HISTORY OF NADA IN SOUTH AFRICA
1972: Wen, Hsiang-Lai in Hong Kong discovered by chance that needles inserted in the ear – intended to be used as a preoperative anesthetic – abated physical withdrawal symptoms from opium.
1973: Wen and Cheung publish their results of treating 40 heroin and opium addicts with electropotentiated ear acupuncture in the Asian Journal of Medicine. The New York Times also ran an article on these findings including this quote from… Wen, “We don’t claim it’s a cure for drug addiction. If we can treat the withdrawal symptoms, make the patient more comfortable, and alleviate their suffering, then we have achieved something. Our treatment is not the complete answer to drug addiction.”
1974: Lincoln Hospital Detox Program, Bronx NY, an outpatient methadone clinic since 1970 began using the Wen protocol. Smith, MD a psychiatrist and medical director of Lincoln Detox Program began working with the acupuncture clinic.
1982: Smith, et al, published an article in The American Journal of Acupuncture describing the five ear points used in their work as well as points in the hands and feet for particular symptoms.
1985: The National Acupuncture Detoxification Association (NADA) is founded and incorporated by Michael Smith, MD and others to promote education and training of chemical dependency clinicians in the NADA ear acupuncture protocol. The term acudetox is given to this treatment.
1986: Fr. Thomas Edward Gafney, SJ established NADA-style program in Katmandu. As its first organizational activity, NADA conducted trainings at the Crow Agency and Pine Ridge Indian reservations.
1987: Bulluck, Culliton and Olander published research indicating the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating chronic addiction. Portland Addictions Acupuncture Center established by David Eisen, LAc in Portland Oregon.
1989: Acudetox program initiated for jailed drug-offenders in Miami. This was followed shortly after by the opening of the Miami Drug Court with the Hon. Stanley Goldstein sitting on the bench. The State of New York adopted the first statute to allow non-acupuncturist ADSes to perform the Acudetox technique.
1991: NADA held its first large-scale conference in Santa Barbara, CA. NADA-UK formed by John Tindell and Margaret Pinnington. First NADA Europe meeting held in Sweden with representatives attending from The United Kingdom, Germany, UK, Finland, Hungary, Russia and Sweden.
1993: The charter issue of Guidepoints was published. An Acudetox program was inaugurated at the Bronx Psychiatric Hospital. The first National Drug Court Conference was held in Miami.
1994: The Oregon Gambling Treatment Program initiated an Acudetox program. Alex Brumbaugh published Transformation and Recovery. 8th Special Report to Congress on Alcohol and Health mentioned acupuncture as a potential treatment modality. NADA issued its first training manual.
1995: NADA issued its initial list of 34 Registered Trainers. Ellinor Mitchell published Fighting Drub Abuse with Acupuncture (now out of print). NADA-UK began training “substance misuse teams” in Her Majesties Prisons, which resulted almost immediately in an 80% reduction of violent acts. Michael Smith, MD received first National Leadership Award from the National Association of Drug Court Professionals.
1996: Treatment Improvement Protocol Series 19 (TIP 19) published by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) of The National Institutes of Health gave modest support for the use of acupuncture in opiate detoxification. GMHC released Points to Change video, which became a staple of NADA trainings. The first Acudetox web page went online.
1997: The National Institutes of Health published Acupuncture. NIH Consensus Statement that includes the conclusion, “There are other situations such as addiction, … in which acupuncture may be useful as an adjunct treatment or an acceptable alternative or be included in a comprehensive management program.”
1998: Encyclopedia Britannica Medical and Health Annual published an article on Acudetox authored by Michael O Smith, MD. The “Lessons Learned” series of essays by Claudia Voyles, LAc began appearing in Guidepoints.
1999: The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment published an article by Schwartz, et al, on the value of acupuncture in substance abuse treatment.
2000: The New York State Office of Mental Health formally added Acudetox standards to state regulations. Jim Byrne, a volunteer from Lincoln Recovery, began NADA Ireland.
2001: Acudetox training capability established in India and Thailand for Burmese refugee camps. After the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, an Acudetox for terrorism survivors program began in Manhattan providing over 1,000 treatments in the first 10 days and continued through 2007.
2002: Pan-African Projects brought NADA treatments to Uganda and surrounding regions. Transformation and Recovery had its second printing. The first methodologically sound NADA treatment report on smoking cessation with positive results appeared in American Journal of Public Health. The US Government reported 736 certified addictions treatment programs in the US offered acupuncture. Members of NADA Italy completed a study of smoking cessation.
2003: Substance Misuse Program in UK expanded to over 130 correctional facilities. NADA-style treatments in a residential program for street children in Peru expanded. Similar programs in Mexico City and Philippines also expanded services. Homeward Bound, Inc becomes a Training Center for NADA
2005: NADA members aided in Gulf Coast recovery efforts after hurricanes Katrina and Rita and in Kashmir following earthquakes. In Israel, NADA-style treatments expanded into several clinical institutions. Chiclayo Peru and Tijuana Mexico have formal training In Medical Schools/ Universities for MD, Ph. D, and RNs’
2005: Warren Whitfield, a volunteer addiction counsellor from South Africa hears about Acudetox an the results that are being achieved at Lincoln Recovery Centre South Bronx. Whitfield goes to Huntsville Alabama where he qualifies as an Acudetox specialist under Dr. JB Richards. Later he goes to Lincoln Recovery and qualifies as a Registered ADS Trainer.
