News (Media Awareness Project) - US: Acupuncture Breakthrough In Treatment Of Addiction To |
| Title: | US: Acupuncture Breakthrough In Treatment Of Addiction To |
| Published On: | 2000-08-15 |
| Source: | Irish Independent (Ireland) |
| Fetched On: | 2008-09-03 12:21:38 |
ACUPUNCTURE BREAKTHROUGH IN TREATMENT OF ADDICTION TO COCAINE
Sticking small needles into your ear is an effective treatment for snorting white powder up your nose, according to a Yale University study of acupuncture therapy for cocaine addiction.
Researchers found that the ancient Chinese treatment sharply improves the chances of a cocaine addict kicking the habit.
The 82 participants in an eight-week study were addicted to heroin and cocaine and received methadone throughout for their heroin problem but no medication for cocaine.
A first group received auricular acupuncture pin-pricks in the outer ear, thought to be associated with addiction while a second group received pin-pricks at other points in the ear believed to have no therapeutic effect. A third group was shown video tapes of relaxing scenes, such as soothing landscapes. More than half, 53.8pc, receiving the first type of acupuncture therapy tested negative for cocaine use during the last week of the study. About 23pc in the second group managed to stay drug-free.
Only about nine pc of the video-watching control group managed to stay off cocaine for the week. Arthur Margolin, the principal investigator, said: "Our study supports the use of acupuncture for cocaine addiction and shows that alternative therapies can be combined with the arsenal of Western treatments. Additional benefits of acupuncture include its low cost and that it seems to have few adverse side-effects."
Although the scientific basis for the results is unknown, hundreds of drug-treatment centres have used acupuncture since the 1970s to relieve the craving for cocaine, with anecdotal evidence of success.
"We have been doing it for years and it works," said a spokesman for the Grant Street Partnership, a treatment agency in New Haven, Connecticut.
"The results are fantastic. Some of our most difficult cases have turned their lives around because of it."
A 1997 report by the US National Institute of Health said acupuncture can work to treat the nausea caused by chemotherapy or morning sickness and even function as an anaesthetic.
Sticking small needles into your ear is an effective treatment for snorting white powder up your nose, according to a Yale University study of acupuncture therapy for cocaine addiction.
Researchers found that the ancient Chinese treatment sharply improves the chances of a cocaine addict kicking the habit.
The 82 participants in an eight-week study were addicted to heroin and cocaine and received methadone throughout for their heroin problem but no medication for cocaine.
A first group received auricular acupuncture pin-pricks in the outer ear, thought to be associated with addiction while a second group received pin-pricks at other points in the ear believed to have no therapeutic effect. A third group was shown video tapes of relaxing scenes, such as soothing landscapes. More than half, 53.8pc, receiving the first type of acupuncture therapy tested negative for cocaine use during the last week of the study. About 23pc in the second group managed to stay drug-free.
Only about nine pc of the video-watching control group managed to stay off cocaine for the week. Arthur Margolin, the principal investigator, said: "Our study supports the use of acupuncture for cocaine addiction and shows that alternative therapies can be combined with the arsenal of Western treatments. Additional benefits of acupuncture include its low cost and that it seems to have few adverse side-effects."
Although the scientific basis for the results is unknown, hundreds of drug-treatment centres have used acupuncture since the 1970s to relieve the craving for cocaine, with anecdotal evidence of success.
"We have been doing it for years and it works," said a spokesman for the Grant Street Partnership, a treatment agency in New Haven, Connecticut.
"The results are fantastic. Some of our most difficult cases have turned their lives around because of it."
A 1997 report by the US National Institute of Health said acupuncture can work to treat the nausea caused by chemotherapy or morning sickness and even function as an anaesthetic.
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