You really don’t have to ‘dumb down’ JAMA… It’s actually a fairly readable publication, especially the non-investigational articles like the one you link to. The article is a nice little overview.

Of course, if you also look at the JAMA archives at the articles there about acupuncture, you get a pretty mixed bag of results as to whether or not acupuncture actually works better than a placebo. Out of the articles I surveyed, it seemed like about half reported that acupuncture had no greater effect than a placebo treatment. Of the articles that posted positive results, many included no placebo control, and several others suffered from small statistical groups — which does sort of seem to place their results more fully in the ‘more investigation needed’ camp than the ‘this shit is gold‘ camp. What I found particularly convincing as evidence that acupuncture was no more than a placebo effect with a thousand years of tradition to give it weight was the study that seemed to show that inserting acupuncture needles at random points on the body had just as much effect as needles inserted in the proper acupuncture spots.

Needless to say, I remain wholly unconvinced. But hey, who doesn’t want a cheap, effective method of treating some of mankind’s common ailments — if, after more research, it comes out that acupuncture actually works better than the placebo effect, I’ll go ahead and jump on the bandwagon. Until then though, I’ll just keep taking aspirin when I get a headache — I believe in aspirin, after all.

The lukewarm results that have appeared thus far in credible sources certainly don’t do much to justify the rather outrageous claims made by many acupuncture practitioners, and I just don’t want to be the latest of a thousand-year-long progression of guinea pigs. It’s good that the FDA started regulating acupuncture (the needles, actually), but again — that just isn’t evidence that it works, it’s just evidence that the FDA is concerned that people might end up hurt.

Alright, Zonath, you can read JAMA. Right?

I’ll dumb it down for you.

It works for some people.

Accidents, adverse effects decreased significantly since the FDA got involved.

Hey, this is much more scientific than faith healing, voodoo, etc. That’s a fact.

“…and amazingly I was out jogging on my formerly injured ankle with no problems within 3 days…”

This should say “with no problems within FOUR days…”

Let’s see….as a young, healthy freshman in college, I once injured my left ankle (while wrestling with a guy in my dorm). Afterwards, I was on crutches for weeks even though nothing was torn or broken. Now, into my 30s, I sprained it running. Like the first time it was injured, my ankle got severely swollen, and I could barely walk on it. The injury was worse than when I was a college freshman. But this time around, I tried the acupuncture option. And lo and behold, after 3 days, I am out running long distances again. And no pain. I’m not sure how much more evidence you need except for me to say…..from my personal experience it worked.

“You see, in the place we like to call the ‘real world’, the one who makes the claim has the onus of backing up that claim with evidence.”

The real world is “Show me” and here I am on a blog where I don’t know you from Adam and you don’t know me and neither of us is going to show our face or meet up in person…so how can I show you mor evidence? And you want me to show you MORE evidence than what I’ve been typing, which was that I was injured…and amazingly I was out jogging on my formerly injured ankle with no problems within 3 days? Uh, what more evidence do you want from me that would satisfy you? Should I run a marathon next???

All I know is….as a longtime long-distance runner I’ve avoided the knife for my knees because of acupuncture…and haven’t had a problem for years unless I run ten-mile races (at which a session of acupuncture fixes it). So if I’m the dope and all those other runners with knee problems are the smart ones for first undergoing surgery and then weeks of physical therapy…resulting in them coming back for more surgery and physical therapy within two years….then so be it. I’m happy not undergoing the surgery and feeling just fine in the knees.

or an Oriental medicine doctor sticking a disposable acupuncture needle that barely pricks the skin in the arms and legs….it’s the former that’s preferable because there’s less of a risk of infection???? Explain please.

No… the risk of infection is pretty much the same. But the non-quack method actually has a chance of helping, which is why it’s preferable. If you’re going to take a risk, you should probably go with the one that actually has a chance of ending up with a better outcome than when you started, no?

You know that the acupuncture DIDN’T work to fix my ankle and knee injuries as well as my neck because you were there?

I know that the acupuncture didn’t actually do anything because you haven’t actually put forward a single shred of evidence that it actually did do anything. You see, in the place we like to call the ‘real world’, the one who makes the claim has the onus of backing up that claim with evidence. All you’ve said so far is “it works because I don’t have any problems with my knees.” All you’re providing here is pure anecdotal evidence — which doesn’t really prove anything about acupuncture. After all, there may be any number of reasons why your knees feel fine — hell, nerve damage from too much acupuncture might explain some of it (yes, I know… unlikely). So forgive me if I remain skeptical in the face of the overwhelming lack of evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture.

But anyhow, forget it. I can tell that you’re a True Believer in this nonsense, as evidenced by the following quote:

In other words, an Oriental medicine doctor, if he’s any good, can hold your wrist and tell why you’re tired and what organ is causing the problem.

I can throw a dart at a board and tell you what’s going to happen to you in a year. Let me know if you’re interested — my rates are very reasonable.