Active albuterol or placebo, sham acupuncture, or no intervention in asthma
In a double-blind crossover pilot, 46 patients with asthma received an active bronchodilator, a placebo inhaler, sham acupuncture or no intervention in random order, with lung function measured repeatedly at each visit and self-rated improvement recorded. Among 39 who finished, lung function rose by about 20 per cent with the drug and about 7 per cent in each of the other three conditions. Self-reported improvement was about 50, 45 and 46 per cent in the drug, placebo inhaler and sham acupuncture conditions, against 21 per cent with no intervention. The authors conclude that only the drug improved lung function and that measuring untreated responses may matter when judging patient-reported outcomes.
In a double-blind crossover pilot, 46 patients with asthma received an active bronchodilator, a placebo inhaler, sham acupuncture or no intervention in random order, with lung function measured repeatedly at each visit and self-rated improvement recorded. Among 39 who finished, lung function rose by about 20 per cent with the drug and about 7 per cent in each of the other three conditions. Self-reported improvement was about 50, 45 and 46 per cent in the drug, placebo inhaler and sham acupuncture conditions, against 21 per cent with no intervention. The authors conclude that only the drug improved lung function and that measuring untreated responses may matter when judging patient-reported outcomes.
Written from the abstract, Harvard DASH record, 2026-11-03.
What our sources record
Recorded when this source was checked, figures included, with page references and quotation marks removed.
Wechsler, M. E., Kelley, J. M., Boyd, I. O. E., Dutile, S., Marigowda, G., Kirsch, I., Israel, E., & Kaptchuk, T. J. (2011). Active albuterol or placebo, sham acupuncture, or no intervention in asthma. New England Journal of Medicine, 365(2), 119-126. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1103319 https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMoa1103319