Acupuncture Treatment for Addictions

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Citizen Jimserac - 24 Apr 2008 13:38 GMT

The NADA ear acupuncture protocol is one of the great success stories
of modern acupuncture and is utilized
in thousands of clinics all over the world to aid in the treatment of
chemical/substance abuse dependency and withdrawal. Tens of thousands
of people have gotten back their lives thanks to this MODERN
utilization of Acupuncture.

DISCOVERED by a Hong Kong neurosurgeon in the 70's,
ample research has confirmed (listing follows) the efficacy of the
treatment; Yale Univ. School of Medicine Also did a study in 2000.

Ackerman RW. Auricular acupuncture treatment for chemical dependency.
Paper presented to the National Acupuncture Detoxification
Association, Inc.. Vancouver, Washington, 1-34. 1992 Available from
National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB
1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927

Ackerman RW. The experience of women receiving auricular acupuncture
treatment for chemical dependency during pregnancy. Santa Barbara
(CA)]: The Fielding Institute; 1994. 301 p. Santa Barbara (CA)]: The
Fielding Institute English

Brewington V, Smith M, Lipton D. Acupuncture as a detoxification
treatment: analysis of controlled research. J of Substance Abuse
Treatment 1994 Vol. 11 pp. 289-307.

Brumbaugh AG. Acupuncture: new perspectives in chemical dependency
treatment. J Subst Abuse Treat 1993 Jan; 10 (l): 35-43 Medline
93195972 Journal article review, tutorial USA

Clark W. Trial of acupuncture detoxification (TRIAD): Final report
prepared by TRIAD Research Staff, Delivered to the California State
Legislature August 15, 1990 Available from National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
98668-1927.

Cui Meng. Advances in studies on acupuncture abstinence. J of Tradit
Chinese Medicine 15(4)-.301-307,1995, 16(1) 65-69,1996 .

Culleton PD, Kiresuk TJ. Overview of substance abuse acupuncture
treatment research. J of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 1996
Vol. 2, No. 1 pp. 149-165.

Dale RA. Addictions and acupuncture: the treatment methods, formulae,
effectiveness and limitations. Amer J of Acupuncture 1993 Vol. 21, No.
3 pp. 247-267.

Finn P, Newlyn AK. Mami's Drug Court: a different approach national
institute of justice program. Focus, NCJ 142412, 1993 (Available from
U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National
Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C. 2053 1. or available from
National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB
1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927.)

Font Riera Jose Francisco Lepez Espinosa Carlos Aldea Bueno. Tecnicas
de deshabituacion obesidad-tabaquismo-drogadiccion. Proelsa SA Mayo
1986 69 4' dpcho 9 Barcelonna Spain

Gurevich M, Duckworth D, Imhof J, Katz JI. Is auricular acupuncture
beneficial in the inpatient treatment of substance-abusing patients? A
pilot study. J Subst Abuse Treat 1996 Mar-, 13(2)-165-71 Medline
97035020 Journal article English United States

Inconnu . Strategies for action combating drug and alcohol abuse in
Dade county: an update. Write to Herbert M. Klein, Associate Chief
Judge, I I th Judicial Circuit, Miami Beach, Florida June 1990

Keenan P. Treatment of pregnant substance abusers. Paper presented at
the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Annual Meeting,
Miami, Florida, February, 1990. Available from National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
98668-1927.

Konefal J, Duncan R, Clemence C. Comparison of three levels of
auricular acupuncture in an outpatient substance abuse program. Altern
Med J 1995; 2 ( 5): 8-17,

Konefal J, Duncan R, Clemence C. The impact of the addition of an
acupuncture treatment program to an existing Metro-Dade County
outpatient substance abuse treatment facility. J of Addiction Disease
1994 Vol. 13, No. 3 71-99.

