There seems to be a long standing myth that there isn’t any research showing that acupuncture is effective and that we don’t have a clue how it works.  I try to disabuse folks of this by blogging about great research as it comes out.  Today I am posting a fantastic video, “Acupuncture Research Explained’, by the wonderful Mel Koppleman.  Mel explains the 3 different sorts of acupuncture research and how there is a lot of positive evidence for acupuncture in each of these 3 different areas of study.

According to Mel:

The video below breaks the acupuncture research landscape down into its main parts. This includes studies examining acupuncture’s: effectiveness (how well acupuncture performs in the ‘real-world’), efficacy (how well it performs in controlled settings) and mechanisms (how it works).

• Studies examining acupuncture’s effectiveness consistently demonstrate that acupuncture is as effective as if not more effective and much, much safer than conventional care for many conditions. (Even skeptics don’t argue with that one)
• RCTs of acupuncture that are well-designed demonstrate that it is more effective than ‘sham’ acupuncture
• Oodles of studies have illuminated at least part of how acupuncture works

The video is about 10 minutes long, so make yourself a cuppa and find a comfy chair. Please comment below with your thoughts and your questions and please share it with your interested colleagues and research-minded patients. Enjoy!