Small News/Politics Graphic An Observer's Thoughts on the NIH Conference
by Bonnie L. Walker, BS, DC <bonnie@jungtao.com>


Some thoughts after attending the NIH consensus development conference this week:

This was indeed an historic event, but one which showed even more clearly the need for clarity and understanding of just what is this thing called Chinese medicine.

Those who are disappointed that the consensus statement quoted in the press did not mention the myriad other conditions which are daily treated with great success by acupuncture should be aware of the strict parameters set for the panel: to review the available and acceptable scientific literature on the biological effects of acupuncture and the efficacy of acupuncture for specific conditions. This task was made extremely difficult by the deplorable lack of well designed and executed studies which can stand up to the rigors of academic evaluation.

There may be several reasons for this lack of good research.

There is also great difficulty in creating control parameters for these studies. Many use so-called "sham" acupuncture, which involves the insertion of needles into points which are not "real" acupuncture points. Those who recognize the body as an expression of the biological fields of the organs and the acupuncture points as just the interferential intersections of those proximate fields realize that the entire body is one unified bioenergetic event; to insert a needle anywhere in that field has an effect on the entire system. Local biochemical changes occur as well as distant neuroimmunological responses as a result of the microtrauma. Standard locations of acupuncture points can also change by as much as a centimeter with changing conditions both internal and external. So "sham" points are by no means inert and cannot be relied on as controls.

Add to this the problem of countless different acupuncture schools of thought, few of which can reach a consensus on treatment protocols or point combinations. And the impossibility of applying a standardized set of points to patients with the same condition defined in Western diagnostic terms when these patients would never be treated with the same points in real clinical practice. This is still applying Western disease oriented diagnostic approach to a wellness based, individualized, patient oriented system. It just doesn't work. The frustration was evident in the impassioned comments from the presenters, the panelists and the audience at the conference.

It was not possible to review all of the research available on all of the topics relevant to the field, indeed, much of it is not even in English. But it would have contributed a great deal of credence to the "theory" of the "flow of qi along the channels" to have seen Jean-Claude Darrasë spectacular radioisotope tracing of just that phenomena.

It is much to the credit of the panel that they did see enough value in the evidence available to say that more research is definitely needed, and to point out some areas for particular attention. This should not be read as excluding areas not mentioned.

As limited and tentative as this statement was, given the narrow parameters and time constraints that the panel had, this conference and its outcome can be seen as a major victory for the acupuncture profession. It is hoped that this will result in greater efficacy of and accessibility to quality care for a greater number of patients in the near future.


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