No benefit from acupuncture for allergic rhinitis
Maybe if we do a bigger, better, study…
First, the details.
- Studies were included in this review if they compared acupuncture to a sham or inactive acupuncture treatment (placebo) with or without standard care.
- Re-analysis of the results (meta-analysis) was performed where feasible.
And, the results.
- 7 generally of poor quality studies were reviewed.
- The meta-analysis failed to show benefits from acupuncture to treat symptoms,
- There were no changes in IgE — antibodies that recognize antigens (eg, dust mites, pollen) so the body can defend against them.
The bottom line?
Ever optimistic, the authors hold out hope that, “A large well conducted [study], which overcomes identified methodological problems in the existing [studies], would be required to resolve this question.â€
Yea. We’ll get right on it.
An earlier study reported benefit when acupuncture was started before symptoms began.
5/1/08 08:41 JR