Konefal J. Drug abuse detoxification study for risk behavior of AIDS.
Grant application to the Department of Health and Human Services,
Public Health Service University of Miami. Available from University
of Miami, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, P.0. Box 0 1
6069, Miami, Florida 3 3 1 01

Lane C. Final evaluation report: acupuncture detoxification project.
Hooper Center, Central City Oregon, Alcohol and Drug Program 1988

Lowe L. A focus on acupuncture research compiled by the California
Department of Corrections. Paper presented at Fifth Annual Conference,
National Acupuncture Detoxification Association March 18-20, 1994, San
Francisco, CA. March 18-20, 1994 Available from National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
98668-1927,

Mallard A, Petitjean F. Thylisme chronique. Revue d'auriculomedicine
no. 30 Jan 1983 Journal Article French France

Patterson MA. Effects of neuroelectric therapy (N.E.T.) in drug
addiction: interim report. Bulletin of Narcotics 1976 Vol. 28 pp.
55-62

Patterson MA. Final report: the effectivenss of acupuncture in the
treatment of drug dependency. Submitted to the Montgomery Court of
Common Pleas, Montgomery County, Ohio 1993

Shakar M, Smith MO. The use of acupuncture in the treatment of drug
addiction. Amer J of Acupuncture, 1979 Vol. 7, No. 3 pp. 223-228

Simon F. The successful use of auricular acupuncture in the supported
withdrawal and detoxification of substance abusers community drug
advisory service. St. Pauls Hospital Winchester, Hampshire, S022 5AA
England

Smith MO, Alvarez C, Smalls N. Criminal justice referrals to
acupuncture detoxification: pilot program. Shows encouraging results.
September 10, 1987 Available from Substance Abuse Division, Lincoln
Hospital, Bronx, New York

Smith MO, Kahn I. Acupuncture program for treatment of drug addicted
persons. Bulletin on Narcotics 1988 XL(l) pp. 35-41.

Smith MO, Ra K. Acupuncture and the treatment of chemical dependency
and violence. Paper presented at the Caribbean Mental Health
Conference, Nassau, Bahamas July 22-26, 1985 Available from Substance
Abuse Division, Lincoln Hospital, Bronx, New York

Smith MO, Squires R, Aponte J, Rabinovitz N, Bonilla-Rodriguez R.
Acupuncture treatment of drug addiction and alcohol abuse. Amer J of
Acupuncture, 1982 Vol, 10, No. 2, pp. 161-166.

Smith MO. Acupuncture and natural healing in drug detoxification. Amer
J of Acupuncture 1979 Vol. 1, No. 7 pp. 97-107

Smith MO. Acupuncture as a treatment for drug dependent mothers.
Testimony presented to the New York City Council, April 11, 1988

Smith MO. Acupuncture helps programs more than patients. Paper
presented at the Annual Conference of the National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association 1993 Available from National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association Clearing House, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
98668-1927.)

Smith MO. Acupuncture treatment for substance abuse. National
Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearing House 1987 Available
from: National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearing House,
POB 1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927.

Smith MO. Lincoln Hospital Acupuncture Drug Abuse Program. Testimony
presented to the National Institute of Health Alternative Medicine and
the National Wellness Coalition (Dirksen Senate Office Building) May
21, 1993

Smith MO. Raising healthy babies for the 90's. National Acupuncture
Detoxification Association Clearing House 1990 Available from National
Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearing House, POB 1927,
Vancouver, WA 98668-1927.)

Smith MO. Relation of maternal treatment involvement (i.e.,
participation in substance abuse and prenatal services) to infant
birth weight. Unpublished report. 1992 (Available from Lincoln Clinic,
Maternal Substance Abuse Services, 349 East 140th Street, Bronx, New
York 10454.)

