No it doesn't, you moron!

Sloppy goddamn morons of the press... USA Today writes:

"The ancient Chinese art of acupuncture offered people with arthritis of the knee significant pain relief, but it didn't seem to help people with chronic neck pain, according to two scientific studies out today.

Acupuncture, the practice of inserting needles into specific body points, has been practiced for some 2,000 years by the Chinese. But it has never been fully accepted or studied by U.S. physicians or scientists."

All good, except that it's not remotely true. What the press fails to grasp when writing about acupuncture, is that it is a wholly different phenomenon than today's practice of sticking needles in people. Allow me to explain: Acupuncture is a Chinese "art" based on a metaphysical concept. The method is based on a belief in various uninformed, superstitious dribble like "chi", "yin", "yang" and such. The needles are stuck in certain places in order to unblock unseen (and non-existing) "energy meridians" in the body. It is these blocks, according to the ancient Chinese, that cause illness, and when the needles unblock the meridians, the illness will go away.

What the two studies have shown is something quite different, according to the actual researchers, (scientists can usually be counted on to be somewhat more precise in their statements than your average media hack):

"Acupuncture might work by spurring the body to release natural painkilling substances called endorphins"

"Acupuncture is not a cure"

In other words: Sticking needles in people does not cure any illnesses (thus disproving the basic tenets of actual acupuncture) and there is a perfectly scientific, rational explanation for any physical effect you might get from it.

I don't think it is unlikely that stimulating certain sensitive parts of the body can be medically beneficial - we know it has obvious psychological benefits (a good back rub... mmmmmm!). What these studies do is to increase our knowledge and hopefully our efficiency in applying such stimulation in practical medical treatment. What they do NOT is to indicate that there is any truth whatsoever to the ancient Chinese superstition of acupuncture.