Ng, Siu-Man, Yiu, Yan-Mun · Alternative therapies in health and medicine · 2013
Researchers tested whether acupuncture could help people with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) by comparing real acupuncture to fake acupuncture in 127 participants over 4 weeks. Both groups improved, but the real acupuncture group showed somewhat better results in reducing physical and mental fatigue and improving physical quality of life, though the improvements were modest.
This is one of the few rigorous randomized controlled trials examining acupuncture for CFS, providing evidence that real acupuncture may produce modest benefits beyond placebo. The findings help clinicians and patients understand whether acupuncture merits consideration as a symptomatic management strategy for fatigue and quality of life.
This study does not prove that acupuncture cures or substantially reverses CFS pathology; improvements were modest and primarily symptomatic. The 4-week duration means long-term efficacy and durability remain unknown. Additionally, the substantial sham-group improvement suggests that expectation and tactile stimulation account for a large proportion of any benefit.
About the PEM badge: “PEM required” means post-exertional malaise was an explicit required diagnostic criterion for participant inclusion in this study — not that PEM was studied, observed, or discussed. Studies using criteria that do not require PEM (e.g. Fukuda, Oxford) are tagged “PEM not required”. How the atlas works →
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Primary citation
Ng, Siu-Man & Yiu, Yan-Mun (2013). Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized, sham-controlled trial with single-blinded design.. Alternative therapies in health and medicine. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23981369/
BibTeX
@article{mecfsatlas-ng-2013-acupuncture-chronic,
author = {Ng, Siu-Man and Yiu, Yan-Mun},
title = {Acupuncture for chronic fatigue syndrome: a randomized, sham-controlled trial with single-blinded design.},
journal = {Alternative therapies in health and medicine},
year = {2013},
note = {PubMed: 23981369},
url = {https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ng-2013-acupuncture-chronic},
}Atlas snapshot reference
ME/CFS Atlas. Generator v1 / Scanner v1.4 / policy v0.1. Accessed 2026-05-29. https://www.mecfsatlas.com/evidence/ng-2013-acupuncture-chronic
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