Acupuncture, on the other hand, has been used successfully by many as a means of quitting smoking without drugs and the potential adverse reactions of a pharmaceutical remedy. For instance, here is what one 25-year-old had to say about his results.

“I smoked two packs of cigarettes daily. This had been going on for over two years. I’d tried nicotine gum and associated products, as well as stopping cold turkey many times. I’ve now completely stopped smoking and can’t even stand the smell or to be around it. If it wasn’t for Acupuncture, there’s one fact: I’d still be a smoker.”

An Acupuncture program to quit the habit recognizes smoking as an addiction that takes a good deal of will power and desire for the person to make it. However, the use of Acupuncture, supplemented with herbal remedies, can go a long way to help ease the process.

Leah Martino, a licensed acupuncturist, uses five different treatment points in her program. The Acupuncture points focus on helping a patient relieve tension, increase their will power, return proper bal­ance to the body, relieve withdrawal cravings and diminish the appetite. She also makes use of herbs that help to relieve stagnations in the body and reduce physical cravings.

All of this contributes to improve the overall well-being of the patient and to heighten their resolve to break the addiction. It also provides the necessary support to get them through the tough moments when their cravings are telling them to break down and have a smoke.

One 47-year-old woman talks of her success with Acupuncture: “I smoked for 30-plus years. I no longer smoke and I owe it to the Acupuncture treatment. The treatments helped me a great deal to cope with the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking. I also had breathing and stomach prob­lems which were also treated successfully with Acupuncture.”

And finally, one heart-lifting testimonial from a 46-year-old woman: “I have smoked since I was 16 and was able to kick the habit through Acupuncture and the use of Chinese herbs. I’d call it a miracle, but rather, it was the skill of my practitioner and the will to succeed. I feel very fortunate to have a man like my acupuncturist on my side.”

Smoking is one of the world’s toughest habits to break, but it can be done. And, it does not have to involve the use of drugs or be done by replacing nicotine with another substance. Acupuncture offers hope for anyone who truly wants to break free of the addiction. It starts with a bit of will power and the first visit to an acupuncturist.

Sources: Acupuncture.com. “Stop Smoking Support Program?’
http://209.85.141.104/custom?q=cache:OR9YldgVGull:acupuncture.com/conditions/stopsmoke.htm+quit+smoking&h1=en&clnk&cd=2&g1=us and
Stop Smoking Testimonials.http://www.acupuncture.com/testimonialsismokingl.htm and http://www.acupuncture.com/testimonialsismoking2.htm,
http://www.acupuncture.com/testimonialsismoking3.htm.

The study involved 1,162 patients averaging 50 years in age who had suffered from low back pain for an average of 8 years. The subjects were divided into three different treatment groups. The first received traditional Chinese verum Acupuncture, (a form of standardized Acupuncture), the second group received sham (false) Acupuncture, and the third group received conventional therapy that consisted of a combination of medication, physical therapy and exercise. The results were pub­lished in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Low back pain is a common, impairing and disabling condition, often long-term, with an esti­mated lifetime prevalence of 70 to 85 percent,” according to the authors of the study. “It is the sec­ond most common pain for which physician treatment is sought and a major reason for absenteeism and disability.” However, while Acupuncture is growing in use as an alternative therapy, its value for low back pain treatment is still controversial, according to the authors.

Michael Haake, Ph.D., M.D. of the University of Regensburg, Bad Abbach, Germany, was the study leader. He and colleagues divided the groups as follows: 387 verum Acupuncture, 367 sham Acupuncture, and 388 conventional therapies. Verum Acupuncture consisted of needling known Acupuncture points to a depth of between 5 and 40 millimeters based on traditional Chinese medi­cine. Sham Acupuncture needling depth was between 1 and 3 millimeters, avoiding all points and meridians. Conventional therapy included medication, exercise and physical therapy. Each session lasted about 30 minutes, and was done twice per week.

