Unanticipated insights into biomedicine from the study of acupuncture

A selection of abstracts of clinically relevant papers from other journals. The abstracts on this page have been chosen and edited by John R. Radford.

Abstract

The doctor, or dentist, as a 'walking placebo'.

Main

MacPherson H, Hammerschlag R et al. J Altern Complement Med 2016; 22: 101–107

Interventions for one condition have yielded treatment modalities for others. A dental example of such serendipity, applying to implants, are the potential benefits of platform switching; a manufacturing company experienced a delay in the production of the prosthetic component with, as a consequence, a dimensional mismatch between the components (Int J Periodontal Restor Dent 2006; 26: 9–17). This literature review gives five examples of how acupuncture has afforded insights into the understanding of treatment approaches discovered by chance. In this abstract only one example will be described. Acupuncture has enhanced the understanding of the placebo effect following the use of a modified acupuncture needle as a sham device for patients with irritable bowel syndrome. 'Escalating “doses” of placebo' by using 1) observation alone, 2) observation plus sham acupuncture, and then 3) observation plus sham acupuncture and positive patient-provider relationship, has been shown to increase symptom relief. Acupuncture is used in dentistry, although some consider it fringe.