I don't watch a lot of TV, but by sheer luck or karma if you're into that,(as I am - Karma as in getting oneself more and more tightly wound in a knot of delusion through unskillful actions and thoughts), I managed to catch an incredible documentary.
Originally, A&E aired a doc about tatoos. Someone found a 10,000 year old iceman covered in linear markings and determined that tatooing was over 10,000 years old.
An accupuncturist saw the program and contacted them. Apparently, the marking were the result of the accupuncture, originally applies with stones to the accupuncture points.
I'd call 10,000 years, "tried tested and true". Now, compare a few Western favs. Check top 100,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bestselling_drugs
. Not one over 20 years old.
1 Lipitor Atorvastatin 14,385 7% Pfizer, Astellas Pharma Cholesterol First Approval Date Dec-1996
2 Advair, Seretide Fluticasone + Salmeterol 6,129 12% GlaxoSmithKline Asthma First Approval Date Aug-2000
3 Plavix, Iscover Clopidogrel 6,057 -5% Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi-Aventis Thrombotic events First Approval Date Nov-1997
4 Nexium Esomeprazole 5,182 12% AstraZeneca Gastrointestinal disorders First Approval Date Mar-2000
5 Norvasc Amlodipine 4,866 3% Pfizer Hypertension First Approval Date Jul-1992
And as for effectiveness, (to quote my girlfriend after sex), "Baby, I don't know what your accupuncturist did to you, but I wanna see him too!"