Case Report

Title: Efficacy of Acupuncture therapy and nature cure regimen in Alcohol De-addiction,
Insomnia and Hyperacidity.
Introduction
Alcohol addiction is a debilitating disorder which is also called as alcohol dependence
which is considered as the 7 th leading cause for death around the world. 1 As per the statistics, 18
% of suicides, 12.2% of deaths in men are due to alcohol addiction. 2 Alcohol use disorder is
associated with several other problems including Motor vehicle collisions, Cirrhosis, Oral
Esophageal, liver, and breast cancer, Homicide and suicide, Hemorrhagic stroke, occupational
impairment etc. There are several studies reported that alcohol addiction causes 1death in every
10 seconds.
From the Naturopathy perspective, body is treated as a whole and we give a positive
environment for body to heal itself by eliminating the toxins and restoring the vitality. The main
aim of this approach is to stop the alcohol intake which is regarded as the major cause of his
sleep depletion and hyperacidity.
A 46 year old male reported to the OPD at NIN, with the presenting complaints of hyperacidity
since 15 years, pain and tremor in the left forearm since 4 years and difficulty in sleeping since a
year. His primary concern was to reduce his intense pain in his left forearm which was rated
9/10 on the visual analogue scale along with tremors. Besides these symptoms he was seen
anxious and irritated due to his sleeplessness. In his personal history it was noted that he was
taking a quarter of alcohol daily before going to bed. He followed mixed diet, his appetite and
thirst seemed to be normal with irregular bowel movement and hyperacidity.
The treatment was planned for a week which initially started with acupuncture therapy with
nature cure treatment modalities. The primary goals were to stop his regular alcohol consumption
which was considered as the cause of his tremors, sleep deprivation and to detox his body
completely from the effects of alcohol. 3 Sessions of 20 Minutes Counseling was also included
as a part of his therapy through which it was understood, he had a misconception that having a
quarter daily was the reason he could sleep at least for few hours.
While counseling along with a habit breaking plan, he was taught about cultivating better stress
management skills like having daily healthy recreation according to his interests, socializing with
non - alcoholics, practicing relaxation techniques including yoga and meditation. He expressed
that going for long walks or cycling 3 ; listening to music and playing cricket with his friends
made him feel relaxed and energized. Hence, along with the habit breaking plan and as a part of
stress management skills 4 , he was advised to have daily healthy recreational activities according
to the interests he had mentioned. From then on, he had started including his interests in his daily
routine and went for 30 minutes of early morning walking or cycling alternatively, met his
friends twice a week for a game of 1 hour, and spends fifteen minutes before bed time listening
to smoothening music. 5 Along with these, he was also asked to practice relaxation techniques
like yoga and meditation. 6 He was receptive and stated that he wanted to De- addict himself but

was unsure about the effects of the withdrawal symptoms as he was dependent on alcohol for the
past 15 years. Thereby a reduction in his amount of alcohol intake was introduced and he took 90
ml instead of 180 ml on the third day of his treatment and had completely stopped the intake
from the fourth day, through which it was noted that his sleep quality had further declined and
hyperacidity had increased. Hence, acupuncture points 7 Ex-1, GB-13 and H-7 were started from
the third day as a therapy to improve his sleep and he was advised to include chia seeds in his
diet along with cold water sipping to reduce his hyperacidity.

Discussion:
In the present case as discussed above; the pain, tremor, sleeplessness and other symptoms
due to alcohol addiction were reduced within 1 week as a result of nature cure and acupuncture
therapy. In order to create a favorable environment for the cells to regenerate and heal from the
ill effects of alcohol, detoxification was given. Considering the effect of this case here we can
conclude that naturopathy and acupuncture has a potential in treating Alcohol addiction and its
associated symptoms, thus, improving quality of life, without any harm. 8 However further
studies need to be conducted to understand the efficacy of the therapy.

 

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