on migraine prevention: acupunture or pill?

Filed in archive News , Treatment on March 3, 2006

A study conducted by German researchers came up with the conclusion that acupuncture (both real and sham) is as good as a pill in migraine prevention.

It was found 47% of those receiving traditional acupuncture, 39% of those given sham acupuncture and 40% of those in the drug treatment group had been migraine-free for at least 50% of the time.

The researchers led by Dr Hans Christoph Diener of the University of Duisberg-Essen, (as reported to Lancet Neurology) said that the results were surprising and the mechanisms are unknown and difficult to explain.

As far as migraine is concerned there is no one treatment that fits all. The researchers agree that it is still the treating physician's decision whether to use acupuncture in preventing migraine.

Read the full report at BBC news.