The participants in all the groups were given medication to treat any migraine attacks.
Over six months, Facco's team found, only the group receiving true, traditional acupuncture showed lasting improvement in migraine disability measured on a standardized scale, compared with the control group.
The "main novelty" of the study, Facco told Reuters Health, is that the therapy was based on traditional Chinese medicine, but studied using the modern, "Western" scientific method.
The results are promising, he said, but more studies are needed to confirm the benefits of traditional acupuncture for migraine. However, Facco added, since the therapy carries little risk of side effects, it could be worth a try for migraine sufferers who are not adequately helped by standard preventive treatment.
It's not completely clear why acupuncture might ease migraine pain. In addition to the traditional theories on qi, modern research has suggested that acupuncture may work by altering signals among nerve cells or affecting the release of various chemicals of the central nervous system.
SOURCE: Headache, March 2008.
