Acupuncture found as effective as nicotine replacement therapy for helping people quit smoking

A study reports that acupuncture is as effective as nicotine replacement therapy in helping people stop smoking. The study, which was published in the journal Chest, aimed to assess the efficacy of acupuncture, auricular point pressing, and nicotine replacement therapy on tobacco cessation in the Chinese population.

• For the study, a team of Chinese researchers recruited a total of 300 participants. However, only 195 individuals completed the study.
• The researchers randomly assigned the participants to receive acupuncture, auricular acupressure, or nicotine replacement therapy.
• The participants received their assigned treatments for eight weeks, with follow-up at 16 weeks.
• At 24 weeks, the abstinence rate in the acupuncture group was 43 percent, which was similar to that in the nicotine replacement therapy group.
• The auricular acupressure group only had an abstinence rate of 30 percent.
• For the acupuncture group, the average time to relapse was 44 days, 41 days in the nicotine replacement therapy group, and 29.5 days in the auricular acupressure group.
• In addition, nicotine dependence and withdrawal scores in the acupuncture group were significantly lower than those in the other two groups.

In conclusion, these findings indicate that acupuncture is a safe and effective therapy in helping people quit tobacco smoking.

To read more studies on how to stop smoking, visit StopSmoking.news.

Journal Reference:

Wang Y, Liu Z, Wu Y, Yang L, Guo L, Zhang H, Yang J. EFFICACY OF ACUPUNCTURE IS NONINFERIOR TO NICOTINE REPLACEMENT THERAPY FOR TOBACCO CESSATION. Chest. March 2018; 153(2): 680-688. DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2017.11.015