The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 276 No 7390 p258
4 March 2006

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Acupuncture as effective as drug treatments for prevention of recurrent migraine

Patients who suffer from recurrent migraines experience similar relief whether they are treated with sham acupuncture, traditional Chinese acupuncture or prophylactic drug treatment (beta blockers, flunarizine or valproate), a German study has revealed.

The prospective, randomised controlled trial of 794 patients showed a mean reduction in days with migraine of 2.3 for the Chinese acupuncture group (95 per cent confidence interval 1.9–2.7), 1.5 (CI 1.1–2.0) for the sham acupuncture group and 2.1 (CI 1.5–2.7) for the drug treatment group. The reductions were significant for all three groups (P<0.001) but no significant difference was detected between them (P=0.09).

“Ultimately, one could argue that the efficacy of a treatment, especially a treatment with almost no adverse events or contraindications, is more important than the knowledge of the mechanism of action of this particular therapy,” the researchers say (Lancet Neurology published online on 2 March).