Acupuncture can Relieve Arthritis in Knee
Reported July 8, 2005

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Though there is little research on this subject, a growing number of knee osteoarthritis patients are looking to acupuncture to alleviate their pain and discomfort as well as improve joint function. But how long does it work? Researchers at Charite University Medical Center in Germany set to find out.

The study consisted of 570 patients over 50 with osteoarthritis of the knee. The patients were randomly assigned to treatments of acupuncture, minimal acupuncture, or no acupuncture at all. Over eight weeks, physicians administered acupuncture and minimal acupuncture in 12 sessions. All received standard medical care including anti-inflammatory medications. Then, patients were asked questions regarding their arthritic discomfort at the beginning of the treatment, again after eight weeks, six months, and then after one year.

Patients who were administered acupuncture after eight weeks reported a significantly lower score on an osteoarthritis index than the patients that had no acupuncture treatment (26 points and 50 points, respectively). Also, the patients with the minimal acupuncture still had a score of 36 points. Patients using acupuncture reported substantially less pain and better function than those with no acupuncture. After one year, however, there was no considerable difference in pain relief between any of the three groups, revealing that acupuncture provides only short-term benefits.

Claudia Witt, lead investigator of this study, says, "Acupuncture treatment had significant and clinically relevant short-term effects. We now need to assess the long-term effects of acupuncture."

Andrew Moore from University of Oxford, UK, advises, "We are still some way short of having conclusive evidence that acupuncture is beneficial in arthritis or in any other condition," however, "doing something is better than doing nothing."

SOURCE: The Lancet, 2005;366:101;136-143