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Wednesday 14 March 2018

Acupuncture can help you to quit smoking

Tiejun Tang

Today is national no smoking day. There are now 7.2 million adults in England who smoke. Are you one of them? Everyone knows smoking is harmful to one’s health. Many smokers hope to quit smoking, but they find it very difficult to stop. Acupuncture is an effective way to help you quit smoking.
 
When giving up smoking you may experience several symptoms including irritability, headaches, dizziness, cough, sore dry throat, constipation, increased appetite, runny nose, depression, inability to concentrate or sit still, insomnia and craving for cigarettes.  These symptoms called nicotene withdrawal. Acupuncture can reduce these symptoms by stimulating certain points on body surface or ears.  An important acupoint for quit smoking is Tian Mei point which is on your wrists. This point is specific to help smokers control their cravings.

Many RCT reports have been published in the past 30 years to support the efficacy of acupuncture in terms of smoking. Fuller[1] (1982) used acupuncture to help 194 people (118 men and 76 women) quit smoking. 95% of patients quit smoking after three acupuncture treatments. Fifty-five (32%) of the 174 patients who replied to a mailed questionnaire said they had not smoked since treatment; the success rate was: one week, 86%; six months 41%; 12 months, 34% and 24 months, 30%. He[2] (1997) reported acupuncture may help motivated smokers to reduce their smoking or even quit smoking completely. Different acupoints appear to have different effects for smoking cessation and reduction. Waite[3] (1998) applied ear electric acupuncture to treat 78 smokers in a randomized, single-blind, placebo-controlled trial. The result showed ear electric acupuncture treatment was significantly more effective in helping volunteers to quit smoking than placebo treatment. He[4](2001) reported that adequate acupuncture treatment may help motivated smokers to reduce their smoking, or even quit smoking, and the effect may last for at least 5 years. Acupuncture may affect the subjects' smoking by reducing their taste of tobacco and their desire to smoke. An observational study was conducted by Ma[5](2015) to evaluate the effectiveness of acupuncture for smoking cessation. A total of 1002 smokers were recruited; 26-week and 52-week quit rates were 16.8% and 15.8%. A large sample multicenter observational study was reported[6] (2016). The result showed abstinence rate in 2940 subjects was 34.00% in week 8 and 18.40% in week 52. The exhaled carbon monoxide level and the number of cigarettes smoked per day were reduced significantly after treatment. The time to relapse was calculated to be 38.71 days.


It’s time to quit smoking! Have you make up your mind? Maybe you have tried a few times to quit smoking. Acupuncture can reduce your nicotine withdrawal symptoms, and it is a natural, safe and efficient way to quit smoking. 
References
1.     Fuller JA. Smoking withdrawal and acupuncture.Med J Aust. 1982; 1(1):28-9.
2.     He D. Effects of acupuncture on smoking cessation or reduction for motivated smokers.Prev Med. 1997; 26(2):208-14.
3.     Waite.A single-blind, placebo-controlled trial of a simple acupuncture treatment in the cessation of smoking.Br J Gen Pract. 1998;  48(433):1487-90.
4.     He D. Effect of acupuncture on smoking cessation or reduction: an 8-month and 5-year follow-up study.Prev Med. 2001; 33(5):364-72.
5.     Ma E. Effectiveness of acupuncture for smoking cessation in a Chinese population.Asia Pac J Public Health. 2015; 27(2).
6.     Wang YY. Acupuncture for Smoking Cessation in Hong Kong: A Prospective Multicenter Observational Study.Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2016;2016:2865831.




1 comment:

  1. I agree that the acupuncture treatment may help motivated smokers to reduce their smoking, or even quit smoking completely. I have a regular session in miami acupuncture complete my totally quitting in smoking.

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