Acupuncture, one of the most popular complementary
treatments, works as well as standard drugs for migraines,
German researchers said.
They compared the effects of real
and fake acupuncture with drug treatments for migraine
and found all equally effective.
"The main finding is that Chinese acupuncture is as effective
as drug treatment for the prophylaxis of migraine," said
Hans-Christoph Diener, a neurologist at the University
of Duisburg-Essen in Germany.
"Secondly, sham acupuncture is as effective as traditional
Chinese acupuncture," he stated.
All of the more than 900 patients who had been randomly
selected to receive Chinese acupuncture, sham acupuncture
or drugs reported similar improvements in the number of
migraine-free days.
"This tells us that Chinese acupuncture is not a very
specific treatment," said Diener.
Traditional Chinese acupuncture involves inserting fine
needles at specific energy meridians of the body to reduce
pain. In the so-called sham procedure the needles were
put in places that were not traditional acupuncture points.
The ancient Chinese therapy has been shown to relieve
nausea, stress, arthritis pain in the knee and pelvic
pain during pregnancy.
"What we showed is that acupuncture is effective but
we need more research to find out the biological effect
behind it," added Diener, who reported his findings in
The Lancet Neurology journal.
Migraine affects about 15 percent of people in Britain
alone. Symptoms can include intense throbbing on one side
of the head, distorted vision, nausea or vomiting and
raised sensitivity to light, sounds and smells.
An attack can last up to three days and prevent the sufferer
from carrying out normal, everyday activities. Although
anyone can get a migraine, it is most common between the
ages of 20 and 50 and most sufferers are women.
Over-the-counter and prescription drugs can help to relieve
the pain and reduce inflammation. Many patients also try
other therapies such as acupressure, homeopathy, osteopathy
and physiotherapy.
"The most important result is that all three treatments
were effective and that improvement in the number of migraine
days was closely similar in all treatment groups," Diener
said in the study.
"The decision whether acupuncture should be used in migraine
prevention remains with the treating physician," he added.