Smith MO. The Lincoln Hospital Drug Abuse Program. Testimony presented
to the Select Committee on Narcotics of the House of Representatives
of the United States July 4, 1989 Available from Substance Abuse
Division, Lincoln Hospital, Bronx, New York

Smith MO. The Miami success story- transforming the criminal justice
system with an acupuncture. Based Diversion Program, National
Acupuncture Detoxification Association Newsletter September, 1990
Available from National Acupuncture Detoxification Association
Clearing House, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927,

Swan N. Experts divided on effectiveness of acupuncture as a drug
abuse treatment. NIDA Notes September/October, 1992 p. 17

Sytinsky IA, Galebskaya LV. Physiologo-biochemical bases of drug
dependence treatment by electro- acupuncture. Addiction Behavior 1979
Vol. 4, No. 2 pp. 97-120

Taub CB. Report on acupuncture substance abuse treatment adjunct. Feb
1993 through Jun 1993, Jul 1993. Available through Lincoln Hospital,
Maternal Substance Abuse Services, 349 East 140th Street, Bronx, New
York 10454.

Taubert K. Diagnosis using of ear zeitschrift fur arztliche.
Fortbildung 1992 no. 19 945-946

Wen HL, Cheung YC. Treatment of drug addiction by acupuncture and
electrical stimulation. Asian J of Medicine 1973 Vol. 9 pp. 138-141
Reprinted in Amer J of Acupuncture Vol. 1, no. 2, 1973, p. 71-75.

Wen HL. Clinical experience and mechanisms of acupuncture and
electrical stimulation (AES) in the treatment of drug abuse. Amer J of
Chinese Medicine 1980 Vol. 8, No. 4, pp. 349-353

Whitehead D. Acupuncture and the treatment of addiction: a review and
analysis. International J of Addictions 1978 Vol. 13, No. I pp. 1-16.

Citizen Jimserac

Reply to this Message

Martin - 24 Apr 2008 19:34 GMT

>The NADA ear acupuncture protocol is one of the great success stories
>of modern acupuncture and is utilized
[quoted text clipped - 12 lines]
>National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB
>1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927

A pro acupuncture magazine.

>Ackerman RW. The experience of women receiving auricular acupuncture
>treatment for chemical dependency during pregnancy. Santa Barbara
>(CA)]: The Fielding Institute; 1994. 301 p. Santa Barbara (CA)]: The
>Fielding Institute English

The Fielding Institute. not a medical school. And not research into
the efficacy. It's about the experience of women getting acupuncture.
A bunch of anecdotes.

>Brewington V, Smith M, Lipton D. Acupuncture as a detoxification
>treatment: analysis of controlled research. J of Substance Abuse
>Treatment 1994 Vol. 11 pp. 289-307.

Not research itself, an analysis of research.

>Brumbaugh AG. Acupuncture: new perspectives in chemical dependency
>treatment. J Subst Abuse Treat 1993 Jan; 10 (l): 35-43 Medline
>93195972 Journal article review, tutorial USA

An article review, no research.

>Clark W. Trial of acupuncture detoxification (TRIAD): Final report
>prepared by TRIAD Research Staff, Delivered to the California State
>Legislature August 15, 1990 Available from National Acupuncture
>Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
>98668-1927.

Pro acupuncture people promoting acupuncture.

>Cui Meng. Advances in studies on acupuncture abstinence. J of Tradit
>Chinese Medicine 15(4)-.301-307,1995, 16(1) 65-69,1996 .

Ditto, and please note that the Chinese barely use their own
traditional medicine.

>Culleton PD, Kiresuk TJ. Overview of substance abuse acupuncture
>treatment research. J of Alternative & Complementary Medicine, 1996
>Vol. 2, No. 1 pp. 149-165.

The journal of alt med? Now there's an unbiased source.... NOT.

>Dale RA. Addictions and acupuncture: the treatment methods, formulae,
>effectiveness and limitations. Amer J of Acupuncture 1993 Vol. 21, No.
>3 pp. 247-267.

Pro quackery magazine.

>Finn P, Newlyn AK. Mami's Drug Court: a different approach national
>institute of justice program. Focus, NCJ 142412, 1993 (Available from
>U.S. Department of Justice, Office of Justice Programs, National
>Institute of Justice, Washington, D.C. 2053 1. or available from
>National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB
>1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927.)

