The difference between scientific drug therapy and acupuncture is immense. The science behind drugs is usually extremely precise. For example, Amgen, one of the biggest drug development companies, just released Phase 2 trial results of its monoclonal antibody AMG-334 for the prevention of episodic migraine. Amgen's science posits that migraine pain is caused by signals transmitted by the calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) receptor. AMG-334 can inhibit these signals and hence help with migraine. The primary purpose of the study is to find out whether there is a change in monthly migraine days with AMG-334 after 12 weeks. Indeed, a positive, statistically significant result is found: there is a 3.4 days reduction compared with 2.28 days observed in the placebo group. In other words, after 12 weeks, subjects taking the drug have 1.12 more migraine-free days per month than those who did not take the drug.
Now I speak from my standpoint of acupuncture and since I treat half a dozen of migraine patients a month Amgen is in no danger of losing market shares to me. My understanding of migraine is not at the molecular level. I work from a general theory that vascular activities play a key role in migraine and so acupuncture is used to moderate those activities. 90% of my patients start to improve with the first treatment. Within 6 weeks 50% don't experience migraines anymore. Drugs have side-effects. The common ones for AMG 334 include fatigue, flu-like symptom, nasopharyngitis, arthralgia and back pain. The most common side-effect with acupuncture is relaxation.
Although some fellow acupuncturists disagree, acupuncture will never be as scientifically precise as, well, science. However, it can be very effective for many conditions. I study science but I am a clinician and acupuncturist. If it's safe and works I'll use it.