Canada Journal – News of the World Articles and videos to bring you the biggest Canadian news stories from across the country every day
Acupuncture won’t improve chronic knee pain in middle-aged people, scientists say.
In their study, real acupuncture using needles and lasers was no more helpful than sham acupuncture for chronic knee pain among people 50 years old and older.
For this study, the research team headed by Rana S. Hinman, Ph.D., of the University of Melbourne, Australia, recruited 282 patients aged 50 and older and randomly assigned them to one of four groups. 71 went to the control group, 70 received needle acupuncture, 71 had laser acupuncture and 70 underwent sham laser acupuncture. The therapies lasted for 12 weeks.
At 12 weeks, the scientists did not find any significant difference in knee pain and physical function between the three acupuncture groups.
These findings remained the same at the one-year mark. When compared to the control group, needle and laser acupuncture was tied to modest improvements in pain after 12 weeks. However, these improvements were not maintained at the one-year point. Needle and sham acupuncture improved physical function in comparison to the control group. These results were also not maintained at one year.
The scientists measured other outcomes, such as life quality and global change. They found no differences between real and sham acupuncture at 12 weeks or at the one-year follow-up.
Agencies/Canadajournal