Ditto

>Font Riera Jose Francisco Lepez Espinosa Carlos Aldea Bueno. Tecnicas
>de deshabituacion obesidad-tabaquismo-drogadiccion. Proelsa SA Mayo
>1986 69 4' dpcho 9 Barcelonna Spain

Some obscure source.

>Gurevich M, Duckworth D, Imhof J, Katz JI. Is auricular acupuncture
>beneficial in the inpatient treatment of substance-abusing patients? A
>pilot study. J Subst Abuse Treat 1996 Mar-, 13(2)-165-71 Medline
>97035020 Journal article English United States

A pilot study. So a study to see if there might be something worth
investigating. From 1996. Why a pilot study in 1996 if the efficacy of
acupuncture has been proven for thousands of years already? Maybe
because it wasn't proven in 1996?

>Inconnu . Strategies for action combating drug and alcohol abuse in
>Dade county: an update. Write to Herbert M. Klein, Associate Chief
>Judge, I I th Judicial Circuit, Miami Beach, Florida June 1990

A letter to a judge? You call that proof?

>Keenan P. Treatment of pregnant substance abusers. Paper presented at
>the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association Annual Meeting,
>Miami, Florida, February, 1990. Available from National Acupuncture
>Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
>98668-1927.

Quacks promoting quackery again.

>Konefal J, Duncan R, Clemence C. Comparison of three levels of
>auricular acupuncture in an outpatient substance abuse program. Altern
>Med J 1995; 2 ( 5): 8-17,

Ditto

>Konefal J, Duncan R, Clemence C. The impact of the addition of an
>acupuncture treatment program to an existing Metro-Dade County
>outpatient substance abuse treatment facility. J of Addiction Disease
>1994 Vol. 13, No. 3 71-99.

And? What was the impact Jimmy? You did read the study, didn't you?

>Konefal J. Drug abuse detoxification study for risk behavior of AIDS.
>Grant application to the Department of Health and Human Services,
>Public Health Service University of Miami. Available from University
>of Miami, School of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, P.0. Box 0 1
>6069, Miami, Florida 3 3 1 01

And what did this study have to say about acupuncture?

>Lane C. Final evaluation report: acupuncture detoxification project.
>Hooper Center, Central City Oregon, Alcohol and Drug Program 1988

And the result? You did read the report, right?

>Lowe L. A focus on acupuncture research compiled by the California
>Department of Corrections. Paper presented at Fifth Annual Conference,
>National Acupuncture Detoxification Association March 18-20, 1994, San
>Francisco, CA. March 18-20, 1994 Available from National Acupuncture
>Detoxification Association Clearinghouse, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA
>98668-1927,

More quacks promoting quackery.

>Mallard A, Petitjean F. Thylisme chronique. Revue d'auriculomedicine
>no. 30 Jan 1983 Journal Article French France

Tu n'a pas lu cette article aussi, j'en suis sur.

>Patterson MA. Effects of neuroelectric therapy (N.E.T.) in drug
>addiction: interim report. Bulletin of Narcotics 1976 Vol. 28 pp.
>55-62

Now it's electric therapy! Make up your mind, are we talking about
acupuncture or not?

>Patterson MA. Final report: the effectivenss of acupuncture in the
>treatment of drug dependency. Submitted to the Montgomery Court of
>Common Pleas, Montgomery County, Ohio 1993

A report to a court. No scientific, peer reviewed research. Again.

>Shakar M, Smith MO. The use of acupuncture in the treatment of drug
>addiction. Amer J of Acupuncture, 1979 Vol. 7, No. 3 pp. 223-228

You would let a fox guard your henhouse, I'm sure.

>Simon F. The successful use of auricular acupuncture in the supported
>withdrawal and detoxification of substance abusers community drug
>advisory service. St. Pauls Hospital Winchester, Hampshire, S022 5AA
>England

Finally one that can not be dismissed on the title and source alone.

>Smith MO, Alvarez C, Smalls N. Criminal justice referrals to
>acupuncture detoxification: pilot program. Shows encouraging results.
>September 10, 1987 Available from Substance Abuse Division, Lincoln
>Hospital, Bronx, New York

Shows encouraging results? That's it? Something so effective only
showing encouraging results?

