Study reveals differences in the effects of ‘real’ and ‘sham’ acupuncture
The practice of acupuncture predates current understanding of physiology by several millennia, and modern studies have found it often provides measureable improvements in health outcomes, particularly in the area of chronic pain. Now, in a study reported in the journal Brain, a team of investigators based at the Athinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) sheds new light on the question of how. “Acupuncture is a medical therapy that originated in China several thousand years ago,” said Vitaly Napadow, director of the Center for Integrative Pain Neuroimaging at the Martinos Center and senior author of the Brain paper. “But despite its long history, the intervention itself — particularly when coupled with electrical stimulation — has significant similarities to many conventional therapies, such as transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS). A large body of clinical research exploring acupuncture for chronic pain disorders has demonstrated that it may be...