User:A1candidate/My sandbox 4
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The German Acupuncture Trials (German: GERAC-Studien[1]) are a series of nationwide acupuncture trials set up in 2001 and published in 2006, on behalf of six German statutory health insurance companies.[2] They consist of one observational study on acupuncture side effects, and four randomized controlled trials (RCTs) - investigating acupuncture treatment for low back pain, knee osteoarthritis, migraine prophylaxis, and tension-type headache. The trials are considered to be one of the largest clinical studies in the field of acupuncture.[2]
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0d/Acupuncture1-1.jpg/320px-Acupuncture1-1.jpg)
The observational study revealed adverse events occurring in 7.5% of all acupuncture patients. While the trial for tension-type headache had to be aborted, the other three RCTs had the same results: acupuncture worked as well as or even better than conventional therapy.[3] Although there was no significant difference in efficacy between real and sham acupuncture for treatment of lower back pain, the efficacy of both types of acupuncture was noted to be almost twice that of standard therapy.[4]
As a result of the GERAC trials, the German Federal Joint Committee ruled in April 2006 that the costs of acupunctural treatment for chronic back pain and knee osteoarthritis will be covered by public health insurers in Germany.[5]
According to Schweizer Fernsehen, the total cost of the trials amounted to 7.5 million Euros.[6] Several years after the Committee's decision to incorporate acupunctural treatment into the healthcare of Germany was passed into law, the number of regular users of acupuncture in the country eventually surpassed one million.[7]