Acupuncture Is Better than Drugs for Migraine

In the October, the medical journal Headache published the results of a randomized controlled multicenter trial comparing acupuncture treatment with the pharmaceutical metoprolol for the prevention of migraine headache. The trial extended over 24 weeks - in the first 12 weeks both treatments were given and then in the last 12 weeks follow-up observations were made. The results of the study suggest that acupuncture might be an effective and safe treatment option for patients unwilling or unable to use drug prophylaxis.

In the study one hundred fourteen migraine patients were randomized to treatment over 12 weeks either with acupuncture (8 to 15 sessions) or metoprolol (100 to 200 mg daily). Two of 59 patients randomized to acupuncture withdrew prematurely from the study compared to 18 of 55 randomized to metoprolol. Most of the patients that withdrew from the metoptrolol did so because of intolerable side-effects fo the drug.

The number of migraine days decreased by an average of 2.5 days (baseline average of 5.8 days) in the acupuncture group compared to 2.2 days (baseline average of 5.8 days) in the metoprolol group (P= .721). The proportion of responders (reduction of migraine attacks by ≥50%) was 61% for acupuncture and 49% for metoprolol. Both physicians and patients reported fewer adverse effects in the acupuncture group.

In conclusion, due to missing the recruitment target (480 patients) and the high drop-out in the metoprolol group the results must be interpreted with caution. Still, they suggest that acupuncture can be an effective an safe alternative to pharmaceutical prophylaxis.