Needles That Help Addicts Quit
Needles That Help Addicts Quit
May 15, 2000 (Chicago) -- Cocaine addicts in Brazil have begun using needles -- in order to quit. The five slim, silver acupuncture needles placed in the patients' ears don't hurt and don't deliver drugs, but may instead speed their recovery from drug addiction, according to a study reported here at the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association.
"The patients loved acupuncture; they loved to go there every week," lead researcher Daniela C. Ceron tells WebMD. "It's wonderful, in my opinion."
An unexpected choice was presented to cocaine abusers seeking help at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. The patients were offered a chance to add acupuncture treatment to the standard behavior-oriented group psychotherapy usually offered. Those who agreed underwent weekly, hour-long sessions in which acupuncture needles were stuck in their ears.
Half the patients got real acupuncture -- that is, the practitioner put the needles in "active" sites that are believed to work in Chinese medicine. The other half of the patients had the needles placed in "inactive" places on their ears believed to do neither good nor harm. These people served as the comparison group.
Lots of patients dropped out: Only two-fifths of the acupuncture patients and one-third of the mock-acupuncture patients finished all 12 weeks of their treatment. This isn't unusual for drug-abuse treatment programs, which have a high failure rate.
"Our dropout rate was exactly the same as that seen in other studies on this [group of patients]," Ceron says. Cocaine addiction is notorious among those in the know for being difficult to treat.
All the patients who completed treatment got better -- but the patients treated with acupuncture got better faster. After the first four weeks of treatment, the acupuncture patients were doing significantly better in terms of drug use, employment situation, family relationships, healthy leisure activities, and physical illness related to drug use.
"Acupuncture can be one of the treatments you give a patient in recovery," Ceron's co-investigator, André Malbergier, MD, tells WebMD. "You can decrease levels of anxiety and maintain them in recovery better."
"The patients loved acupuncture; they loved to go there every week," lead researcher Daniela C. Ceron tells WebMD. "It's wonderful, in my opinion."
An unexpected choice was presented to cocaine abusers seeking help at the Institute of Psychiatry at the University of São Paulo, Brazil. The patients were offered a chance to add acupuncture treatment to the standard behavior-oriented group psychotherapy usually offered. Those who agreed underwent weekly, hour-long sessions in which acupuncture needles were stuck in their ears.
Half the patients got real acupuncture -- that is, the practitioner put the needles in "active" sites that are believed to work in Chinese medicine. The other half of the patients had the needles placed in "inactive" places on their ears believed to do neither good nor harm. These people served as the comparison group.
Lots of patients dropped out: Only two-fifths of the acupuncture patients and one-third of the mock-acupuncture patients finished all 12 weeks of their treatment. This isn't unusual for drug-abuse treatment programs, which have a high failure rate.
"Our dropout rate was exactly the same as that seen in other studies on this [group of patients]," Ceron says. Cocaine addiction is notorious among those in the know for being difficult to treat.
All the patients who completed treatment got better -- but the patients treated with acupuncture got better faster. After the first four weeks of treatment, the acupuncture patients were doing significantly better in terms of drug use, employment situation, family relationships, healthy leisure activities, and physical illness related to drug use.
"Acupuncture can be one of the treatments you give a patient in recovery," Ceron's co-investigator, André Malbergier, MD, tells WebMD. "You can decrease levels of anxiety and maintain them in recovery better."
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