Acupuncture reduced the frequency of migraine attacks

Acupuncture can markedly ease the course of migraine without aura, the most common form of migraine in which an attack begins without "warning" visual or other symptoms. This was the conclusion of a randomised clinical trial published in JAMA Network Open.

The trial was conducted in China between 2021 and 2023 and included 120 adults with migraine without aura. Volunteers were randomly divided into two groups: one group received real acupuncture(insertion of needles into specific points), the other - sham-acupuncture, that is, a controlled "imitation" procedure, which should minimise the therapeutic effect and serve as a comparison. The participants received a total of 12 sessions over four weeks.

Results showed that patients in the real acupuncture group had a decrease in the number of days with migraine per month compared to the sham procedure group. In addition, participants reported a reduction in pain intensity, less need for medication to manage attacks and improved daily functioning - headaches were less likely to "knock" out of their usual rhythm.

A separate part of the work was devoted to the question of why the method helps some patients more than others. Before the course, all participants underwent resting-state functional MRI (resting-state fMRI) to assess how different areas of the brain interact with each other. The researchers then applied connectome-based predictive modelling (CPM), a machine learning approach that looks for patterns in the brain's 'connectivity map' and maps them to clinical effects.

The analysis highlighted two connectivity patterns associated with better response. Specifically, more pronounced pain relief was seen in people with weaker connections between networks related to self-reflection and areas of coordination. And improvement in daily physical activity was more marked in patients with stronger connections between coordination and motor centres. According to the authors, this brings clinical practice closer to a personalised choice of therapy: in the long term, neuroimaging may help to assess in advance the likelihood of benefit from acupuncture in a particular patient.