Detonation Range

The ‘City of Churches’ is perhaps not the best place for an Atheist to live, a place where one quickly becomes resigned to seeing at least one church every few streets on the way to work or school. However, the topic of this post is not the sheer volume of steepled worship-dens for which my city is famous, but rather its faux-oriental cousin which is becoming almost as prevalent. I pass at least three of these every morning on my way to 9AM Psychology lectures. They are Acupuncture Clinics.

What concerns me most about these clinics are the bold advertising claims which appear on the building facades. In this post, I consider the claims of one such advertisement and argue that they are ill-referenced, possibly or probably false and worded, whether intentionally or not, in a way that is irresponsible and exploitative. As it is not necessary for the purposes of this article, I have withheld the particular business name.

The quotes below appear on the bottom-left of the advertisement, which was the part that caught my eye as I travelled past.

“Every woman is a unique and special person.”

So far, we agree. Men, too, are unique, but this is irrelevant in a section regarding Women’s Health.

“The root cause of reproductive conditions needs to be assessed on an individual basis.”

I’ll grant them that. Makes sense, a one-on-one consultation with an obstetrician, surely. Reproductive conditions are not to be taken lightly.

“Each woman has the potential to restore her balance and reproductive wellness”

It’s unclear what is meant by ‘balance’. Neither confirm nor deny.

“Acupuncture has been found very effective in treating the following conditions; Premenstrual Syndrome [PMS], Menstrual Cramps and irregularities, Breast tenderness and Fibrocystic breasts, Chronic pelvic pain, Endometriosis, Uterine fibroids, Abnormal bleeding, Pregnancy problem; Morning sickness (nausea), Miscarriage, Menopause; Hot flashes, Irregular bleeding, Mood Swing, Vaginal Atrophy Ovarian Cysts, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome”

(Emphasis mine)

Ahem. Oh dear.

The authority for this bold, eyecatching statement appears to be the now-infamous paper published by the World Health Organization in 2003, entitled ‘Acupuncture; Review and Analysis of Reports on Controlled Clinical Trials’. This paper did list some of these conditions as treatable by Acupuncture. The authority of the WHO is not to be underestimated, but in this case was notoriously misinformed. The review and analysis was almost comically broad, selecting a vast proportion of extremely poor quality trials, including some fairly suspect data from Chinese studies (Almost 100% positive, almost 100% of the time). (Ernst; Singh 2008, p. 71)

The majority of trials being extremely low quality, dissent by properly performed trials was therefore diluted. A more thorough review of properly performed trials yields a much less promising viewpoint and one that is not often proclaimed in Acupuncture Clinic windows:

“Reliable conclusions from systematic reviews make it clear that acupuncture does not work for a whole range of conditions, except as a placebo. Hence, if you see acupuncture being advertised by a clinic, then you can assume that it does not really work, except possibly in the treatment of some types of pain and nausea” (ibid, pp. 82-83)

Furthermore,

“Beware of misleading and untrue statements made for acupuncture.  Some states do not regulate such claims.  Because laws are political tools, not scientific ones, the political process often responds to pressures independent of scientific evidence. Acupuncture cures nothing.  It may relieve symptoms with the frequency of a placebo.   It may be harmful.  Consumers wishing to try acupuncture should discuss their situation with a knowledgeable physician who has no commercial interest.” (NCAHF 1990)

It is not my place to claim that these acupuncturists are intentionally deceiving their clients, nor would I make such a libellous claim without proper evidence. Nonetheless, I argue that it is irresponsible, cruel and exploitative to list such items as miscarriage as a medical problem which can be treated with Acupuncture. It has been demonstrated that Acupuncture’s efficacy is far from unanimously accepted. A lack of medical consensus on the matter, whether it is effective or not, makes advancing such claims (complete with official-sounding jargon) a serious dereliction of duty on the part of any medical practitioner, alternative or otherwise. As the above cited NCAHF report states: “acupuncture should not be offered without full informed consent, reminding patients that acupuncture is experimental, has not been proven more effective than a placebo, and has some risk of complications.” (ibid)

It was the section regarding Women’s Health and Reproductive issues which caught my attention on this advertisement. Pregnancy complications are a terrifying idea, even for myself, despite my not being equipped with a womb and therefore my unlikelihood of suffering them first-hand. The idea that scared and vulnerable parents-to-be might consider an unproven and potentially dangerous treatment based on such advertisements frightens and disgusts me. I am uncertain of Australian laws regulating this variety of advertising, but I argue that advancing these faux-medical claims without sufficient evidence to support them is profoundly wrong, exploitative and irresponsible.

–

References:

Ernst, E & Singh, S 2008, Trick or Treatment: Alternative Medicine on Trial, Bantam Press, London.

National Council Against Health Fraud 1990, NCAHF Position Paper on Acupuncture, NCAHF, viewed 30 April 2009, <http://www.ncahf.org/pp/acu.html>

Quackwatch 2009, Acupuncture Watch, viewed 30 April 2009, <http://www.acuwatch.org/>

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This entry was posted on April 30, 2009 at 6:08 pm and is filed under Alternative Medicine, essay, Woo. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments.

Tags: Acupuncture, Advertising, Alternative Medicine, Medicine, Pregnancy, Women's Health

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