Study: Alcohol more lethal than heroin, cocaine

Alcohol does terrible things. David Hasselhoff does too.

A recent study in the British medical journal The Lancet (here's a link to a news story summary) shows that alcohol is more lethal and does more overall harm than heroin or cocaine.

According to Chinese medical theory, alcohol is hot, acrid and toxic. In small amounts it can be beneficial as it moves the blood and warms the channels. Alcohol tinctures are a big part of Chinese herbal medicine, although they're not used extensively in the U.S. In large amounts, however, it can create Damp Heat and cause one to "forget oneself".

Alcohol is processed by the liver. In Chinese medical theory, the Liver is the home of the 魂神 Hun Shen, or ethereal spirit (The Liver stores the ethereal soul - gan cang hun 肝藏魂 from Statements of Fact in Traditional Chinese Medicine by Bob Flaws). If the Liver is working properly qi flows easily in the body and you feel at ease.

("Liver qi stagnation" is a common translation, some would say mistranslation, of 肝氣郁 gan qi yu - Bob Flaws and Nigel Wiseman prefer Liver qi depression as the more accurate translation. "Depression" here does not mean the Western medical condition mental depression - rather it indicates a kind of improper or lower-level functioning of the Liver qi. It may or may not be "stagnated" in the sense of a blockage. With that caveat...)

If, however, Liver qi becomes depressed (see previous paragraph), a small amount of alcohol may help to move things along. This is why people drink in social situations - besides the ritual of engaging in a common activity, the substance itself, in this case alcohol, dissolves barriers and loosens tongues. The key is knowing when to stop... excessive alcohol can lead to ugly situations like this and this.

Acupuncture Detox - The NADA Protocol

You may know someone who has gotten acupuncture to help them quit smoking or overeating or any other type of habitual or obsessive behavior. But did you know that acupuncture is also highly effective in helping people get off serious drugs like heroin, cocaine, morphine and more?

Obviously, acupuncture alone won't do the trick for serious drug abusers. Medical care, sometimes in an inpatient setting, is often required, with talk therapy in a group and one-on-one setting as an important part of full recovery. Acupuncture, specifically ear acupuncture, has been used in such settings to help those in recovery to settle their nerves, calm their spirits, and subdue the mental and physical cravings. I have seen the therapeutic effects first hand as an intern at St. John's Riverside Hospital in Yonkers, New York. The patients in the 28-day program received the NADA protocol ear acupuncture daily, and were offered full acupuncture treatments once a week by our visiting team of interns and supervisor.

The National Acupuncture Detox Association (NADA) trains people to put five needles in each ear in points that affect the Spirit, Sympathetic Nervous System, Kidneys, Liver, and Lungs. Because all of the points are in the ear, the treatment can be provided anywhere where a group of people can sit comfortably. In fact, there have been studies done that show the effect of the treatment for each individual is heightened when they are in a room full of people also receiving treatment.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction of any kind, the NADA protocol is a very useful tool that can benefit you in recovery.