Acupuncture may help relieve menstrual pain and improve the quality of life for some women, a new study from Germany suggests.
Because the acupuncture patients were compared with a control group who received no therapy, rather than a "sham," or fake, version of the treatment, the placebo effect could have played a role, Dr Claudia M. Witt of Charite University Medical Centre in Berlin and her colleagues acknowledge.
"Nevertheless, our study showed that acupuncture was beneficial for women if offered as part of the health insurance system," the researchers write in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology.
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Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, are standard treatment for menstrual pain, but they carry the risk of side effects, Witt and her team note in their report.
Since 2000, the nation's health insurers have recommended that acupuncture to relieve pain only be covered by insurance if it is delivered as part of a study to investigate its effectiveness.
The researchers enrolled 201 women who agreed to be randomly assigned to acupuncture or no treatment.
Pain reduction reported
After three months of treatment, which included an average of about 10 sessions, the average pain score was 3.1 in the acupuncture group, compared with 5.4 in the control group, using a pain scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the worst pain.
Among women given acupuncture, 63.4 percent reported at least a 33 percent improvement in their symptoms, compared to 24 percent of women in the control group.
Based on these findings, the researchers conclude that "acupuncture should be considered as a viable option in the management of these patients."
SOURCE: American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, February 2008. – (Reuters Health)
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