Acupuncture and electroacupuncture for the treatment of RA

Abstract

Although the results of the ~~Man 1974~~ study show that electroacupuncture may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain in patients with RA 24 hours post treatment, the reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trial, including the small sample size proclude its recommendation. The reviewers further conclude that acupuncture has no effect on ESR, CRP, pain, patient's global assessment, number of swollen joints, number of tender joints, general health, disease activity and reduction of analgesics. These conclusions are limited by methodological considerations such as the type of acupuncture (acupuncture vs electroacupuncture), the site of intervention, the low number of clinical trials and the small sample size of the included studies.

Semi-automated socio-anthropologic analysis of the medical discourse on rheumatoid arthritis: potential impact in public health

“…Geography The geographic origin and the knowledge of a language also affect the selection of the data used to build the articles. Namely, the article on drug therapies published in 2005 [51] by a group of researchers from Finland often points out that the presented approach is specific to northern European countries; the Cochrane Review on acupuncture [36] includes only articles in English and French, despite the fact that a large proportion of such studies are carried out in China and South-East Asia and are therefore (also) published in Asian languages. Finally, the geographical distribution of the reviews in Table 2 clearly posits the possibility of a Eurocentric bias of the biomedical discourse.…”

“…Yet, this statistical categorization is sometimes erroneously translated into a quality ranking and/or associated to lack of standardization, which represents a different and independent issue. As a consequence, we observe that meta-analyses are run discarding what are in fact appropriately designed noninferiority trials, biasing the meta-analysis conclusion as it is the case when comparing the articles on acupuncture [34][35][36]. In the case of acupuncture, moreover, two out of three reviews show a clear Eurocentric bias in the choice of selecting only articles written in English, despite the fact that this technique originated and is much more widespread in Asia.…”

“…Acupuncture provides a very clear illustration of this situation: while meta-analyses are generally characterized by purely statistical considerations, with no reference to the therapeutic nor biological rationale, we observe in [36] an attempt to forcefully refer to the biological mechanisms underlying the therapy using "electroatropines" propagating a concept presented once [83] in the '80s with no other relation to modern experimental biology.…”

Semi-automated socio-anthropologic analysis of the medical discourse on rheumatoid arthritis: potential impact in public health

“…Geography The geographic origin and the knowledge of a language also affect the selection of the data used to build the articles. Namely, the article on drug therapies published in 2005 [51] by a group of researchers from Finland often points out that the presented approach is specific to northern European countries; the Cochrane Review on acupuncture [36] includes only articles in English and French, despite the fact that a large proportion of such studies are carried out in China and South-East Asia and are therefore (also) published in Asian languages. Finally, the geographical distribution of the reviews in Table 2 clearly posits the possibility of a Eurocentric bias of the biomedical discourse.…”

“…Yet, this statistical categorization is sometimes erroneously translated into a quality ranking and/or associated to lack of standardization, which represents a different and independent issue. As a consequence, we observe that meta-analyses are run discarding what are in fact appropriately designed noninferiority trials, biasing the meta-analysis conclusion as it is the case when comparing the articles on acupuncture [34][35][36]. In the case of acupuncture, moreover, two out of three reviews show a clear Eurocentric bias in the choice of selecting only articles written in English, despite the fact that this technique originated and is much more widespread in Asia.…”

“…Acupuncture provides a very clear illustration of this situation: while meta-analyses are generally characterized by purely statistical considerations, with no reference to the therapeutic nor biological rationale, we observe in [36] an attempt to forcefully refer to the biological mechanisms underlying the therapy using "electroatropines" propagating a concept presented once [83] in the '80s with no other relation to modern experimental biology.…”

Systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture published 1996–2005

“…33 A second commented that acupuncture 'may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain' though 'reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trials, including the small sample size proclude [sic] its recommendation' . 17 Of the 35 reviews, six had an authors' strong conclusion of benefit (Table 1) meaning that authors made comments like 'acupuncture effectively relieves chronic low back pain' , 31 'supports the use of P6 acupoint stimulation in patients without antiemetic prophylaxis' , 26 or 'there is strong evidence suggesting that acupuncture is effective in the short term for lateral epicondyle pain' . 46 Of the 18 reviews with qualified or strong support for acupuncture, ten came from departments connected with complementary therapy.…”

Efficacy of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Osteoarthritis of the Lower Extremities: a Meta-analysis

“……”

Semi-automated socio-anthropologic analysis of the medical discourse on rheumatoid arthritis: potential impact in public health

