少々古い論文ですが、興味深い内容ですのでご紹介します。
時々、ツボに鍼をすれば何でも治るとか、最後の砦みたいに思っている方がいます。
それは施術者も患者さんも。
ツボを外すと意味が無いとか。
冷や水を浴びせるようですが、一読の価値はあるかと思います。
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「片頭痛の鍼治療、ツボに打っても外しても効果は同じ? ランダム化比較試験結果」
中国式ツボでの片頭痛の鍼治療について、ランダム化比較試験の結果が米国の医学雑誌
JAMA(The Journal of the American Medical Association)に掲載されている。
それによれば、中国式ツボに鍼を打っても、ツボを外して鍼を打っても、その効果は同じとされている。
片頭痛と診断された302人の患者を、
(1)中国式のツボに鍼を打つグループ
(2)ツボを外して鍼治療するグループ
(3)鍼治療を行わないグループ
の以上3つのグループにランダムに割り付け、12週間にわたって頭痛症状の改善状態を比較した。
その結果、
治療を行わなかったグループと比較してはその効果が認められたが、
中国式のツボに鍼を打った群と、ツボを外した鍼治療の群では有意差が認められなかったという。
同論文は、鍼治療の片頭痛に対する効果は認められるが、
それは中国式のツボの効果ではなく、鍼による何らかの作用だろうと結論している。
Linde K et al.
Acupuncture for patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial.
JAMA. 2005 May 4;293(17):2118-25.
Acupuncture for patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial.
Linde K, Streng A, Jürgens S, Hoppe A, Brinkhaus B, Witt C, Wagenpfeil S, Pfaffenrath V, Hammes MG, Weidenhammer W, Willich SN, Melchart D.
Abstract
[CONTEXT]
Acupuncture is widely used to prevent migraine attacks, but the available evidence of its benefit is scarce.
[OBJECTIVE]
To investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture compared with sham acupuncture and with no acupuncture in patients with migraine.
[DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS]
Three-group, randomized, controlled trial (April 2002-January 2003) involving 302 patients (88% women), mean (SD) age of 43 (11) years, with migraine headaches, based on International Headache Society criteria. Patients were treated at 18 outpatient centers in Germany.
[INTERVENTIONS]
Acupuncture, sham acupuncture, or waiting list control. Acupuncture and sham acupuncture were administered by specialized physicians and consisted of 12 sessions per patient over 8 weeks. Patients completed headache diaries from 4 weeks before to 12 weeks after randomization and from week 21 to 24 after randomization.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Difference in headache days of moderate or severe intensity between the 4 weeks before and weeks 9 to 12 after randomization.
[RESULTS]
Between baseline and weeks 9 to 12, the mean (SD) number of days with headache of moderate or severe intensity decreased by 2.2 (2.7) days from a baseline of 5.2 (2.5) days in the acupuncture group compared with a decrease to 2.2 (2.7) days from a baseline of 5.0 (2.4) days in the sham acupuncture group, and by 0.8 (2.0) days from a baseline if 5.4 (3.0) days in the waiting list group.
No difference was detected between the acupuncture and the sham acupuncture groups (0.0 days, 95% confidence interval, -0.7 to 0.7 days; P = .96) while there was a difference between the acupuncture group compared with the waiting list group (1.4 days; 95% confidence interval; 0.8-2.1 days; P<.001). The proportion of responders (reduction in headache days by at least 50%) was 51% in the acupuncture group, 53% in the sham acupuncture group, and 15% in the waiting list group.
[CONCLUSION]
Acupuncture was no more effective than sham acupuncture in reducing migraine headaches although both interventions were more effective than a waiting list control.
[Comment in]
Acupuncture and migraine prophylaxis, probiotics and C. Difficile-associated diarrhea, preventive group counseling and postpartum depression, black cohosh and menopausal symptoms, deep needling electroacupuncture and trigeminal neuralgia. [Explore (NY). 2013]