Do I really need to go on about this list?

>Smith MO, Kahn I. Acupuncture program for treatment of drug addicted
>persons. Bulletin on Narcotics 1988 XL(l) pp. 35-41.
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>Smith MO. Acupuncture as a treatment for drug dependent mothers.
>Testimony presented to the New York City Council, April 11, 1988

Court testimony?

>Smith MO. Acupuncture helps programs more than patients. Paper
>presented at the Annual Conference of the National Acupuncture
[quoted text clipped - 11 lines]
>the National Wellness Coalition (Dirksen Senate Office Building) May
>21, 1993

More testimoanials! No good quackery can do without it!

>Smith MO. Raising healthy babies for the 90's. National Acupuncture
>Detoxification Association Clearing House 1990 Available from National
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>Maternal Substance Abuse Services, 349 East 140th Street, Bronx, New
>York 10454.)

An unpublished(!) reportabout the relation of maternal treatment
involvement to infant birth weight? To support your idea that
acupuncture works for addictions? I couldn't make this stuff up if I
wanted to.

>Smith MO. The Lincoln Hospital Drug Abuse Program. Testimony presented
>to the Select Committee on Narcotics of the House of Representatives
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
>Available from National Acupuncture Detoxification Association
>Clearing House, POB 1927, Vancouver, WA 98668-1927,

Transforming the criminal justice system with acupuncture? These guys
aren't shy about making grandiose claims, are they?

>Swan N. Experts divided on effectiveness of acupuncture as a drug
>abuse treatment. NIDA Notes September/October, 1992 p. 17
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
>
>Citizen Jimserac

Jimmy, your demonstration that you can cut and paste is no evidence
that acupuncture works. Your list consists of quacks promoting
quackery, things that aren't research and things that aren't even
about acupuncture. You're going to have to do better than that.
Unfortunately for you, you can't. Believe, I've looked if there is
anything better than that and there isn't it.

Reply to this Message

Citizen Jimserac - 24 Apr 2008 21:25 GMT

Comments disregarded.

Your posts are always welcome, whatever
their merit, if any.

Citizen Jimserac

Reply to this Message

Martin - 25 Apr 2008 15:44 GMT

>Comments disregarded.
>
>Your posts are always welcome, whatever their merit, if any.
>
>Citizen Jimserac

yep, that's right. Disregards anything that doesn't jibe with your
preconceived notions. I like my alties the old fashioned way.

Reply to this Message

Citizen Jimserac - 26 Apr 2008 01:58 GMT

> On Thu, 24 Apr 2008 13:25:03 -0700 (PDT), CitizenJimserac
>
[quoted text clipped - 8 lines]
> yep, that's right. Disregards anything that doesn't jibe with your
> preconceived notions. I like my alties the old fashioned way.

Comments disregarded.
Your posts are always welcome.

Citizen Jimserac

Reply to this Message

Citizen Jimserac - 29 Apr 2008 13:10 GMT

Shall you DISREGARD double blind tests such as THIS ONE?:

http://www.jcm.co.uk/media/cms/File/JCM86_46.pdf?fe=573cf3b939f18980f23e78d2e0e5b734

Low level laser for the stimulation of
acupoints for smoking cessation: a double
blind, placebo controlled randomised trial
and semi structured interviews by Kerr et al.,
Journal of Chinese Medicine, #86, Feb 2008.

Citizen Jimserac

Reply to this Message

Peter Moran - 24 Apr 2008 22:35 GMT

> The NADA ear acupuncture protocol is one of the great success stories
> of modern acupuncture and is utilized
> in thousands of clinics all over the world to aid in the treatment of
> chemical/substance abuse dependency and withdrawal. Tens of thousands
> of people have gotten back their lives thanks to this MODERN
> utilization of Acupuncture.

There is such a high drop-out rate in such clinics that they are left mainly
only with their successes. They can develop a very biased view of their
program's effectiveness.

