In this issue

This issue of Acupuncture in Medicine opens with a new, single-blinded, randomised controlled trial (RCT) by Chung et al, in which the effectiveness of traditional needle acupuncture, administered both with and without concurrent auricular acupuncture, and compared with allocation to a waiting list, is assessed as a potential treatment for insomnia. Both groups receiving acupuncture treatment demonstrated a lesser degree of insomnia and fatigue, fewer symptoms relating to anxiety or depression, and improved functional status, relative to the untreated control group. There appeared to be no synergistic effect of body and auricular needling, however, given that the two active acupuncture treatment groups did not significantly differ with respect to any primary or secondary outcomes. Nevertheless, this latest report adds to an ever-growing RCT-level evidence base, predominantly courtesy of this particular psychiatric research group at the University of Hong Kong,1–3 who have made other...