Darren New wrote:
> Sabrina Kilian wrote:
>> Have any links to those studies, I would love to see it in print and be
>> able to pass it around to others.
> 
> GIYF? http://www.livescience.com/health/090120-acupuncture-placebo.html
> 

The article doesn't say that sham acupuncture is just as effective.
LiveScience isn't a journal, so I will give them the benefit of doubt
that they didn't misquote things, but still take their opinion with salt.

If that article is referring to
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab007587.html then it doesn't say
that acupuncture to the wrong points was just as effective. From the
abstract of "Acupuncture for tension-type headache", Linde K et al:

> Main results
> Eleven trials with 2317 participants (median 62, range 10 to 1265) met the inclusion
criteria. Two large trials compared acupuncture to treatment of acute headaches or
routine care only. Both found statistically significant and clinically relevant
short-term (up to 3 months) benefits of acupuncture over control for response, number
of headache days and pain intensity. Long-term effects (beyond 3 months) were not
investigated. Six trials compared acupuncture with a sham acupuncture intervention,
and five of the six provided data for meta-analyses. Small but statistically
significant benefits of acupuncture over sham were found for response as well as for
several other outcomes. Three of the four trials comparing acupuncture with
physiotherapy, massage or relaxation had important methodological or reporting
shortcomings. Their findings are difficult to interpret, but collectively suggest
slightly better results for some outcomes in the control groups.
> 
> Authors' conclusions
> In the previous version of this review, evidence in support of acupuncture for
tension-type headache was considered insufficient. Now, with six additional trials,
the authors conclude that acupuncture could be a valuable non-pharmacological tool in
patients with frequent episodic or chronic tension-type headaches.

And for migraine headaches, it seems that the placebo effect is strong
enough that real needles are not needed. But, same authors, so perhaps
that speaks more about migraine headaches than it does about acupuncture.
(http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab001218.html)

> Authors' conclusions
> In the previous version of this review, evidence in support of acupuncture for
migraine prophylaxis was considered promising but insufficient. Now, with 12
additional trials, there is consistent evidence that acupuncture provides additional
benefit to treatment of acute migraine attacks only or to routine care. There is no
evidence for an effect of 'true' acupuncture over sham interventions, though this is
difficult to interpret, as exact point location could be of limited importance.
Available studies suggest that acupuncture is at least as effective as, or possibly
more effective than, prophylactic drug treatment, and has fewer adverse effects.
Acupuncture should be considered a treatment option for patients willing to undergo
this treatment.

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