Six months of acupuncture treatment appears to be more effective than conventional therapy in treating low back pain, according to a study in a recent issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals, although the study suggests that both sham acupuncture and traditional Chinese verum acupuncture appear to be effective in treating low back pain.

“Low back pain is a common, impairing and disabling condition, often long-term, with an estimated lifetime prevalence of 70 percent to 85 percent,” the authors write as background information in the article. “It is the second most common pain for which physician treatment is sought and a major reason for absenteeism and disability.” Acupuncture is increasingly used as an alternative therapy, but its value as a treatment for low back pain is still controversial.

(Source: Canadian Medical Association Journal) Static magnets are widely marketed to the public with claims of effectiveness for relieving pain. One survey suggests that about 28 percent of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis or fibromyalgia, use magnets or copper bracelets for pain relief.

Do static magnets help reduce pain? Dr. Max H. Pittler and colleagues conducted a meta-analysis of 9 randomized trials, all of which used a visual analogue scale to assess the difference between static magnets and placebo. The researchers found no effect of magnets on pain scores and conclude that the evidence does not support the use of static magnets for pain relief and, therefore, magnets cannot be recommended as an effective treatment.

(Source: Harvard School of Public Health ) A slightly greater number of males than females are born worldwide every year. In recent decades, although there are still more baby boys born than girls, there has been an apparent decline in the ratio of male to female newborns in several industrialized countries, including Canada, Denmark, England, Germany, Japan and the United States. That has led researchers to ask: Are there any factors that can influence the probability of giving birth to a baby boy or girl? A new study from the Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden, found that mothers who experienced an increase in weight from the beginning of the first pregnancy to the beginning of the second pregnancy may be slightly more likely to give birth to a baby boy during their second pregnancy. The study appears in the journal Fertility & Sterility.  Keep in mind, this is one study, and does not mean that if you want a boy that you should gain weight. 

A few days ago I was waiting in line to return something when I noticed a sign tacked up on the wall. It was an official notice from a department in my state government telling customers to report attempts to mislead them about the true weight or measurement of something they might buy. The sign detailed ways in which scales and other weighing devices could be rigged so the customer is mislead.  As I was in a department store, not a grocery store, it was hard to see the relevance of this sign.

Would people complain to the state about trying to fit into a pair of pants, which should have been the right size but were impossible to pull on?  If they tried on a dress, which would have been a size 12 a decade ago and now is labeled a size 10, would they feel duped if the dress fit? Do we really care how much things weigh outside the supermarket? But as I was musing about this (the line was very long), it occurred to me that we very much care about how much things weigh when we are the ones being weighed.