Acupuncture for Substance Abuse.

Acupuncture is commonly used to help people withdraw from tobacco, alcohol, heroin or cocaine addiction; it's currently being studied by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, and it's used widely in New York City for outpatient drug detoxification.
The points for treating drug addiction are found on the ear, and they can be taught relatively easily to laypeople, which then only use acupuncture for this specific purpose. Detoxification from chronic use of prescribed opiates usually takes 3-6 months; even "brief" detoxification programs may take more than a month. In an uncontrolled trial of electrical stimulation at ear acupuncture points, twelve out of fourteen chronic pain patients were able to completely withdraw from narcotics within 2-7 days, and they experienced few or no side effects.
The evidence that acupuncture helps with withdrawal symptoms is tantalizing but insufficient, and it probably doesn't help prevent relapses at all. But given the dearth of successful medical treatments for addiction, there clearly needs to be more research into the role of acupuncture detoxification as part of a comprehensive treatment program.
An excellent review of studies of acupuncture and substance abuse was written by Brewington, Smith and Lipton, the first two of whom work at Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx, where the use of acupuncture in treating withdrawal symptoms of drug addiction was pioneered. If you're interested in a comprehensive analysis of both published and unpublished trials, see this review.

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Acupuncture and Pain Relief

Acupuncture is used for a wide variety of medical conditions, but in the United States it’s accepted by conventional doctors if at all solely for the treatment of pain.
Many chronic pain patients seem to be helped by acupuncture. This is fortunate, since several common prescription and nonprescription painkillers aspirin, ibuprofen, naproxen and indomethacin, for example can cause liver and kidney problems, ulcers and gastrointestinal bleeding.
For kidney-stone pain, acupuncture was found to be as effective as drug treatment. And almost half the subjects receiving drugs had side effects, while no one receiving acupuncture did.
Still, it’s curious that the studies aren’t more compelling-especially since acupuncture is more accepted in this country, and more likely to be covered by insurance, when used to treat pain than when used for other conditions. Physicians who pooh-pooh the idea of using acupuncture for other problems believe in using it for pain.
Perhaps this is because research has shown that the painkilling effect of acupuncture seems to be connected to endorphins (natural, narcotic-like substances produced by our brains). Conventional Western doctors have trouble with the concept of energy traversing invisible channels, but endorphins are something they understand. It’s known that trauma can increase these natural opiates, and one argument used to dispute the effectiveness of acupuncture holds that it works merely by the counterirritant effect (that is, the pain of the needles takes your mind off whatever problem you’re being treated for).


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Acupuncture

Acupuncture is the insertion of hair-thin needles into specific points on the body to prevent or treat illness. It's one component of Traditional Chinese Medicine, an integrated system that's been used in china for more than 2000 years.
Which points are selected is important, but so is the angle and depth of the needle insertion; in fact, differences in these factors may cause opposite effects at the same point. Acupressure (pressing on acupuncture points with the fingers) can be substituted for needles, as can electrical stimulation of the points, or placing smoldering cones of the herb moxa (Artemisia vulgaris, or mugwort) on them. Needles sometimes twirled to maximize their effect.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is finally considering taking acupuncture needles off of investigational status, where they've languished for years. This would open the way for acupuncture to be covered by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance.
That's good news, because acupuncture is effective for a variety of conditions, and it can be used in situations where Western medicine has limitations (stroke rehabilitation, for example, or treatment of addictions) or where Western medicine would be dangerous (to anesthetize someone who can't tolerate normal anesthetic drugs, for example). There's a great deal of potential for the incorporation of acupuncture into our medical care system.
The scientific literature on acupuncture (in English) is quite sparse, and many ailments that are commonly, successfully treated with acupuncture have not been well studied. More controlled trials should be done on pain and addiction, inflammatory bowl disease, depression, infertility and neurological diseases.

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Herbs for Headaches and Migraines

Herbalists tend to regard the headache as a symptom of some underlying disorder rather than an illness in its own right. Those that seem centered behind the eyes suggest a digestive disturbance while headaches that seem to start at the back of the neck and creep forward are generally tension headaches. Pain and sensitivity around the eyes or above the nose can be due to a sinus problem.
Muscle strain in the shoulders and neck can also contribute to head pain. Sitting or working awkwardly hunched over a desk or computer keyboard can easily lead to headaches. Massage neck and shoulders with a mixture of 5 drops each of thyme, lavender, and juniper oil in 1 tablespoon of almond oil.
Take a 600 mg tablet of Siberian ginseng each day to improve stress tolerance and thus reduce the risk of tension headaches and try yoga or t'ai chi classes to improve relaxation skills.
Some sorts of headaches are best relieved by a hot towel on the head in these cases use a massage of 10 drops of rosemary oil to 1 teaspoon of almond oil on the temples and forehead.
Migraine is typically preceded by visual disturbances jagged lights to the edge of the visual field or a sense that there is a strange out of focus area in what one sees. Occasionally the attack may simply comprise these visual upsets, although more typically a severe headache will follow, with increased sensitivity to light so that sufferers want simply to lie down in a dark room. Migraines can be associated with gastric disturbances or pins and needles in one hand or arm. Foods can often trigger an attack or an attack can be associated with stress or bright sunlight. Flickering lights, as when driving past trees on a bright sunny day, can also trigger an attack.
Many sufferers find that chewing feverfew leaves can help prevent attacks. Try two to three leaves in a daily sandwich or else use a strong lavender oil rub (1 teaspoon of lavender oil with 2 teaspoons of almond oil ) massaged into the temples at the first hint of a migraine. Drink cups of lavender and St. John’s wort infusion (1 teaspoon of each to a cup of water) during attacks.

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Amino Acids

A group of organic compounds considered the building blocks of proteins. Of the nearly 80 amino acids found in nature, about 20 are required for human growth and metabolism.Essential amino acids are those provided by foods; nonessential amino acids are produced naturally by the body and therefore not required though food intake. The essential amino acids are histidine, isoleucine, leucine, lysine, methionine, cysteine, phenylalanine, tyrosine, threomine, tryptophan and valine. The nonessentials are alanine, aspartic acid, arginine, citrulline, glutamic acid, glycine, hydroxyglutamic acid, hydroxyproline, norleucine, proline and serine.Examples of complete proteins, that is, those containing all the essential amino acids, are milk, milk products, eggs and meat. Vegetables, grains and gelatin are incomplete proteins. in a normal adult maintaining a constant weight, the recommended daily protein intake is about 46 grams of protein per day for women and 56 grams per day for men.During digestion, amino acids transfer from the walls of the intestine and the portal vein into the blood. From the blood they move through the liver into the bloodstream, and are then distributed to the tissues as required so the tissues can produce their own protein. Amino acids not needed by the body for the building and repair of tissue are broken down into ammonia, carbon dioxide and water, producing heat and energy. They may also become the end products of digestion, such as urea, which is eliminated by the body.