Testing the claims of traditionally based acupuncture

Abstract: The author discusses the historical nature of acupuncture, examining issues that emerge in the investigation of traditionally based systems of practice. He proposes a three-step process for investigating such systems. The first step involves defining traditionally based systems and determining what constitutes sufficient evidence to satisfy such a definition. The second step identifies claims made by traditionally based systems that are characteristic of specific systems or all such systems. The third step explores implications for clinical trial and basic science investigations of acupuncture with examples of theoretical and methodological issues for both clinical trial and basic science studies. Many investigating acupuncture's clinical efficacy propound the use of research methods and models that, while useful to test some aspects of acupuncture, are often incapable of examining the very issues they set out to test. Few of the basic science investigations of acupuncture have focused on testing the nature of traditionally based systems of practice. Those that have focused on these systems usually lack the logical bridge between the research techniques they use and the models they test, without which it is difficult to clearly link the results of their studies to the theories or mechanisms that they sought to explore. Suggestions are offered of how to address these issues.

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