Evidence based medicine (EBM) has drawn the attention of the medical community around the world and is rapidly becoming the standard in medical research. EBM requires both rigorous clinical trial research design, including adequate randomization and appropriate control, and accurate and thorough reporting of the findings of trials. Despite China's active research program, the majority of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) clinical research in the Chinese literature fails to meet world standards of clinical research reporting, largely due to insufficient and inadequate reporting. Because of rising world demand for information on TCM research, enhancing the quality of research reporting in Chinese journals is imperative. Quality of reporting is important in all aspects of a manuscript, including the introduction/background, materials and methods, results, and discussion/conclusion sections. TCM journal editors, who serve as gatekeepers of quality, must encourage higher quality clinical research reporting by setting and upholding publication standards.

Conventional treatments for osteoarthritis (OA), the most common form of arthritis, are associated with unpleasant adverse effects and often ineffective. Acupuncture and traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) have been used for thousands of years to treat pain and other dysfunctions. However, the scientific evidence on the efficacy of acupuncture and TCM is equivocal, and adapting the Western biomedical model to assess them is a great challenge. By adopting a systematic, step-by-step approach, the research team at the University of Maryland has been carefully evaluating the effectiveness of acupuncture on knee OA over the past 10 years. Their successful experience may be a useful model for future acupuncture and TCM research.

To meet community demands with optimal Chinese and conventional medical treatment, the University of Hong Kong is promoting integrative medicine by developing Chinese medicine programmes that train students of both Western and Chinese medicine. The programmes emphasize multi-disciplinary training and interaction between the two therapeutic approaches, enabling students to establish reliable, consistent, and respectful mutual cooperation in their future careers.

Background: Although acupuncture is a well-established treatment for cancer pain and its effects have been widely reported in recent two decades, there is still controversy over whether its efficacy is better than placebo. Objective: To evaluate the efficacy of acupuncture therapy on cancer pain. Search strategy: Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (The Cochrane Library, Issue 3, 2008), EMBASE, PubMed, ScienceDirect database, Current Controlled Trials, Chongqin VIP database and CNKI database were searched, and the search date ended in June 2008. The authors also hand-searched six Chinese Journals related to the question. Inclusion criteria: All randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing acupuncture therapy with placebo, Western drugs, Chinese herbal medicines, or comparing acupuncture therapy plus drug treatment with drug treatment. Data extraction and analysis: Two separate evaluators assessed the quality of the included reports and extracted the useful information. Disagreements were resolved through discussion. Meta-analysis of the included trials was done with RevMan 5.0, and qualitative analysis was employed when meta-analysis was not appropriate. Results: Seven published RCTs with a total of 634 patients met the inclusion criteria, and the quality of one of the included trials was high. Due to flaws in design and reporting, meta-analysis was precluded, and only qualitative analysis was done on the majority of the reports. The high-quality trial showed that auricular acupuncture therapy was significantly superior to placebo in pain alleviation. The other six low-quality trials with non-placebo showed that acupuncture therapy had some positive effects. Conclusion: Acupuncture is effective for pain relief. However, the poor quality of the majority of the trials reduces the reliability of the conclusion. More high-quality RCTs are needed to verify the effects.

Pain is one of the common symptoms of cancer which seriously affects the quality of life of the patients. Cancer pain is mainly treated with the three-step method, biological therapy or nerve block therapy based on antitumor therapy. However, up to 50 percent of patients with cancer-related pain do not receive adequate pain relief, affecting their physical and psychological well-being, and leading to a lower quality of life for the patient after conventional treatment. Clinical observation suggests that traditional Chinese medicine may alleviate cancer-related pain either by oral administration, topical administration, acupuncture or other means with continuing non-addictive and non-drug-resistant qualities. However, scientific evaluation of the efficacy of herbs in the treatment of pain is insufficient; the underlying mechanisms are unclear and, safety and toxicity remain a concern.

For thousands of years, moxibustion has been used for various diseases in China and other Asian countries. Despite the recent surge in Chinese herbal studies, few randomized controlled trials have been conducted on this modality, possibly due to the lacking of suitable double blinding methodology. This is a review of extant sham moxa devices and an introduction to a recently developed device that needs further validation.

