The
NIH (National Institutes of Health) Consensus Statement on
Acupuncture
"Acupuncture
as a therapeutic intervention is widely practiced in the
United States. While there have been many studies of its
potential usefulness, many of these studies provide
equivocal results because of design, sample size, and other
factors. The issue is further complicated by inherent
difficulties in the use of appropriate controls, such as
placebos and sham acupuncture groups. However, promising
results have emerged, for example, showing efficacy of
acupuncture in adult post-operative and chemotherapy nausea
and vomiting and in post-operative dental pain. There are
other situations such as addiction, stroke rehabilitation,
headache, menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, fibromyalgia,
myofacial pain, osteoarthritis, low back pain, carpal
tunnel syndrome, and asthma where acupuncture may be useful
as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be
included in a comprehensive management program. Further
research is likely to uncover additional areas where
acupuncture interventions will be useful."
This NIH Consensus statement was prepared by a
non-advocate, non-Federal panel of experts, based on
presentations by investigators working in areas relevant to
the consensus on November 5, 1997
