From the BBC News site

but ...

Placebo?

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You got it.

Remember that pain is in the mind.

No brain, no pain.

If you can somehow deceive your mind into thinking the pain has been eliminated then the pain is gone.

Of course the nerves are still sending their unfortunate messages from where the problem is, but the brain in this case refuses to acknowledge them.

Kind of like morphine et al.

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Since the real drugs didn't seem to cause the same placebo effect, I'd say either the subjects were more likely to believe in acupuncture than drugs (pretty sad), or the studies were performed poorly (also pretty sad). I would guess both.

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Todd (Bowie, MD, US, North America, Earth, Sol System, Vega region, Local Bubble, Orion arm, Milky Way Galaxy, Local Group, Virgo A Cluster, Virgo supercluster, the universe in which spock is clean shaven)

Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum sonatur.

personal page: http://blog.astrosketches.info

Sorry, I didn't check the actual studies, but I wonder, were they randomized? If not, I can see a potential source of bias. It is quite possible that people who go to an acupuncturist tend to be more susceptible to the placebo effect than those who go to a Western doctor.

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There's nothing wrong with acupuncture, if it is effective to certain people.

I haven't tried it .

I prefer the natural way, rest, some back massage.

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Jean
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"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing." - Albert Einsteiin

I would suspect I was getting a placebo if my acupuncturist started bringing out the safety pins.

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If someone started sticking long needles in me, I'd probably say whatever they wanted to hear in order to get them to stop. "Hey, what do you know, I feel much better! Can I go now?"