Foundations of Critical Enquiry

  Acupuncture and Migraines Is acupuncture beneficial in the treatment of migraines? Firstly we need to define a migraine: “a condition marked by recurring moderate to severe headache with throbbing pain that…, is often accompanied by nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to light or sound” (Merriam-Webster dictionary). I have chosen to research the effectiveness of acupuncture in the treatment of migraines. Broadly speaking acupuncture “is a method of encouraging the body to promote natural healing and to improve functioning… by inserting needles…at very precise acupuncture points” (American Academy of Medical Acupuncture). Migraines present a major ‘health and disability problem’ and the “Results of existing pharmacological treatment options have been unsatisfactory”. 1 Therefore, alternate forms of treatment options for this condition have been widely explored including the use of Acupuncture. Acupuncture is widely used globally in the treatment of Migraines and research has ‘”found that there is consistent evidence that acupuncture is beneficial in the treatment of acute migraine attacks and…that acupuncture is at least as effective as prophylactic drug treatment and has fewer adverse effects”2. However, the results of the numerous clinical trials have not provided enough evidence to substantiate these benefits. “The conflicting results from other studies may well be due to blinding issues, non-standardised acupuncture techniques and lack of quality control data”. One can surmise that there is an overriding belief that Acupuncture is beneficial in the treatment of migraines, however this has not been clinically proven to date. References 1Iseri, Sevgin Ãzlem; Cabıoğlu, Tuğrul. Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society (J AUST TRADITIONAL MED SOC), Jun2012; p 89-93. 2Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, et al. Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009 PubMed 3Syed Amir Zaidi*and Fayyaz Ahmed. Acupuncture in Primary Headache Disorders; Review of the Evidence Department of Neurosciences, Hull York Medical School, UK (June 2016) Research Articles Diener HC, Kronfeld K, Boewing G, et al. Efficacy of acupuncture for the prophylaxis of migraine: a multicentre randomised controlled clinical trial. Lancet Neurol 2006;5:310–6 [PubMed] Rizzoli P, Loder EW (2011) Tolerance to the beneficial effects of prophylactic migraine drugs: a systematic review of causes and mechanisms. Headache51: 1323-1335. Linde K, Streng A, Jurgens S, Hoppe A, Brinkhaus B et al. (2005) Acupuncture for patients with migraine: a randomized controlled trial. JAMA 293: 2118-2125. (PubMed) Jerusa AA, Jayme M, Xavier C. Acupuncture in migraine prevention: a randomized sham controlled study with 6-months posttreatment follow-up. Clin J Pain 2008;24:98–105. (PubMed) Baischer W. Acupuncture in migraine: long-term outcome and predicting factor. Headache 1995;35:472–4. (PubMed) Linde K, Allais G, Brinkhaus B, et al. Acupuncture for migraine prophylaxis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2009;(1):CD001218. [PMC free article] [PubMed] Syed Amir Zaidi*and Fayyaz Ahmed. Acupuncture in Primary Headache Disorders; Review of the Evidence Department of Neurosciences, Hull York Medical School, UK (June 2016) Literature Reviews Claraco AE; Hanna SE; Fargas-Babjak A Journal of Alternative & Complementary Medicine (J ALTERN COMPLEMENT MED), Feb2003; 9(1): 151-159. (9p) Coeytaux, Remy R.; Befus, Deanna Role of Acupuncture in the Treatment or Prevention of Migraine, Tension-Type Headache, or Chronic Headache Disorders. Iseri, Sevgin Ãzlem; Cabıoğlu, Tuğrul Journal of the Australian Traditional-Medicine Society (J AUST TRADITIONAL MED SOC), Jun2012; 18(2): 89-93. Chessman, Alexander W. Acupuncture reduces migraine frequency more than usual care, sham acupuncture, or prophylactic drugs ACP Journal Club 10/18/2016; 165(8): 1-1. Albrecht Molsberger, The role of acupuncture in the treatment of migraine MD CMAJ. 2012 Mar 6; 184(4): 391–392. Pintov S, Lahat E, Alstein M, et al. Acupuncture and the opioid system: implications in management of migraine. Pediatr Neurol 1997;17:129–33. (PubMed)