Scientists mocked the research published on Tuesday which said that ear acupuncture can help people lose weight, Fox News reports.

"It is hard to think of a treatment that is less plausible than ear acupuncture," said Edzard Ernst, a professor of complementary medicine at Britain's University of Exeter.

A summary statement about the study, conducted by Korean researchers, said it compared three approaches in a total of 91 people - acupuncture on five points on the outer ear, acupuncture on one point, and a sham treatment as a control.

Рarticipants were asked to follow a restrictive diet, but not one designed to lead to weight loss, and not to take any extra exercise during eight weeks of treatment.

Its results suggested significant differences were apparent after four weeks, with the active treatment groups receiving acupuncture on one or five points having lower body mass index scores compared with the sham treatment group, where there was no such reduction.

Weight also differed significantly after four weeks in both active treatment groups compared with the sham treatment group, the researchers reported in the journal.

But external experts said this research and its apparent conclusions should be viewed with extreme caution.

Kevin McConway, a professor of applied statistics at Open University noted that more than a third of the study's small number of starting participants did not complete the course, and yet the main results did not take this into account.

"The study lasted only eight weeks, which is not long when it comes to a long-term issue like being overweight," he said.

"Collectively, these limitations render the findings far too unreliable for issuing recommendations about the use of ear acupuncture," he said. "Consulting an acupuncturist will reduce your cash but not your body weight."