Research recently published in Focus On Alternative and Complementary Therapies concludes that acupuncture benefits patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. In this single-blinded, randomized, sham-controlled study conducted at the Department of Orthopedics at the Tel Aviv Medical Center in Israel, researchers examined 41 patients over 45 years of age who suffered from osteoarthritis of the knee accompanied by moderate to severe pain. Patients who received corticosteroid injections into the knee within 4 weeks of the study were excluded from the selection process. Participants received either true acupuncture (verum acupuncture) or sham acupuncture in a comparative examination. The style of sham acupuncture was the use of simulated needle stimulation at acupoints with non-insertion of the needle. The sham acupuncture technique of using needles to stimulate non-acupoints was not used in this investigation. All participants received either verum acupuncture or sham acupuncture twice a week for 8 weeks in addition to standard therapeutic care. On week 12 (a 4 week follow-up after treatment), researchers tabulated the results and concluded that, “Adjunctive acupuncture treatment seems to provide added improvement to standard care in elderly patients with OA (osteoarthritis) of the knee.”

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