title: Can moxibustion, an ancient treatment modality, be evaluated in a double-blind randomized controlled trial? - a narrative review.
abstract: For thousands of years, moxibustion has been used for various diseases in China and other Asian countries. Despite the recent surge in Chinese herbal studies, few randomized controlled trials have been conducted on this modality, possibly due to the lacking of suitable double blinding methodology. This is a review of extant sham moxa devices and an introduction to a recently developed device that needs further validation.
authors.affiliation: School of Acupuncture, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
authors.forename: Bai-Xiao
authors.initials: BX
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China.
authors.forename: Hai-Yong
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: College of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tuina, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.
authors.forename: Xue-Yong
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Shen
authors.affiliation: School of Chinese Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; E-mail: lxlao1@hku.hk.
authors.forename: Lixing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lao
mesh_terms: D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D009071:Moxibustion; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic