Episode #1: Acupuncture: exploring the current evidence-base

Off the back of the Society for Acupuncture Research (SAR) conference (2021), in this episode Nick and Spod will be discussing the current state of the evidence-base for acupuncture. They will be exploring questions including:Where is the evidence strongest and where is there potential?What are some of the key issues in the field such as placebo?Where does the future of acupuncture research lie?References from the show:Efficacy for chronic pain (MacPherson and Charlesworth, 2020; Vickers et al., 2018):https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29198932/ and https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362893/Efficacy for migraines (Zhao et al., 2017): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/fullarticle/2603492UK NICE guidelines chronic pain (National Institute for Clinical Excellence NICE, 2021):https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng193/evidence/acupuncture-in-people-with-chronic-primary-pain-pdf-9075291805Acupuncture and mechanical placebos (Kaptchuk, 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362886/Future directions for acupuncture research (Schnyer and Hullender Rubin, 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33362894/Acupuncture reducing risk of coronary heart disease in osteoarthritis patients (Ton et al., 2021): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32744906/Acupuncture and anti-inflammatory pathways (Liu et al., 2020): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32791039/Acupuncture for carpal tunnel syndrome (Maeda et al., 2017): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28334999/Acupuncture and fibromyalgia RCT and neuroimaging (Mawla et al., 2021): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33314799/