Acupuncture for low back pain no longer recommended for NHS patients
New advice represents a u-turn in treatment for back pain, which affects one in 10 people, after evidence review showed acupuncture no better than a placebo
https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/mar/24/acupuncture-for-low-back-pain-no-longer-recommended-for-nhs-patients
"Acupuncture is no longer recommended as a treatment for low back pain on the NHS, according to new draft guidelines released today by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice).
The u-turn comes after a review of scientific evidence found that the practice was no better than a placebo in treating those living with low back pain and sciatica.
The draft guidelines report that there have now been a large number of scientific trials looking into the effectiveness of acupuncture but that, “there was still not compelling and consistent evidence of a treatment-specific effect for acupuncture.”
Low back pain is thought affect one in 10 people, while its cost to the UK economy is estimated to exceed £12 billion a year in lost productivity.
..."
----------------------------------------------------------
"New evidence." Of course, there were no good studies showing acupuncture to be anything but a placebo in the first place, but...
http://www.dcscience.net/2013/05/30/acupuncture-is-a-theatrical-placebo-the-end-of-a-myth/
https://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/acupuncture-doesnt-work/
http://scienceblogs.com/insolence/2015/02/17/psychological-correlates-of-the-placebo-that-is-acupuncture/
http://www.sfgate.com/technology/businessinsider/article/New-Study-Exposes-Acupuncture-As-Pseudoscience-5094637.php
Pre-scientific thinking is pre-scientific thinking, no matter how elaborate.