The finding of the study showed that Acupuncture out performed conventional therapy by a wide margin. Most interestingly, the group that enjoyed the next highest amount of improvements was the sham Acupuncture group. As measured by study parameters, 47.6 percent in the verum Acupuncture group achieved a positive response. Next was a 44.2 percent response rate in the sham group, followed by only 27.4 percent improvement in the conventional therapy group.

“The superiority of both forms of Acupuncture suggests a common underlying mechanism that may act on pain generation, transmission of pain signals or processing of pain signals by the central nervous system and that is stronger than the action mechanism of conventional therapy,” the authors concluded. “Acupuncture gives physicians a promising and effective treatment option for chronic low back pain with few adverse effects. The improvements in all primary and secondary outcome measures were significant and lasted long after completion of treatment.”

Source: Journal of the American Medical Association, Archives of Internal Medicine News Releases. September 2007 http://pubs.ama-assn.org/media/2007a/0924.dtl#1

The study involving 23 patients was recently conducted to determine if electro­acupuncture could be of benefit to first-time ischemic stroke victims. (Ischemic stroke means that a local area was cut off from the normal flow of blood causing the regular flow of necessary oxygen to the area to be interrupted.)

Electro-acupuncture involves the use of 2 needles attached to a device that produces a regular and continuous electric impulse. The needles are inserted at known Acupuncture points. The impulse travels through one of the needles, on throughout the body and exits via the second needle.

Following their stroke, each victim was given a course of conventional rehabilitation. A study group and a control group was then determined with members of the study pro­vided with 8 courses of electro-acupuncture treatments.

Acupuncture was delivered over a period of one month’s time. After 2 weeks, the motor performance of both groups was tested using two recognized scientific measuring standards. This was done again following 4 weeks of treatment and repeated at 3 months and 6 months later.

The group that received electro-acupuncture showed more significant improvement results following 2 weeks, 4 weeks and 3 months after the treatment according to one of the measurement tools. The second measurement standard used showed that while there was no significant difference between each group in overall performance, there was sig­nificant improvement in upper limb function for the study group.

From these results, victims of such a stroke would certainly be advised to include a course of Acupuncture into their recovery program. Acupuncture is known to restore energy flows to blocked areas of the body. Energy flow restriction caused by a stroke could likely show improvement as in the case of this study.

Researchers concluded that electro-acupuncture can be valuable in improving the movement and motor function of the body, especially in the upper limb area, for individ­uals who have experienced a stroke.

Source: Acupuncture.Com 2007 http://www.acupuncture.cominewsletters/m_jun07/res.htm

Low back pain is a common health problem that is experienced by a considerable percentage of the population worldwide. In previous studies, Acupressure had been shown to be effective in alleviating various types of pain, but little was known about its effect on low back pain.

In a recent survey published online by the British Medical Journal, Acupressure was found to be considerably more effective in bringing relief for low back pain than did physical therapy.

The study was conducted in Taiwan where 129 patients with chronic low back pain were recruited from an orthopedic clinic. Each of the participants completed a standard disability questionnaire prior to beginning treatment. Of the patients, 64 received 64Acupressure treatment for six sessions. The remaining 65 patients received physical therapy. The results of their treatments were measured immediately after the treatment program and again 6 months later.

Researchers found that the average disability score for the group receiving Acupressure was significantly lower than in the group that received physical therapy. In fact, Acupressure provided an 89% reduction in disability compared with the physical therapy group. Researchers found that this improvement continued on through 6 months. It was also noted in the study results that the benefits of Acupressure were also greater for such variables as “leg pain,” “pain interferes with normal work” and “days off from work or school.”

This study supports the conclusions of earlier studies involving the benefits of Acupressure for a variety of other health concerns. Acupressure may be useful for reduc­ing pain, improving body function and reducing the level of disability from low back pain. Additionally, they found it important that it was not only a short-term benefit. Acupressure as applied to low back pain brought long-lasting relief.

Source: Kid Chiropractic, November 2007, “Research Shows Chiropractic Helps Stage One Hypertension” and “Medical Study Demonstrates Chiropractic Safety for Neck Adjustments.” www.kidchiropractic.com