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Acupuncture Helps Cocaine Addicts Quit
Acupuncture, which has been shown to ease pain, nausea, depression and other ailments in some patients, may also help cocaine addicts quit, according to research of American researchers.
More than half of the addicts participating in a Yale University study, who were treated with acupuncture needles in their ears five days a week for eight weeks, tested free of cocaine at the end of treatment -- more than double the quitting rate of a control group.
A total of 82 participants who were addicted to both cocaine and heroin were divided into three groups. All underwent counseling and received methadone for their heroin addictions.
Among those who had needles inserted in their ears in places thought to treat addiction, 55 percent tested free of cocaine at the close of treatment based on urine screens.
Those who completed the effective acupuncture treatment also had longer periods of sustained abstinence than the control groups.
"Our study supports the use of acupuncture for cocaine addiction and shows that alternative therapies can be combined with the arsenal of Western treatments for fighting addiction,'' Yale psychiatrist and principal investigator Arthur Margolin said.
A subsequent study showed acupuncture performed on cats produced endorphins -- sometimes called the body's natural opiate system regulating muscle function and pain -- that could prove effective in lowering blood pressure and treating heart disease in humans. Research on depressed women found some benefited from the needle therapy.
Therapies can be combined with the arsenal of Western treatments for fighting addiction,'' Yale
psychiatrist and principal investigator Arthur Margolin said.
A subsequent study showed acupuncture performed on cats produced endorphins -- sometimes
called the body's natural opiate system regulating muscle function and pain -- that could prove
effective in lowering blood pressure and treating heart disease in humans. Research on depressed
women found some benefited from the needle therapy.
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