Stop Smoking with Acupuncture

Stop Smoking with Acupuncture

It is generally acknowledged that smoking causes nicotine dependence and serious health problems. Smokers who are able to stop smoking reap enormous health benefits, including: lower risk for lung and other types of cancer; lower risk for coronary heart disease and stroke; reduction of chronic respiratory problems; and lower risk for infertility in women. Every person who stops smoking also has a positive effect on family and friends, who are no longer exposed to second-hand smoke.

Although levels of nicotine addiction vary from smoker to smoker, making it easier for some to quit than others, quitting smoking is still very difficult for most people. The good news is that acupuncture offers an effective treatment option for those who want to quit. Controlling substance cravings is a relatively new application of acupuncture, but it has been so effective it has moved into the mainstream of substance-abuse treatment in just a few decades. In the 1970’s, the US-based National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) developed treatment protocols to help patients with emotional, psychological, and physical difficulties in overcoming addiction. Acupuncture is used to control cravings and promote the elimination of toxic substances. Similar protocols can also be used to promote weight loss by reducing food cravings.

Craving control is another instance where the effectiveness of acupuncture has been validated by scientific research. A recent study published in Psychopharmacology (February 2013), “Neural substrates of acupuncture in the modulation of cravings induced by smoking-related visual cues: an FMRI study,” offers a physiological explanation of how acupuncture works for smoking cessation. The study was conducted by clinicians at the prestigious Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, College of Korean Medicine, Kyung Hee University in Korea. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) of the brain enables scientists to observe how the human brain reacts to acupuncture stimulation in real time. The study showed specific areas of the brain responding to acupuncture stimulation, and cravings were significantly decreased in the patient group receiving real acupuncture treatments, as compared to the patient group receiving sham or no acupuncture treatment. The study also explored the ability of acupuncture to modulate cravings induced by smoking cues.