General Discussion

KT2000

(22,133 posts)

48. Oh please -

Sat Apr 19, 2014, 07:54 PM

Apr 2014

acupuncture was developed in China and it is part of traditional Chinese Medicine. An acupuncturist who is trained in Chinese Medicine (as this article states they are) has learned the elements of qi and their treatment would be based on that. Whatever happens as a result of that treatment is due to the placement of the needles. You do not place them in one place to release endorphins and somewhere else if treating qi.

What you are probably misunderstanding is the principle that the body always seeks to heal and protect itself. Much of our mainstream medicine is based on "silver bullets (pharmaceuticals)" and what are considered as alternatives seek to assist the body to find its balance again so our innate mechanisms can manage the illness, injury or trauma.
Alternative medicine is not for all health conditions but is more helpful than drugs for others. It is a choice.

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Top cancer hospitals across the country treat their patients' PAIN with "woo." [View all] pnwmom Apr 2014 OP

You know what else is really common, and generally accepted without mocking? Prayer. Electric Monk Apr 2014 #1

If some cancer hospitals are treating patients' pain with prayer, I didn't run into any. pnwmom Apr 2014 #2

When my mom had cancer, she had many friends who said they were praying for her recovery. Electric Monk Apr 2014 #4

perhaps prayer helps otherone Apr 2014 #28

nothing fails like prayer RandoLoodie Apr 2014 #134

I don't have the data otherone Apr 2014 #5

People who know they're being prayed for do slightly worse. LeftyMom Apr 2014 #14

I've heard differently otherone Apr 2014 #18

"Hearing differently" without data TBF Apr 2014 #136

I didn't find the data I was looking for otherone Apr 2014 #137

Good luck looking for TBF Apr 2014 #139

That is a good way of looking at it. otherone Apr 2014 #141

that study was so poorly designed and so poorly executed, NO ONE should reference it. KittyWampus Apr 2014 #19

The Templeton foundation surely wanted the opposite result. LeftyMom Apr 2014 #22

I've read differently. 840high Apr 2014 #37

me too otherone Apr 2014 #138

Quite the opposite LadyHawkAZ Apr 2014 #17

thanks for the info otherone Apr 2014 #20

You're welcome, and to you as well n/t LadyHawkAZ Apr 2014 #21

I wonder if I am the only one here sick of hearing the use of 'woo' roguevalley Apr 2014 #63

You are not alone. Not even close. Pathwalker Apr 2014 #64

I can't stand it, between that and other childish words thrown around here of late Dragonfli Apr 2014 #70

Not the only one. I wish we had a 'trash word' function. nt laundry_queen Apr 2014 #101

Me too arikara Apr 2014 #125

Jesus is woo? SwankyXomb Apr 2014 #67

Prayer doesn't have to have anything to do with Jesus. MattBaggins Apr 2014 #121

you got that right, your entire post. n/t Scout Apr 2014 #140

They probably aren't using coffee enemas and laetrile though. Spider Jerusalem Apr 2014 #3

My step-mother was once prescribed decaf coffee enemas for relief from hives OriginalGeek Apr 2014 #85

Yes and bloodletting too... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #6

Medicinal use of leeches Tuesday Afternoon Apr 2014 #93

My God. I thought it was COLGATE4 Apr 2014 #95

LOL! Tuesday Afternoon Apr 2014 #96

doctors in the fifties saved four of my father's fingers using leeches roguevalley Apr 2014 #112

Yes, it is not woo/psuedoscience. That is wonderful for your father! Tuesday Afternoon Apr 2014 #124

Next time you have a suspicious mole.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #7

Nice straw man. Crunchy Frog Apr 2014 #16

It is still woo.....it is no more effective than placebo.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #26

It's covered under Obamacare. Bluenorthwest Apr 2014 #33

No matter where its used..... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #66

how do you know? noiretextatique Apr 2014 #97

this is why I don't need to try to know... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #99

check the "science" on chemo noiretextatique Apr 2014 #100

that has NOTHING to do with this....BECAUSE VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #104

chemo also kills people noiretextatique Apr 2014 #108

and that STILL doesn't make it Woo.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #117

didn't you say chemo "cures" cancer? noiretextatique Apr 2014 #119

No.....but for some people it DOES save their life.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #122

