Many cancer patients swear by acupressure wristbands as a way to ward off treatment-related nausea. Most doctors have assumed the bands work because of the placebo effect. No longer.

Acupuncture effectively treats both tension headaches and migraines, a review of 33 trials reported this week. But guess what: fake acupuncture treatments proved to be equally effective. Could the benfits of acupuncture be nothing more than a placebo effect?