HealthDay reports, “When done by well-trained professionals, acupuncture can be a safe treatment for children,” according to a study published in the journal Pediatrics.
“In an analysis of 37 studies or case reports, Canadian researchers found that in over 1,400 children treated with acupuncture, just 168 experienced a mild adverse reaction, such as crying or pain.”
The Deseret Morning News (UT) reports, “The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine in the National Institutes of Health notes that acupuncture is thousands of years old and has been practiced all over the world, from the United States to China, Japan, Korea and beyond, ” with “‘relatively few complications reported,’ although there is potential for serious side effects if it’s ‘not delivered properly by a qualified practitioner.'”
This applies to adults as well as to children. MedPage Today reported that the analysis of 37 studies revealed that “of the 25 serious events reported among 1,422 patients treated … many appeared to have been caused by ‘substandard practice.'”
Also covering the story are Reuters and Medscape.