Acupuncture Shows Promise for Cocaine Addiction

A study has shown that cocaine-dependent patients who received a course of acupuncture in four specific points in the outer ear were more likely to be free of cocaine during treatment than those not receiving acupuncture. The study, reported in the August 14/28 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine, was conducted by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine (New Haven, CT, USA).

The study involved 82 dually-addicted participants who were being treated with methadone for their heroin addiction and were referred to the study due to their unremitting cocaine use. The participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: auricular acupuncture, control acupuncture (needles inserted into ear points not thought to have effect) or a relaxation group, in which subjects watched videotapes of nature scenes. The treatment sessions occurred five times a week for eight weeks. Urine samples were taken three times a week to assess cocaine use.

Among the participants who completed the study, more than half of the acupuncture patients (53.8%) tested free of cocaine during the last week of treatment, compared to 23.5% of the control group and 9.1% of the relaxation group. Those receiving acupuncture also had longer periods of sustained abstinence compared to those in the two control groups.

"This study provides support for the use of acupuncture for the treatment of cocaine addiction,” said Arthur Margolin, Ph.D., who led the research team. "Further research is needed to replicate these findings and to determine how acupuncture and other treatments can be most effectively combined.”