I recently read the confessions of an acupuncturist. They were tucked away in the back of the House of Lords' report on alternative medicine. Dr Adrian White is a well known researcher and writer on the subject. He said that when he was a GP, he studied acupuncture because he wanted to prove that it worked. Later he became a research fellow, when his concern was not to find evidence to prove it worked, but to study the evidence to see whether it worked or not. He says that was a huge leap in attitude.

Acupuncture is back in the news because of a new study published in the British Medical Journal. The writers had looked to see if acupuncture helps neck pain. They compared three groups of patients. One group had acupuncture, the second group had massage and the third group had "sham acupuncture".

Researchers have gone to ingenious lengths to invent acupuncture-like therapies to use as a placebo for comparison in research. In this case, they offered "laser acupuncture" - a laser beam aimed into the skin - rather than a needle. For this test, they had all the lights working so that the patient would think they were getting the real thing, but unknown to the patient, the beam itself was turned off.

The results showed that acupuncture was significantly better than massage. However, it was no better than the "sham" . Now what conclusion can you draw from that?

I discussed these findings with a retired surgeon, who told me that in 1983 he went to China with a team of surgeons to investigate traditional Chinese medicine. He said they went with an open mind. They looked at acupuncture and tried it on themselves. He felt very sceptical about it. He discussed his reservations with a senior Chinese politician. He asked him "How come that we have seen film in the West of Chinese people having open heart surgery done under acupuncture?" "Oh," came the reply. "That was all propaganda for the cultural revolution. Those people were heavily drugged - and they suffered dreadfully."

Research suggests that acupuncture does have an effect and possibly works by two different ways. Firstly, it is thought to confuse the nervous system so that pain signals do not reach the brain. This is an immediate effect which does not last long. Secondly, it is thought to release "endorphins", which are natural chemicals in the body which act like pain killers. These have a delayed effect over several days.

Unfortunately, neither effect is strong, nor reliable as many people get no relief at all. So we are left a technique that may well have a painkilling effect, but it is not strong, lasting or reliable. Since painkillers work well for most common pains, it is difficult to see where acupuncture fits in. It has not been shown to have a clear role in any condition, and may just be the "best ever" type of placebo. I can't see why people bother with it.