Acupuncture works

The first phase of a study of acupuncture is complete, with headline-grabbing results. In the largest study ever conducted of the 2,000-year-old practice, almost 90 percent of the 40,000 participants said acupuncture relieved their pain. About half of the participants suffered from back pain, 26 percent from headaches and 10 percent from degenerative knee or hip problems.

"I am not necessarily an advocate of acupuncture," says Hans-Joachim Trampisch of the Ruhr-University in Bochum, Germany, who coordinated the study. "I am a medical statistician." Such objectivity underscores the importance of the study's results, which, while preliminary, are encouraging.

Phase Two of the study will begin in July and continue until mid-2003, with 400 doctors participating. A final report, which will include recommendations, is expected in 2004.

Some 40,000 German physicians already practice acupuncture, the news service Reuters reports. Look for that number to increase.

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