Acupuncture as Pseudoscience: the Explanation of the Placebo Effect and Logical Fallacies
Perhaps you’ve seen the ads for it on TV or Facebook, or maybe a friend of yours swears by it; acupuncture. Acupuncture is a traditional form of medicine primarily used for pain relief that has been in practice for thousands of years. Although many people believe in it and its benefits, it's a pseudoscience, meaning it does not qualify as real science. Even after thousands of years of development and changes, it is still not an effective form of medicine and will never be most likely. There have been hundreds of studies conducted by scientists and doctors that further disprove acupuncture. For one, it does not pass the hallmarks of science. In fact, it fails most of them. In addition, the evidence for it commits a logical fallacy known as an anecdotal argument.
Acupuncture is the insertion of needs into a person’s skin at different depths. The doctors who perform this type of medicine claim it reduces chronic pain, swelling, and even illness. People who believe in acupuncture root their beliefs in seeing positive results once or twice, despite there being minimal scientific research supporting their claims. Just because something is correlated does not mean it is a guaranteed cause and effect. The demand for acupuncture has increased in the United State within the past three decades, it is not a new practice globally at all. It is thought to have originated thousands of years ago in China. White and Ernest claim that “Sharpened stones and bones that date from about 6000 BCE have been interpreted as instruments for acupuncture treatment.” This is not confirmed however, it is rather an estimate. The first documented use of acupuncture was in The Yellow’s Emperor Inner Classic in 2600 BCE. For reference, that is over 4500 years from today. Acupuncture didn’t find its way into the United State until the 1970s. Wang notes that it wasn’t until 1997 when the National Institutes of Health recognized acupuncture as an “effective therapy for a wide range of health conditions.” Despite its relatively recent introduction in the US, its popularity has grown drastically. Wang later demonstrates its rapid growth in popularity by adding, “More than 40 states have licensing and certification training for acupuncture practice.” I can only imagine that number has since gone up. From using sharp rocks and bones to using thin needles, acupuncture has developed immensely since its first use in 2600 BCE in China. The rise in support for acupuncture has also led people, especially in the United States, to believe in other alternative medicines without doing any research.
The scientific evidence both supporting and disproving acupuncture can be a bit foggy. Nonetheless, the research behind disproving acupuncture is far more abundant and plausible. Several studies have found the reason acupuncture works for some people is due to a phenomenon called the placebo effect. In short, the placebo effect works like this; a patient is given a substance with no medical importance, such as water or a sugar pill. Then, after the treatment, the patient experiences the same relief they would have if they were given the medicine. Much of it is based on psychological factors. The patient’s willingness and beliefs are crucial in the outcome. If the person believes they are getting the treatment, then they are way more likely to experience relief. Jeneen Interlandi, a member of the editorial board for the New York Times, describes the placebo effect in relation to acupuncture “Whether investigators penetrate the skin or not, use needles or toothpicks, target the particular locations on the body cited by acupuncturists or random ones, the same proportion of patients experience more or less the same degree of pain relief.” Those who believe in acupuncture do not realize that their pain is gone not because of the practice itself, but rather as a result of the placebo effect. Harriet Hall, a long known critic of any alternative medicine, expands on why acupuncture itself isn’t always the cause of the so-called ‘benefits.’ She mentions that “the nonspecific effects of treatment are likely responsible for any reported benefits”. Time and time again, studies prove that acupuncture alone is never the sole reason pain has diminished. There are several factors that contribute to reducing someone’s pain such as the amount of sleep they get, their diet, medications, exercise, etc.
As previously discussed, acupuncture is not real science for several reasons. The first is shaky evidence. The evidence has several characteristics that are typical of pseudosciences. For one, acupuncture claims widespread usefulness. The UC San Diego School of Medicine provides an extensive list of benefits such as headache relief, treatment of morning sickness, strokes, schizophrenia, Tourette's syndrome, and even cardiac neurosis. This is just a glimpse of what acupuncture enthusiasts claim. It’s easy to see that a lot of the conditions I mentioned are extremely different from one another and have no relation. How can just one practice relieve all of these symptoms? It doesn’t seem likely. Another clear indicator of pseudosciences is selecting only favorable outcomes. When you search the web it’s difficult to find negative outcomes besides slight bleeding and soreness. Most websites only seem to mention the upside to acupuncture, which is a huge red flag. It also fails to pass the Hallmarks of Science. The Hallmarks of Science are the ground rules for determining if something is real science and if that science is being done accurately. The first hallmark of science is the scientific model is able to make testable predictions. Acupuncture does make testable predictions, but those predictions disprove its benefits through the placebo effect. Another hallmark is that the predictions must match the observations, and if they don’t the science must be broken down and revise. Yet, acupuncture techniques haven’t changed over the past decades. The research and so-called evidence of acupuncture also commit an anecdotal logical fallacy. Anecdotal arguments as described by Louis F. Groarke, are ones that “a form of hasty generalization.” Anecdotal arguments use isolated experiences as a form of evidence rather than valid arguments. Many supporters of acupuncture claim that if it works for them, then it must be a legit practice but that is simply not sure. I believe people still believe in acupuncture despite the insurmountable evidence against it because they distrust the pharmaceutical industry and want to believe there are alternatives for pills and medicine. Unfortunately, it’s hard to confront and change the opinion of acupuncture supporters. There may be a few people that are willing to listen and alter their beliefs but overall, people will stand their ground and will continue to believe in it despite loads of research and evidence against it.
I think it is extremely important to distinguish between pseudoscience and real science for several reasons. For one, today there are many people who go around spreading false ideals and beliefs. In addition, today’s world is built upon research. It is important to we spend our money on real scientific research that can benefit everyone rather than pseudoscience like acupuncture, which only works due to the placebo effect. There are also economic consequences in relying on pseudoscience. For example, an average acupuncture session costs upwards to $70 per week according to Lesley Alderman, a writer for the New York Times. And that was nine years ago, I can only imagine the price has increased since then. In my opinion, it is not financially smart to spend that much money on something that is proven to not work they way believers say it does. I think it is smarter to spend your money on medicine practices that are guaranteed to work in the long term, even if it costs a little extra. In the medical field, evidence-based reasoning is important because it determines the best care for each individual. If we just continue to follow pseudosciences blindly, it can cost us economically and physically.
Although acupuncture seems like a valid form of science, it is not. There are an array of reasons; vague evidence, scarce research, and Foremost, it does not pass the basic hallmarks of science, which are crucial to distinguish real science from fake science. Furthermore, its so-called proof can be easily disproved with the explanation of the placebo effect and logical fallacies. It is exceedingly important to educate people of alternative medicine. We cannot let people support certain alternative forms of medicines blindly.
