Addicts 'Helped' by Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

Addicts 'Helped' by Chinese Medicine and Acupuncture

Acupuncture and Chinese medicine coupled with counselling can have a positive effect on long-term drug addicts, a social service centre has found.

The Enlighten Centre in Yuen Long, run by the Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service of Hong Kong, will hire a dedicated Chinese medicine practitioner in May, after rehabilitation sessions with practitioners from nearby Pok Oi Hospital showed good results, said Lau Wang-cheung, the head of the centre. The new hire will work regularly with at least 70 patients a year to help them overcome their addictions, Lau said.

About 100 addicts took part in the sessions: first social workers were sent to assist patients at the hospital, then 41 patients took part in two nine-month programmes at the Yuen Long centre funded by the government's Beat Drugs Fund.

The two programmes, held from July 2012 to March 2012, included three months of acupuncture and Chinese herbal medicine treatment as well as counselling and spiritual support, Lau said.

Ketamine was by far the drug taken most among addicts, followed by cocaine.

"Major physical problems caused by taking ketamine include frequent urination, spleen and kidney malfunctions, depression and erratic temper," said registered Chinese medicine practitioner Amy Ng Kun-yi.

More than 64 per cent of patients said urination problems had improved, while over 90 per cent reported that other side effects of their drug taking had been minimised. Of the 41 who completed the nine months, 12 are no longer using drugs.

Ng said the patients had daily acupuncture sessions in the first week, then progressively less often as the weeks went on. Chinese medicine in the form of pills was administered as well according to patient needs.

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