Is Acupuncture...Real Medicine?

Acupuncture? Or Quackupuncture?

It's a complex topic, and most definitely a controversial one, and depending on who sits next to you on a flight out of Portland -  it can be a conversation that ignites as soon as it begins.A couple of years ago, I was seated next to an older man on a 4 hour flight from Portland to Chicago. When all my stuff was tucked away, I sat down and said hello. I figured that if I was going to rub elbows with my neighbor for more than a few hours, I could at least introduce myself. My neighbor happened to be a retired M.D. who, upon hearing that I was an acupuncturist, launched into a rambling history of his career as a surgeon. He mentioned "preventative hysterectomies" more than once, a surgery of which he seemed particularly proud.  Truth be told: he was incredibly annoying, but I kept my mouth shut and tried to keep my judgment at a minimum.But then, the cincher.He actually said the words acupuncture, quackery, and snake oil. All words, of course, in relation to Traditional Chinese Medicine. Then he wagged a finger at me and spoke to me like wee child and told me about the superiority of his medicine in relation to the "folk lore of the Orient."I looked at him squarely and said, in a not-so-nice-tone, "Preventative is an interesting word choice for a hysterectomy-happy thief and I'm quite sure the only person in aisle 9 who has practiced preventative medicine is me."Then he called me "darling."I was at a roiling boil. In a moment of desperation, I rang the flight attendant, ordered a small bottle of whiskey to add to my watery coffee (for the sake of transparency... not a good choice for a flare of liver qi), stuffed my earbuds in my earholes, reclined my seat, and pulled the North American Journal of Oriental Medicine out of my bag to read about the practical uses of moxibustion.The word "harumph" is the only way I can describe his reaction. And by the way, he got up at least 6 times to use the bathroom, which, you know, is an embarrassing issue that acupuncture can help alleviate. (Just a thought.)When I arrived at my intended destination, I called a fellow acupuncturist and set a time to get a treatment. She treated my liver and released me back into the wild, my spirit refreshed. Acupuncture cleared my Incredible Hulk-like anger faster than an old man can steal a uterus from a woman whose uterus might have been just fine. And I don't mean this as a bad joke, since this kind of thing is a reality. So, yeah. I felt better after getting acupuncture. I even sent the old goat a couple of qi needles to his kidneys/bladder to try and help him pee less often. But something occurred to me (other than Just let it go) while I was on the table, the acupuncture needles working their subtle magic. I realized that although I can always find it within myself to hold the space for others to have their opinions, there really was no need for him to belittle me. Which meant that much of my anger was real, healthy, and served a purpose. I had to find a way to channel the energy from that anger in a productive way, and do my best to let go the part of that anger that threatened to stitch my stomach to my liver.My conclusion, after leaving acupuncture with a clear head and a softened belly: I never again wanted to be in a position like that, next to Doc Crotchet, without being able to proficiently defend my medicine in all relevant languages. In other words, I needed to practice talking about Traditional Chinese Medicine in the language of the predominant medical establishment, which is Western biomedicine. Though I had hundreds of conversations with open-minded biomedical practitioners who had a genuine interest/curiosity about acupuncture, it was not the first time that someone had dismissed me as a quack because my medicine did not fit within the boundaries of how they understood medicine, health, and healing.When I got home, I read through my research notes, then refreshed my understanding of the current  biomedical theories on how acupuncture actually works. And since biomedicine is very much structured around research, I figured that the first place would be to start was there. Here's what I've come up with, starting with the 'gold standard of research.'

The Gold Standard of Research

In biomedicine, the gold standard in the world of research is the double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial (RCT). It's the accepted scientific methodology that when performed produces (ideally) knowledge "untainted by bias" in which physicians base (much of) their decisions within their practice.So, let's do a quick review about what this means, and put the information in EPL (everyday people language).Placebo-controlled: Some of the people in the study are given the real treatment, and others are given the fake treatment (placebo).Double-blind: Neither the researchers or the participants in the study know if the participant got the real treatment or the fake treatment (the placebo).Randomized: Assigning participants to the real treatment or the fake treatment is done randomly (i.e. a more complex version of "flip a coin to see who gets what")

The RCT and Acupuncture

It's important to recognize that the profession of Chinese medicine has embraced biomedicine as a whole, including the importance of RCTs. Hundreds of RCTs have been done to assess the efficacy/effectiveness of acupuncture; however, interpreting these findings is no simple task. In fact, believe it or not, it's pretty complicated.Complicated, but fascinating! Read on.