Acupuncture is a genuine treatment

The Straits Times
Feb 19, 2011
Saturday

ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

Acupuncture is a genuine treatment

DR ANDY Ho cited a clinical study which concluded that acupuncture is a placebo ('Pinning down acupuncture: It's a placebo'; Feb 12).

We think it is inappropriate to compare acupuncture with other forms of treatment.

Any two patients, even with the same diagnosis, may receive different treatments and each treatment may vary from the previous one.

Due to the complexity of treatment, clinical trials cannot conclusively determine the validity of the results. Singapore hospitals have acupuncture clinics to help patients because they know acupuncture's benefits.

Scientific studies prove that acupuncture can ease pain and treat ailments ranging from migraine to gastrointestinal disorders.

A research paper on scientific bases of acupuncture analgesia by the Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University proved its effectiveness and benefits to patients.

The World Health Organisation has listed diseases which acupuncture could treat, based on clinical experiences, and not necessarily on controlled clinical research. They are not meant to indicate the extent of acupuncture's efficacy in treating them.

Any medical care system, including evidence- based medicine, cannot guarantee that all diseases can be treated effectively.

Like all sciences too, acupuncture requires further research and, like all therapies, it requires knowledge, training, experience and practice.

Today, a student of acupuncture must enrol in approved institutions for the full course of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), which includes the learning of anatomy, microbiology, pathology and modern internal medicine.

There is no astrology in TCM. Students must sit the registration examination after their graduation before they can qualify as physicians.

The philosophy of yin and yang and qi in TCM is a biological condition, rather than a religious affiliation. To equate acupuncture, as Dr Ho's article did, with shamanism and blood-letting reflects ignorance.

In TCM, a differentiation of syndromes is applied because every individual has a different physical condition, thus requiring individual treatment.

Finally, Dr Ho may be pleased to know that TCM practitioners do not use horoscopes to diagnose patients.

Chew Say Yeow
President
Singapore Acupuncture Association