Acupuncture? Cupping?! Why Doesn't The U.S. Military Just Hire Witch Doctors?
Harriet Hall writes at Slate that the military has not only used bomb detecting wands that worked no better than "a forked stick or a coin toss," but that quack medicine like the use of dowsing rods, cupping, and battlefield acupuncture are endangering troops:
Acupuncture has been tested repeatedly and found wanting. Studies have shown that it doesn't matter where you stick the needles, and it doesn't matter whether you pierce the skin. Stimulating intact skin with toothpicks or electricity works just as well. The crucial factor seems to be whether patients believe they are getting acupuncture.The claimed benefits of acupuncture range from treating infertility to aiding smoking cessation, but the evidence argues against its usefulness for anything but easing pain and possibly nausea. A recent comprehensive review of the literature by Edzard Ernst found little evidence that acupuncture is even truly effective for pain. He also found 95 published cases of serious adverse effects, including death. There is a double standard here: The quality of evidence offered to support acupuncture would not pass muster for a proposed prescription drug.
Some acupuncturists have accepted that the evidence is lacking and are now saying: "Maybe it's just a placebo, but let's use it anyway. Placebos are good." But placebos amount to lying to the patient. Surely our troops deserve better.
...One could argue that acupuncturists have nothing "evidence-based" to offer in the first place, but what is really alarming are the duties listed for the position. They include things acupuncturists are clearly not trained to do, like prescribing orthotics and braces and counseling patients on nutrition. Worse, the duties include providing cupping, moxibustion, and visualization techniques, none of which are effective and two of which directly injure patients. Cupping is the application of glass bulbs filled with heated air to the skin. It creates a vacuum as the air cools, sucking up wads of skin into the bulbs and leaving ugly bruises. Moxibustion involves burning mugwort on or near the skin and can cause burns and permanent scars (and does so deliberately in some forms of moxibustion).
...In this modern era, we should be looking at the best science, not reverting to anecdotal evidence and pre-scientific belief systems. ... The adoption of acupuncture by military medicine is a step backward.
Alt medicine has really corrupted the medical world. Even my interist suggested I try acupuncture for my back. Geez that's the last thing I expect to hear from an MD. They think they're being all helpful and open-minded.
Beware any clinic that touts an "integrative" or "wholistic" approach.
carol at August 21, 2012 12:41 PM
Tolerance of all faiths and religions is not confined to the non-denominational chapel. The witch doctor is tolerant of the Army's skepticism towards dried frog pills just so long as the check clears. I can tolerate another few months of this, maybe until 20 January.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at August 21, 2012 1:44 PM
It's part of the idea that to be fair, you need to give equal weight to all opinions and hypotheses. Like when people put intelligent design on par with the theory of evolution. "Well, we can't prove that it ISN'T true..."
It's a big crime to say, "No, your idea is stupid, and we're putting it aside."
MonicaP at August 21, 2012 3:07 PM
Back problems for 40 years. (lumbar region).
Six weeks of acupuncture treatments and I had a new back. I go in about every 90 days or so for a "re-charge" and I'm good to go again.
It didn't do anything for some shoulder problems I had, though. When I mentioned that to my orthopedic doc, he said that he wasn't surprised. But he thought it worked really well for spinal issues.
My two cents.
Yak at August 21, 2012 8:57 PM
My own two cents, and some: A woman acquaintance told me about the new alternative "Bowen" therapy she was learning, and she seemed pretty enthused about it. Tom Bowen developed this, in Australia, and he was later investigated for practicing osteopathy without a license. It came out that he was treating some 30,000 people-- horses, too-- each year, which didn't hurt his image. I was having arm muscle problems from blacksmithing, and two visits with her fixed my arm. She has worked on both of my horses, and the results were startling. I referred one of my horseshoeing clients to her, because her horse had an odd stance behind. Veterinary, chiropractic, acupuncture, had no affect. One visit from my Bowen friend corrected the horse, in less than ten minutes. The girl became a believer right away! During the time I was getting my friend's treatments, I never needed to see a chiropractor-- for a year and a half. Then we broke up.
jefe at August 21, 2012 10:47 PM
The only cupping I want to hear about involves my testicles.
I have numerous friends pushing detox stuff on me - dandelion tea, fruit diets, hot yoga (actually I'm a bit tempted by this one, sounds nice and manly)
http://www.yogaflame.com.au/
Just because I've given up the booze doesn't mean I'm open to every quack theory out there.
Ltw at August 21, 2012 11:14 PM
I'll just note that the placebo effect is real, and duck out of this one. It might work if you think it will.
I'm not likely to be helped, I tend toward the cynical side.
MarkD at August 22, 2012 5:23 AM
Actually dousing works. I have been using it for forty years to find buried water pipes. I can't explain how it works, but it does.
Joe at August 22, 2012 7:13 AM
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