophylaxis and Acupuncture for Tension-Type Headache – in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
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