We know ear acupuncture is at least mostly placebo. The Cochrane review
quoted below showed that sham acupuncture works as well as the real thing.
So we can once again forget about TCM theory being responsble for any
effects..

Nevertheless, does ear acupuncture being a placebo, or even merely a method
of enforced relaxation, preclude it having a useful additive effect in
this otherwise very difficult to treat condition? Has anyone any high
quality data showing that more addicts become clean and stay clean with this
treatment?

Extract--

Main results
Seven studies with a total of 1,433 participants were included. All were of
generally low methodological quality. No differences between acupuncture and
sham acupuncture were found for attition RR 1.05 (95% CI 0.89 to 1.23) or
acupuncture and no acupuncture: RR 1.06 (95% CI 0.90 to 1.26) neither for
any measure of cocaine or other drug use. However, the number of
participants included in meta-analyses was low, and power was limited.
Moderate benefit or harm is not ruled out by these results. Methodological
limitations of the included studies may have also made the results open to
bias.

Authors' conclusions
There is currently no evidence that auricular acupuncture is effective for
the treatment of cocaine dependence. The evidence is not of high quality and
is inconclusive. Further randomised trials of auricular acupuncture may be
justified.

Gates S, Smith LA, Foxcroft DR. Auricular acupuncture for cocaine
dependence. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2006, Issue 1. Art. No.:
CD005192. DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD005192.pub2.

PM

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Citizen Jimserac - 26 Apr 2008 02:23 GMT

> "CitizenJimserac" <Jimse...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
[quoted text clipped - 46 lines]
>
> PM

I'm almost willing to concede the point(no pun intended
so pleasant is it to encounter a posting of half
decent intelligence, applicability and contextual relevance!

Yes, there are indeed negative outcomes as I have found too.

Please note the following (sources in parenthesis):

First, some comments on the "standard" treatment for some chemical
dependency addictions
for some years - methadone.

"It seems that an entire industry has grown up around the treatment of
the addicted by the utilization of dangerously addictive
“withdrawal” drugs such as Methadone (originally created by the
Germans as a war time pain medication substitute because of
interdiction of opiates by the Allies). Interestingly, this
“addiction recovery” industry sees only good in the Methadone
treatment and seems to “look the other way” with regards to the high
cost and addictive nature of this “treatment”. For example, this
quote from the intriguingly named “Methadone Maintenance Treatment:
Client Handbook:

”People who take methadone as a treatment for opioid dependence are
no more addicts than are people who take insulin as a treatment for
diabetes. Methadone is a medication. Methadone treatment
allows you to live a normal life, work, go to school, or care for your
children. ”
( Methadone Maintenance Treatment Client Handbook, Center for
Addiction and Mental Health
(Canadian Addiction and Mental Health Hospital),
http://www.camh.net/Care_Treatment/Resources_clients_families_friends/Methadone_
Maintenance_T
reatment/mmt_client_hndbk.pdf)

In the early 1970's a Hong Kong neurosurgeon researching the effects
of Acupuncture on postoperative pain accidentally discovered that the
application of electrical stimulation to the lung point of the ear
seemed to have a positive effect on reducing opiate withdrawal
symptoms.
(from "A Brief History of Acupuncture for Detoxification in the United
States", John Kolenda L.Ac.,
Acupuncture Today, September, 2000, Volume 1, Issue 09;
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27686&MERCURYSID=04da9c
02725ee7a9aaf4acc3aa219082)

The ear Acupuncture addiction treatment eventually was refined,
particularly under the direction of Dr. Michael O. Smith at the
Lincoln Center and Hospital in New York, into an integral part of a
modern treatment methodology for addiction withdrawal and came to be
known as the “NADA” protocol after its sponsorship and adaption by the
National Acupuncture Detox Association.(Understanding Acupuncture,
Steven Birch and Bob Felt,
Churchill/Livingstone Publishers, 1999, ISBN:0443067193;)

"A new patient typically receives an orientation to the program and a
recommended plan of treatment. The patient then meets with a
counselor and has an individual acupuncture session.
The patient is expected to have daily acupuncture treatments until the
urinalysis is drug free for ten days. After this time, each patient
continues counseling sessions, both individually and in group
settings, and maintains a regular schedule of acupuncture for at least
4 months. The treatment
protocol is based on self-responsibility, patient choice and
empowerment, self-awareness and reflection, positive reinforcement and
group support.” (quoted from Integrating Complementary Medicine Into
Health Care Systems, Nancy Faass, Jones and Bartlett Publishers, ISBN:
0834212161 - where the hell did I put the damn page numbers,
OK, just use google search...)

