Acupuncture - Case Notes

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Author - John Shepherd - Fall 1997

This is a potentially rich area for cases. The NIH-OAM is actively investigating a wide range of claims for medical effectiveness. This case ran over two days.

Day 1 Assignment:

On Tuesday, November 11, we will talk about "alternative medicine." This is an place we can look at the way science works in our lives as we make choices about health care. Bring to class some printed (photocopied) document that describes some non-traditional remedy for a specific ailment. In class we will look at these, and the evidence that supports them, and try to ascertain how science help us in evaluating alternatives. My entry from alternative medicne will be acupunture, which is a traditional eastern therapy.

The following sites will give you an introduction to acupunture:

The Office of Research on Alternative Medicine (OAM) is part of our National Institutes of Health (NIH), which was recently established to evaluate the potential of alternatives to traditional therapies. The International Herald Tribune reported on the results of an OAM-sponsored conference on the efficacy of acupuncture.

Day 1 Discussion: Each student group surveyed the examples of alternative medicine brought to class. They talked briefly about each one of them. Then Each group was asked to design a test of one of them. We discussed the use of placebo, single-blind and double-blind clinical trials. Student groups were asked to report their clinical designs to be critiqued by the rest of the class. This would probably best be left for another class. Their design were generally of low quality [IMHO] and the other groups were not as critical as they should ahve been.

Day 2 Assignment:

On Thursday, November 13, we will evaluate the scientific basis for the use of acupuncture. Evaluate each of the article from two perspectives: first as a consumer and second as a professional scientist. Come to class prepared to share your analysis. Read all of the following:

Day 2 Discussion: I gave each of my groups one of the articles to critique and present to the class. I provided the group with a transparency of the key figures from each of the papers. I gave them about 35 minutes to develop a critique and then spent the rest of the 75-minute period with their presentations and discussion. Student groups were frequently off the mark in their critical analysis.