“…Geography The geographic origin and the knowledge of a language also affect the selection of the data used to build the articles. Namely, the article on drug therapies published in 2005 [51] by a group of researchers from Finland often points out that the presented approach is specific to northern European countries; the Cochrane Review on acupuncture [36] includes only articles in English and French, despite the fact that a large proportion of such studies are carried out in China and South-East Asia and are therefore (also) published in Asian languages. Finally, the geographical distribution of the reviews in Table 2 clearly posits the possibility of a Eurocentric bias of the biomedical discourse.…”

“…Yet, this statistical categorization is sometimes erroneously translated into a quality ranking and/or associated to lack of standardization, which represents a different and independent issue. As a consequence, we observe that meta-analyses are run discarding what are in fact appropriately designed noninferiority trials, biasing the meta-analysis conclusion as it is the case when comparing the articles on acupuncture [34][35][36]. In the case of acupuncture, moreover, two out of three reviews show a clear Eurocentric bias in the choice of selecting only articles written in English, despite the fact that this technique originated and is much more widespread in Asia.…”

“…Acupuncture provides a very clear illustration of this situation: while meta-analyses are generally characterized by purely statistical considerations, with no reference to the therapeutic nor biological rationale, we observe in [36] an attempt to forcefully refer to the biological mechanisms underlying the therapy using "electroatropines" propagating a concept presented once [83] in the '80s with no other relation to modern experimental biology.…”

Systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture published 1996–2005

“…33 A second commented that acupuncture 'may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain' though 'reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trials, including the small sample size proclude [sic] its recommendation' . 17 Of the 35 reviews, six had an authors' strong conclusion of benefit (Table 1) meaning that authors made comments like 'acupuncture effectively relieves chronic low back pain' , 31 'supports the use of P6 acupoint stimulation in patients without antiemetic prophylaxis' , 26 or 'there is strong evidence suggesting that acupuncture is effective in the short term for lateral epicondyle pain' . 46 Of the 18 reviews with qualified or strong support for acupuncture, ten came from departments connected with complementary therapy.…”

Efficacy of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Osteoarthritis of the Lower Extremities: a Meta-analysis

“……”

Semi-automated socio-anthropologic analysis of the medical discourse on rheumatoid arthritis: potential impact in public health

“…Geography The geographic origin and the knowledge of a language also affect the selection of the data used to build the articles. Namely, the article on drug therapies published in 2005 [51] by a group of researchers from Finland often points out that the presented approach is specific to northern European countries; the Cochrane Review on acupuncture [36] includes only articles in English and French, despite the fact that a large proportion of such studies are carried out in China and South-East Asia and are therefore (also) published in Asian languages. Finally, the geographical distribution of the reviews in Table 2 clearly posits the possibility of a Eurocentric bias of the biomedical discourse.…”

“…Yet, this statistical categorization is sometimes erroneously translated into a quality ranking and/or associated to lack of standardization, which represents a different and independent issue. As a consequence, we observe that meta-analyses are run discarding what are in fact appropriately designed noninferiority trials, biasing the meta-analysis conclusion as it is the case when comparing the articles on acupuncture [34][35][36]. In the case of acupuncture, moreover, two out of three reviews show a clear Eurocentric bias in the choice of selecting only articles written in English, despite the fact that this technique originated and is much more widespread in Asia.…”

“…Acupuncture provides a very clear illustration of this situation: while meta-analyses are generally characterized by purely statistical considerations, with no reference to the therapeutic nor biological rationale, we observe in [36] an attempt to forcefully refer to the biological mechanisms underlying the therapy using "electroatropines" propagating a concept presented once [83] in the '80s with no other relation to modern experimental biology.…”

Systematic review of systematic reviews of acupuncture published 1996–2005

“…33 A second commented that acupuncture 'may be beneficial to reduce symptomatic knee pain' though 'reviewers concluded that the poor quality of the trials, including the small sample size proclude [sic] its recommendation' . 17 Of the 35 reviews, six had an authors' strong conclusion of benefit (Table 1) meaning that authors made comments like 'acupuncture effectively relieves chronic low back pain' , 31 'supports the use of P6 acupoint stimulation in patients without antiemetic prophylaxis' , 26 or 'there is strong evidence suggesting that acupuncture is effective in the short term for lateral epicondyle pain' . 46 Of the 18 reviews with qualified or strong support for acupuncture, ten came from departments connected with complementary therapy.…”

Efficacy of Transcutaneous Electrical Nerve Stimulation for Osteoarthritis of the Lower Extremities: a Meta-analysis

“……”