Study: Acupuncture can ease methadone treatment
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Eight weeks of acupuncture was found to reduce the dose of methadone needed to control opioid cravings, which could make patients likelier to stick with their treatment.
Why it matters: Methadone is one of the most effective medications for curbing opioid addiction, but uncomfortable side effects can cause people to stop treatment.
- A new study from researchers at the Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine adds to the body of evidence showing acupuncture related-therapies may effectively be used for treating patients receiving methadone maintenance treatment.
- Researchers suspect that stimulating certain acupoints makes the brain release endorphins and other neurochemicals that can relieve the pain from opiate withdrawal.
The latest: The study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found acupuncture can make medication-assisted treatment for opioid use disorder easier on patients.
- 118 patients were randomly assigned to receive either acupuncture or a procedure that mimicked acupuncture without piercing skin.
- Patients did not know which treatment they received and had the treatment three times a week for eight weeks.
What they found: After eight weeks, 62% of patients receiving real acupuncture treatment reduced their methadone dose by at least 20%.
- Meanwhile, just 29% of patients getting fake acupuncture reduced their methadone dose by at least one-fifth.
Previous research showed that reducing a patient's methadone dose by 20% or more at the end of acupuncture treatment can prevent addiction relapse, the study noted.
- Acupuncture also reduced patients' opioid cravings, the study found.