I note with interest that it is the reinforcement of self motivation
and personal desire, rather than the acupuncture itself which
appears to be the key factor. That does not lessen the relevance
nor importance of it but could be used to support Dr. Moran's view, I
believe.

In addition, we have this:
“Most detoxification clinics use auricular acupuncture in the
treatment of substance
abusers. In particular, the ear point “lung” has proved to be very
effective in
the treatment of withdrawal symptoms and should be included in any
program of
relapse prevention. This point has a unique location at the most
superficial
branch of the vagus nerve. Stimulation of the vagus nerve by use of
this point is
believed to produce neural impulses that restore activity of the
nervous cells of the
reticular formation that, in turn, stimulate the hypothalamus,which
initiates the reward cascade.”
(from A Biochemical Hypothesis for the Effectiveness of Acupuncture in
the Treatment of Substance Abuse: Acupuncture and the Reward
Cascasde, Sean Scott and Wm. M. Scott, American Journal of
Acupuncture, Vol 25, No. 1, 1997, Page 38)
http://acupuncturejournal.com/AJASple2.html

“When the reward cascade is functioning normally, the patient feels a
sense
of peace and wellbeing that lasts beyond the detoxification treatment.
Thus, it is
possible that the scope of acupuncture is not limited to the
withdrawal phase of
chemical dependence, but may also play a role in relapse prevention.”

(from Understanding Addiction – Part One, Shelly Bobbins RN, LAC,
Acupuncture Today, Vol 4 Issue 3 March 2003, Reposted in
http://www.realmentalhealth.com/addictions/treatment_acupuncture_02.asp
See part two of Bobbins' article for an interesting description of a
NADA therapy center and the treatment experience.)

And this next excerpt supports Dr. Moran's position - relating
the ear acupuncture to various psychological benefits rather than
an inherent mechanistic or intrinsic meridianal action:

"Standard Western substance abuse treatment is confrontational; it
operates on the assumption that the
patient’s denial must be shattered before recovery can begin. Relapse
is often cause for dismissal from the
program, even though everyone admits relapse is part of the disease.
Everyone also acknowledges that
addiction is a disease of lying - to oneself and to others - yet most
treatment relies heavily on talk, either
through counseling or meetings. While medications are useful in the
short term for detoxification, they are
generally less effective for long-term maintenance, and they are
expensive.
Anyone - addict or not - who has experienced the standard NADA five-
point ear acupuncture protocol can
tell you they feel better after the treatment. "Calm but energized,"
"lighter" and "relaxed" are some typical
descriptions.
The NADA protocol involves inserting needles at ear points deemed
especially valuable in the treatment of
substance abuse. These points replenish depleted energy in the
internal organs and calm the nerves. Once
the needles are in place, patients sit quietly for 30-45 minutes, then
-- in most centers -- remove the needles
themselves.
Acupuncture provides a non-drug-induced sense of well-being, which
patients recognize cannot come from
the outside, since there is nothing in the needles. The improvement
must come from within, an idea that
empowers them to believe in their body’s innate capacity for healing.
Over time, this builds the
self-confidence necessary for long-term sobriety."

(from Acupuncture Today
August, 2001, Vol. 02, Issue 08
Acupuncture in the Treatment of Substance Abuse
By Katherine Otto
http://www.acupuncturetoday.com/mpacms/at/article.php?id=27724)

Thanks again for interesting and stimulating comments

Citizen Jimserac

"

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