沒有證據表明鍼灸可緩解疼痛
In robust trials side effects are noted meticulously but in acupuncture trials under-reporting of harm is extensive. For example, in a review of back pain, only 14 of 35 trials reported on harms (5% of patients receiving acupuncture and none of those receiving placebo).
在強有力的試驗中，副作用經常被人精心指出，但在鍼灸試驗中，漏報的傷害卻非常廣泛。例如，在對背痛的綜述中，35個試驗中只有14個被報道有害（5%的患者接受鍼灸治療，沒有接受安慰劑治療）。
The cost of acupuncture to the NHS isn't peanuts, sessions range from ?25 to ?70. The total cost to the NHS may be ?25million a year, though reliable figures are hard to come by. I've never seen any convincing evidence of the effectiveness of acupuncture for treating pain.
對英國國民健康體系而言，鍼灸費用並非一筆小數目，療程從25英鎊至70英鎊不等。每年英國國民健康體系花費的總費用可達2500萬英鎊，儘管可靠的數據仍舊難以獲得。我從未見過任何令人信服的證據，證明鍼灸能有效治療疼痛。
Edzard Ernst, emeritus professor in Complementary Medicine at Exeter University, and the UK's preeminent expert, goes further, saying: "Doctors should not recommend acupuncture for pain because there is insufficient evidence it is clinically worthwhile."
埃克塞特大學補充醫學的名譽教授、英國傑出專家埃扎德·恩斯特進一步表示："醫生不該建議用鍼灸緩解疼痛，因爲尚未有足夠的證據證明其是臨牀有效的。"
Cochrane Reviews are the gold standard for proving medical effectiveness. There have been 12 of them on acupuncture for pain and not one of them has shown an effect beyond placebo in a raft of conditions.
《考科蘭回顧》（Cochrane Reviews）是證明醫療效果的黃金標準。已有12篇關於鍼灸治療疼痛的報道，但卻未有一篇證明在一系列病症中，鍼灸的療效比安慰劑好。
These include lower back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, cancer pain, dysmenorrhoea, lateral elbow pain, endometriosis, peripheral joint osteoarthritis, prevention of migraine and tension type headache, shoulder pain, fibromyalgia, and pain in labour. The reviews on back pain, migraine, and tension headache considered acupuncture as a possible treatment but were based mostly on trials with non-blinded patients.
這些包括腰痛、類風溼性關節炎、癌痛、痛經、肘外側疼痛、子宮內膜異位症、外周關節骨關節炎、預防偏頭痛和緊張型頭痛、肩痛、纖維肌痛和產痛。關於背痛、偏頭痛和緊張型頭痛的回顧認爲鍼灸是一種可行的治療方法，但主要是基於對擁有正常視力的患者的試驗。
This weakens the results because patients knew they were receiving acupuncture which itself has a placebo effect. Effects beyond placebo were "small". Many trials are weak, that is, given to error. Patient blinding, crucial for meaningful results, is often inadequate in acupuncture trials resulting in small to moderate false positives.
這削弱了結果，因爲患者知道他們在接受鍼灸，而鍼灸本身就具有安慰劑的效果。超出安慰劑的效果"極微"。很多試驗都很弱，也就是說，有一定的誤差。盲人患者對於有意義的結果至關重要，但鍼灸試驗的盲人患者卻很少，因此導致小至中等的虛假積極結果。
As Professor Ernst explains in the British Medical Journal, acupuncture is often regarded as harmless. Needling, however, may cause side effects such as pain, haemorrhages, infection, pneumothorax (rupture of the lung) and even death.
恩斯特教授在《英國醫學雜誌》上解釋，鍼灸通常被認爲是無害的。然而，針刺可能導致副作用，比如疼痛、出血、感染、氣胸（肺部破裂），甚至會導致死亡。
In Denmark, for instance, four cases of pneumothorax, one fatal, were revealed in 2017. Such complications might be rare, but gathering exact numbers is stymied by unreliable information.
例如，2017年丹麥揭露了4例氣胸和1例死亡事件。這些併發症可能並不多見，但對確切數字的收集卻會受到不可靠信息的阻礙。
