Is Placebo Acupuncture What It Is Intended to Be?

Table 1

Results, treatment of migraine.

Intervention: Author, year (ref.); number of included subjects (n)	Proportion patients (in %) reporting reduced frequency days with migraine after treatment [5–9]
Acupuncture
Linde, 2005 [6]; n = 302	51
Streng, 2006 [7]; n = 114	61
Diener, 2006 [8]; n = 960	47
Minimal acupuncture
Linde, 2005 [6]; n = 302	53
Diener, 2006 [8]; n = 960	39
Medication
Diener, 2002 [9]; n = 808	46 (Flunarizin 5 mg)
	53 (Flunarizin 10 mg)
	48 (Propanolol)
van der Key, 2002 [10]; n = 2013	46 (Propanolol)
Streng, 2006 [7]; n = 114	49 (Metropolol)
Diener, 2006 [8]; n = 960	40 (Standard medication)
Placebo tablet
van der Key, 2002 [10]; n = 2013	24
Waiting list
Linde, 2005 [6]; n = 302	15