Pubdate: Thu, 26 Jun 2003 Source: China Daily (China) Contact: http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/911 Author: Hu Yan Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/rehab.htm (Treatment) TRADITIONAL WAYS TO TREAT ADDICTION SHANGHAI: Local researchers of traditional Chinese medicines are exploring more effective and cheaper methods to rehabilitate drug addicts. "The effects of acupuncture and Chinese medicines have been confirmed to control withdrawal symptoms from opium-like drugs to varying degrees," said professor Hu Jun at Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology, yesterday. Acupuncture detoxification is based on the theory that the body's natural opioid is retained by drugs, causing addicts have to seek more opioid from narcotics. Through acupuncture on certain acupoints, the body is stimulated to release more opioid which in turn control the pains and help addicts kick drug habits. Western medicines such as methadone are effective to treat addicts to finish the first six-to-twelve day period - when the body is still dependent on drugs. But it's quite difficult for addicts to cope with the mental stress of the following several months. The highest reported success rate for quitting drugs altogether is less than 40 per cent after treatment. In three years, researchers gave treatment of acupuncture and various Chinese medicines to 92 heroin-dependent subjects, who had on average used the narcotic for under 30 months. The results show that acupuncture and Chinese medicine could help patients return their internal secretions to normal levels, while allowing their nervous and immune systems to recuperate from damage suffered during drug use. "The main acupoints we use are on the back, waist and four limbs such as Jiaji points," explained Hu, who is also the director of the Shanghai Drug Reliance Research Centre. "The frequency of electric needles is combined with fast and slow pressure while the amount is stable." Addicts undergo 30 minutes of acupuncture every other day, and the treatments last for about three months. The obvious effects are evident after patients have received treatment for one or two weeks and they find their mental reliance on drugs turns gradually under control. "Compared with medicine treatment such as methadone, the stimulation of needles is limited and can't cause pharmaceutical dependence," said Hu. "Besides, its effects are obvious and quick while the methods are cheap and easily applied." For dozens of years, acupuncture has been used for detoxification in China. "Detoxification with acupuncture is effective to help drug addicts to give up their habits to some degree, but not completely," Hu said. - --- MAP posted-by: Josh