OBJECTIVETo observe the effects and duration of electroacupuncture on the mechanical pain threshold induced by paclitaxel and explore its analgesic mechanism.

METHODSSixty-four C57BL/6J male mice were randomly divided into 4 groups, a normal+sham EA group, a normal+EA group, a medicine+sham EA(Med+ sham EA) group, a medicine + EA (Med + EA) group, 16 cases in each group. The model of chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy was established with paclitaxel intraperitoneal injection on the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 7th day in the Med + sham EA group and the Med + EA group. EA of 30 min was used on bilateral "Zusanli (ST 36)" on the 9th, 11th, 13th, 16th, 18th, 20th, 23rd, 25th, 27th, 30th day in the EA groups, 2 Hz/100 Hz and 1~ 1.5 mA. Acupuncture was applied on the same acupoint at the same times in the sham EA groups. Mechanical pain thresholds were tested by VonFrey before and after model establishment, namely on the 8th, 14th; 21st and, 28th day. The heart blood of 8 mice was drawn quickly to collect serum in every group on the 31st day, and the contents of tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1α (IL-1α), interleukin-1β (IL-1β) in proinflammatory cytokine were examined by ELISA. Mechanical pain thresholds were tested by VonFrey for the rest 8 mice of each group until there was no apparent difference in the two paclitaxel groups once a week,namely on the 35th, 42nd, 49th day.

RESULTSThe pain thresholds of each group were not statistically different before model establishment (P > 0.05). After model establishment (on the 8th day), thresholds of the paclitaxel groups were lower than those of the normal groups (all P < 0.05). After EA, the mechanical pain thresholds of the Med + EA group were higher than those of the Med + sham EA group at all the time points, and there was statistical difference on the 14th, 21st and 28th day (all P < 0.05). The analgesic effect was lasting to the 49th day. The contents of TNF-α, IL-1α, IL-1β of the Med + EA group were decreased than those of the Med+sham EA group in different degree, with statistical significance of IL-1α (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONEA can effectively treat paclitaxel-induced peripheral neuropathy,and the analgesic mechanism is probably related to decreasing the proinflammatory cytokine.

Acupuncture Points ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Electroacupuncture ; Humans ; Interleukin-1beta ; genetics ; metabolism ; Male ; Mice ; Mice, Inbred C57BL ; Neoplasms ; drug therapy ; Peripheral Nervous System Diseases ; etiology ; genetics ; metabolism ; therapy ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; genetics ; metabolism

Objective: To evaluate the effects of 650 nm-10.6 μm combined laser in patients with knee Osteoarthritis (OA) and to determine whether the combined laser provides greater pain relief and improved function compared with red light. Methods: Forty-eight patients with knee OA were randomly allocated to two groups (24 per group), receiving 20 rain irradiation with 650 nm -10.6 μm combined laser or red light emitting diode respectively on point Dubi (ST 35) 3 times a week for the first course (2 weeks) and twice a week for the second one (4 weeks). The main outcome measures were WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index) scores. In addition, patients' global assessment, adverse effects and validation of patient blinding were analyzed. Results: All the patients completed the first course, but 12 were lost during the second one. Due to the high dropout rate by the second course, only the data acquired from the first course could be analyzed. No differences of general data of patients and WOMAC scores were found in between-group comparison before treatment (P>0.05). The WOMAC scores of patients in both combined laser group and red light group reduced significantly compared to baseline by the end of the first course (P<0.01). There were no significant differences on the reduction rate of WOMAC scores between two groups (P>0.05). Neither the patients' global assessment nor the dropout rate showed statistical differences between two groups (P>0.05). There was no difference between two groups in patients correctly guessing the treatment assignment (P>0.05). There was no significant difference in the reduction rate of WOMAC scores and the patients' global assessment between patients who guessed their assignment (P>0.05). Conclusion: Both combined laser and red light irradiation are beneficial to patients with knee OA. But as the statistical indifferences between two groups, the authors can't conclude from this study whether the combined laser is more effective.