You have to be very careful in True v. Sham studies. Often the "sham" treatment still involves doing Acupuncture. They just do the Acupuncture in a location that the study designer has deemed either a "no-point" or a point that wouldn't affect the problem. This means that the "sham" group is sometimes still getting Acupuncture! Talk about poor control! Sometimes the "non-point" is actually ON the same meridian/channel as the "real point." According to the Huang Di Nei Jing (an important classic in Chinese Medicine), it is more important to get the channel than to get the point. So it's not necessarily the placebo effect, it could be Acupuncture!
You have to be very careful in True v. Sham studies. Often the "sham" treatment still involves doing Acupuncture. They just do the Acupuncture in a location that the study designer has deemed either a...
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