A senior Chinese scientist has developed a method to treat drug addiction by acupuncture.

Han Jisheng, academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor at Beijing University, said electronic acupuncture may help drug addicts kick their habit.

Han first experimented with the therapy on heroin-injected mice and then applied it on humans in clinical testing. "It was effective on both species," he told a recent science and technology symposium.

An expert in neurology and acupuncture anesthesia, Han has been engaged in the research of drug rehabilitation by means of acupuncture for years.

He said that drug rehabilitation should be tackled from two fronts -- the addict's physical and psychological dependence on drugs.

As part of his study on physical drug dependence, Han put two mice in a box, separated them by a piece of glass, regularly injected one mouse with heroin and left the other mouse untouched.

After ten days, the glass was removed and the non-drugged mouse "moved aimlessly about the box" while the heroin-injected mouse stayed in the place where it received the drug.

To rid the drugged mouse of its addiction, researchers applied electronic acupuncture to one of its legs, and finally determined that it worked at a frequency of two hertz.

"Data from our experiments show the acupuncture resulted in a chemical change in the mouse's brain and blocked the desire for the drug," Han said.

He said the treatment has been used at drug rehab clinics in cities such as Xi'an, Zhanjiang, Beijing, Haikou and Shanghai.

Doctors at Hainan Medical Treatment Center of Drug Rehabilitation, which operates under Beijing University, have reported that some addicts did give up drugs after the treatment with the acupuncture therapy.

In August 2000, the treatment was used on about 40 drug users for nearly one month, said Wu Liuzhen, director of the center and researcher of the Neurology Institute of Beijing University.

"Up to November 2001, a series of follow-up checks indicated three people had been drug-free in the past year," Wu said.

Encouraged by this success, Han is going to establish a large acupuncture clinic for the drug-rehab therapy in Guangzhou, south China.

China had 860,000 registered drug users at the end of last year. Currently, both mandatory and voluntary drug rehab centers have been set up nationwide.

　　From ChinaDaily.com.cn