June 9, 2009

expert reaction to acupuncture and indigestion during pregnancy, as reported in BMJ Acupuncture in Medicine

The study concluded that acupuncture may help to relieve indigestion in pregnant women.

Edzard Ernst, Professor of Complementary Medicine at Peninsula Medical School, Exeter, said:

“The design of this study was such that it was virtually impossible to generate a negative outcome. We have recently shown this in a systematic review of all studies comparing acupuncture plus standard care with standard care alone.

“Due to placebo and other non-specific effects, the acupuncture group will always fare better on subjective endpoints. In this case, it is completely impossible to tell whether the apparent benefits are due to acupuncture or placebo. This type of ‘research’ is, in fact, not research but thinly disguised promotion. If the result is obvious before the research was even conducted, one could argue that the whole exercise is a waste of time, money and patients’ effort. Strictly speaking, this is even unethical.”