THERE is more to acupuncture than just the placebo effect, a brain imaging study suggests.
Clinical studies suggest that acupuncture can help treat a few conditions, such as nausea after operations, although for others, such as trying to stop smoking, it makes no difference (快猫短视频, 26 May 2001, p 42). But no one is sure exactly how it achieves its effects. Acupuncture can stimulate the release of painkilling endorphins 鈥� but so can pretending to insert an acupuncture needle.
To find out if there is more to it, George Lewith at the University of Southampton, UK, and colleagues split 14 people who suffer from osteoarthritis into three groups. All had a needle applied to an acupuncture point on the hand.
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The first group was treated with blunt needles that did not penetrate the skin. The participants were told this was not real acupuncture, and PET scans showed that only brain areas involved in sensing touch lit up.
The second group was treated with sham needles that retract into their shaft. This group believed they were receiving real acupuncture, and the scans revealed activity in brain areas that release endorphins.
In the third group, proper needles were inserted. Not only did the endorphin areas of the brain light up, but so did another area called the ipsilateral insula, which is known to be important in the perception of pain (NeuroImage, vol ??, p 1161).
鈥淏y indicating a very specific neuronal pathway for acupuncture treatment, this research is an important step forward for understanding the basic mechanisms involved,鈥� Lewith says. But was the ipsilateral insula merely reacting to the pain of a real needle? Perhaps inserting a needle in any part of the body would have the same effect.
鈥淭his research is an important step forward for understanding the basic mechanisms involved in acupuncture鈥�
鈥淚t is possible,鈥� concedes Lewith, 鈥渂ut we don鈥檛 know because we haven鈥檛 done it.鈥�
