The study by Haake et al. (1) that was recently published in “Archives of Internal Medicine,” is indeed an interesting one and has received a lot of attention (in particular in Europe). Their results are promising and in line with previous findings (2). Moreover, acupuncture care for low back pain seems to be cost effective (3). Haake et al. (1) have used a strict methodology (4), making this a good scientific study. In our point of view, this is definitely the way to go for future acupuncture research…

All the best,
Maurits van den Noort & Peggy Bosch

(1) Haake, M., Müller, H-H., Schade-Brittinger, C., Basler, H.D., Schäfer, H. Maier, C., Endres, H.G., Trampisch, H.J., & Molsberger, A. (2007). German acupuncture trials (GERAC) for chronic low back pain: Randomized, multicenter, blinded, parallel-group trial with 3 groups. Archives of Internal Medicine, 167(17), 1892-1898.

(2) Carlsson, C.P., & Sjölund, B. (2001). Acupuncture for chronic low back pain: A randomized placebo-controlled study with long-term follow-up. Clinical Journal of Pain, 17(4), 296-305.

(3) Ratcliffe, J., Thomas, K.J., MacPherson, H., & Brazier, J. (2006). A randomised controlled trial of acupuncture care for persistent low back pain: Cost effectiveness analysis. British Medical Journal, 333(7569), 626-628.

(4) Bosch, M.P.C., & Van den Noort, M.W.M.L. (to appear). Schizophrenia, Sleep, and Acupuncture. Göttingen: Hogrefe & Huber.