The power of prayer is "woo" as has been shown by studies posted upthread Dragonfli Apr 2014 #71

I did not say that it was not woo...... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #72

I'm sorry that I misread the implication of comparison. /nt Dragonfli Apr 2014 #74

No problem....glad I could clarify... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #83

I think things like acupuncture have a hypnotic component that truly does help pain. mucifer Apr 2014 #8

That is the component people miss MattBaggins Apr 2014 #123

At the same time, none of them endorse "meridian" woo. nt Democracyinkind Apr 2014 #9

The fertility clinic that knocked me up with my twins Crunchy Frog Apr 2014 #10

Happened with me, too. IdaBriggs Apr 2014 #59

Thank you marions ghost Apr 2014 #11

Acupuncture as such is not 'woo'; there is some evidence that it can relieve pain and other symptoms LeftishBrit Apr 2014 #12

IMO laundry_queen Apr 2014 #102

Yes -- reaction to any treatment is highly individual. n/t pnwmom Apr 2014 #129

It's a business. Cheap perks that give you a leg up over the competition are smart. LeftyMom Apr 2014 #13

The National Institutes of Health doesn't fund studies of hospital valet parking. n/t pnwmom Apr 2014 #31

What are they trying to hide? Iggo Apr 2014 #68

The National Institute of Health funded THIS VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #105

You won the thread. nt msanthrope Apr 2014 #143

Indeed. Looks like a "whole person approach;" justifies sky-high prices REP Apr 2014 #82

I think acupuncture has become an accepted treatment The Velveteen Ocelot Apr 2014 #15

Are they using to alter the flow of qi? NuclearDem Apr 2014 #23

Oh please - KT2000 Apr 2014 #48

and STILL requires BELIEF in woo... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #107

How exactly do you know that? KT2000 Apr 2014 #113

How exactly do I know? Simple... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #116

This review article KT2000 Apr 2014 #131

that is HOW you prove it.... VanillaRhapsody Apr 2014 #132

calling it belief is not science KT2000 Apr 2014 #142

Like most medicine that originated before the scientific revolution, eridani Apr 2014 #77

Yeah, my point exactly. NuclearDem Apr 2014 #78

As long as acupuncture is used with real medicine, it is harmless AngryAmish Apr 2014 #24

Yes, they are... SidDithers Apr 2014 #25

It isn't "woo" it works! K&R nt snappyturtle Apr 2014 #27

I use acupuncture on the recommendation of one of the country's leading Bluenorthwest Apr 2014 #29

The Knights Who Say Woo. Brilliant! Dragonfli Apr 2014 #73

The military has been using accupuncture for pain rocktivity Apr 2014 #30

I hope that health insurance doesn't Progressive dog Apr 2014 #32

As the OP points out, many actual physicians disagree with your great wisdom Bluenorthwest Apr 2014 #35

Woo is woo, evidence says acupuncture Progressive dog Apr 2014 #41

Many physicians took out tonsils Progressive dog Apr 2014 #89

please post you research KT2000 Apr 2014 #50

Scientific research doesnt work that way. Progressive dog Apr 2014 #88

And clowns, for that matter cthulu2016 Apr 2014 #34

A commenter on another board, with a related thread asks the pertinent question... SidDithers Apr 2014 #36

Speaking as a recent cancer patient. TNNurse Apr 2014 #38

I found acupuncture worked better on back pain than pain meds Autumn Apr 2014 #39

Pnwmom, I have to disagree with you as I have been treated with acupunture AS PART Ecumenist Apr 2014 #40

I think you are really agreeing with me, if you reread my OP. pnwmom Apr 2014 #43

Oh okay, I am so sorry. I read it but not completely. I shouldn't have assumed that Ecumenist Apr 2014 #46

