Although accepted as a medical treatment in Asia for millennia, acupuncture’s arrival in the West has sparked much controversy. Acupuncture has eluded scientific explanation to some degree. However, in 1997, the NIH issued a consensus statement on acupuncture that concluded that

there is sufficient evidence of acupuncture’s value to expand its use into conventional medicine and to encourage further studies of its physiology and clinical value.

The NIH statement noted that

the data in support of acupuncture are as strong as those for many accepted Western medical therapies

and added that

the incidence of adverse effects is substantially lower than that of many drugs or other accepted medical procedures used for the same condition. For example, musculoskeletal conditions, such as fibromyalgia, myofascial pain, and tennis elbow… are conditions for which acupuncture may be beneficial. These painful conditions are often treated with, among other things, anti-inflammatory medications (aspirin, ibuprofen, etc.) or with steroid injections. Both medical interventions have a potential for deleterious side effects but are still widely used and are considered acceptable treatments.

The NIH consensus statement noted that

there is clear evidence that needle acupuncture is efficacious for adult postoperative and chemotherapy nausea and vomiting and probably for the nausea of pregnancy… There is reasonable evidence of efficacy for postoperative dental pain… reasonable studies (although sometimes only single studies) showing relief of pain with acupuncture on diverse pain conditions such as menstrual cramps, tennis elbow, and fibromyalgia…

However,

acupuncture does not demonstrate efficacy for cessation of smoking and may not be efficacious for some other conditions.

In 1999, clinical researchers reported that inserting the fine needles into specific body points triggers the production of endorphins [3].

[source: wikipedia]

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