Maybe works for pain naturallyselected Apr 2014 #58

OH BULLSHIT. Only talk about what you know. Just because she went to someone who Ecumenist Apr 2014 #69

I try and offer a reasoned response and this is what I get... naturallyselected Apr 2014 #92

Yeah, well, I take offence to someone who has NO FIRST HAND KNOWLEDGE Ecumenist Apr 2014 #114

Whenever I hear a pitch like this... Curmudgeoness Apr 2014 #42

I guess you should avoid Sloan-Kettering, then. pnwmom Apr 2014 #44

IT WORKS, Curmodgeness. I am a recipeint of this "cray-cray". IT IS NOT CRAZY Ecumenist Apr 2014 #47

When all else fails you can try anything not actively harmful intaglio Apr 2014 #45

There's prayer in hospitals too. Vashta Nerada Apr 2014 #49

Or the toilets. n/t Pathwalker Apr 2014 #62

I found that accupuncture did not, for me, work well enough nor long enough. PDJane Apr 2014 #51

So why does it fail every time in scientific tests? Archae Apr 2014 #52

NIH funded study: Acupuncture for Chronic Pain / Individual Patient Data Meta-analysis magical thyme Apr 2014 #55

Series of studies first to examine acupuncture's mechanisms of action magical thyme Apr 2014 #56

We use acupuncture with great effects on the horses. Animals can't manufacture a placebo response riderinthestorm Apr 2014 #91

Can Acupuncture Reverse Killer Inflammation? magical thyme Apr 2014 #57

So, the skeptics are either flat out wrong, don't know what they're Pathwalker Apr 2014 #61

An NIH funded meta-analysis of 29 studies involving 18,000 subjects pnwmom Apr 2014 #60

From what I remember the only problem with the studies is that you can't double blind Recursion Apr 2014 #81

You absolutely could do a double blind laundry_queen Apr 2014 #103

It doesn't. A meta-analysis of 29 studies including 18K patients showed pnwmom Apr 2014 #128

When did acupuncture start to be considered woo? ManiacJoe Apr 2014 #53

when people needed sonething Niceguy1 Apr 2014 #87

+1000...as a breast cancer survivor noiretextatique Apr 2014 #98

We need to send the DU "woo" police to these hospitals (n/t) a2liberal Apr 2014 #54

It is very important to differentiate the marketing information provided by health care centers ... etherealtruth Apr 2014 #65

I very nearly went deaf in one ear as a child because of woo. Marr Apr 2014 #75

What does that have to do with acupuncture, which is what the thread is about? nt Electric Monk Apr 2014 #94

The title of this thread references "woo", specifically. Marr Apr 2014 #110

Sounds like the doctor was a quack too laundry_queen Apr 2014 #106

To be perfectly honest with you, I was a little kid. Marr Apr 2014 #111

Cancer politicstahl Apr 2014 #76

They sure do. Iggo Apr 2014 #79

It has actual studies on pain relief. Which means it's not woo. Recursion Apr 2014 #80

I agree, but many DUers consider acupuncture to always be woo. pnwmom Apr 2014 #84

I personally consider much of western medicine to be woo arikara Apr 2014 #126

Do you run an acupuncture biz or something? nt Union Scribe Apr 2014 #86

If you don't believe in it, don't do it. The rest of us know better. Happyhippychick Apr 2014 #90

In other words, they let patients indulge in generally harmless placebos of their own choice... Silent3 Apr 2014 #109

Why wouldn't they? There is good money to be made in acupuncture. FarCenter Apr 2014 #115

Sure, because we give the DEA 60 billion a year to bully doctors into under-treating pain. Warren DeMontague Apr 2014 #118

Top cancer hospitals across the country relieve their patients' of money with "woo." MattBaggins Apr 2014 #120

Then why should we trust them for any care, when they obviously pnwmom Apr 2014 #130

Has Science Finally Confirmed the Existence of Acupuncture Points, Validating Chinese Medicine? arikara Apr 2014 #127

fascinating! G_j Apr 2014 #135

Accupuncture: don't knock it if you haven't tried it flamingdem Apr 2014 #133