2006: CSAT updated TIP 19 with TIP 45, which contains several sections discussing the use of acupuncture in detoxification and substance abuse treatment).
2006: The Addiction Action Campaign is started by Warren Whitfield in South Africa as Whitfield recognizes the epidemic of addiction in his country.
2010: The AHPCSA unanimously agrees to support The Addiction Action Campaign’s submission to have Acudetox recognized as its own profession under Acupuncture, and supports the establishment of NADA South Africa. Dr. Michael Smith asks Whitfield to start NADA S.A. and a new chapter in affordable addiction detoxification in South Africa begins. http://www.acudetox.org.za/
2010: NADA S.A. is formed using the principles and “Spirit of NADA” worldwide as its guide.
2011: Whitfield begins training Acudetox specialists in South Africa national level.
2014: 52 Trained NADA ADS's in 3 years. NADA SA sets a new goal to train 5000 new ADS's by 2024. WHAT IS ACUDETOX? With 15% of South Africa's population now ranked as problem drug users*, is the NADA 5 Point Acudetox Protocol really effective for Addiction Detoxification? Since 1985, the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association in the U.S.A. has been using “Acudetox Therapy” as the starting point in their addiction treatment facilities all over America. Numerous clinical studies and many published medical papers later, today over 500 clinics and 25000 ADS clinicians worldwide now use it. After hearing about the method’s efficacy, local addiction activist Warren Whitfield, found himself in Huntsville Alabama studying at Dr. Jim Richards’ clinic to become an Acudetox Specialist (ADS). “But while I was there, I heard that the method had been developed in New York by Dr. Michael Smith and so I made every effort to get there to see how they did it there and to confirm for myself that the claims that were being made about the protocol were true” says Whitfield. Whitfield who is the founder and chief executive of the Addiction Action Campaign returned back to South Africa after becoming a NADA registered Acupuncture Detoxification Specialist Trainer. His intention was to bring the method back to South Africa in order to make it available to everyone and tp assist the country in dealing with the addiction epidemic that we find ourselves in.
“Initially I faced incredible resistance from the religious community who believed it was ‘evil’. I was even labeled a satanist and told to repent by some sincerely close-minded people and I began to believe that S.A. was just not ready for it yet” he said. A few months ago the Addiction Action Campaign received a small grant from a national company and he decided that perhaps now would be the time to try it again. He contacted Dr. Smith in New York who then assisted him in compiling a submission to the AHPCSA in order to have Acudetox recognised as its own sub profession. Much to his delight, their submission was met with unanimous support after which Dr. Smith asked him to start the National Acupuncture Detoxification Association of South Africa. The submission is still facing bureaucratic challenges but Whitfield intends using the AAC's lobbying and activism activities to accomplish NADA's goals in South Africa. How does it work? In traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), when brain chemistry is unstable (symptom), you don’t treat the symptom, you treat the cause of the problem. For people who have become addicted to anything, they find themselves with three major organs that have become toxic. These organs are the lungs, liver and the kidneys. But in TCM, organs can not only become toxic from substances, they also store toxic emotions. Acudetox works because it detoxes the organs very quickly of both the toxic substances and emotions that leaves people more stable emotionally and chemically a lot faster and a lot more safely too. One of the other reasons people fail so regularly at addiction recovery is because their withdrawal symptoms are too uncomfortable. Whitfield says, “Acupunture actually helps make the discomfort more tolerable and keeps people calm and centred too. It’s quite amazing to watch actually, people come in for acupuncture feeling very flustered and quite often with obsessive mindsets. By the end of the session, they’re relaxed, centered and calm and feel refreshed.”
In the first year of the protocol being used in the Miami DADE County, out of the 1613 crack addicts that were diverted to the program, 16 were rearrested. That’s an impressive success rate but but makes it even more impressive is that NADA can actually prove their success rate because the test their patients on an almost daily basis for substances. Whitfield has been practicing privately since he returned from the USA and has seen some other interesting effects. “Many times, people who haven’t cried for years begin to cry again during the treatments as the Acudetox releases the suppressed sadness stored in their organs. I’ve even see people begin to “laugh and smile during the treatments as they release suppressed joy that they haven’t been able to feel for years” he said. He claims that he treated a very influential business man who had a few hundred salesmen working for him but who was firing people on an almost daily basis because he could not control his anger. Apparently the man’s liver was quite toxic and during the first two weeks of his treatment, he didn’t lose his temper once. Whitfield said, “For him that was quite a ‘miracle’ because he didn’t realise that he could be so calm and run his business well at the same time. His secretary even asked him if he was taking ‘tranquilizers or something’ because she couldn’t understand why he wasn’t angry anymore.”
Many patients report experiencing a sense of euphoria during the treatments which they claim is almost like popping a happy pill. “This is to be expected” said Whitfield, “but everyone is different and people respond quite differently to the treatment. Initially some people report that they feel quite ‘sedated’ or lethargic, but this soon goes away as they detox and is replaced by a sense of energizing and refreshment if they keep to the program.”
How easy is it to learn? It’s as easy as being able to insert a very thin needle of about 0.22mm in diameter into the surface of the ear to a depth of about 1.5 – 2mm deep. If you’re going to be using it for addiction you will need to be involved in treatment or counseling in some way or prepared to work closely with addiction treatment professionals. It takes about 30 hours part time to learn the theory behind it during which students learn how to insert needles in rubber ears. Once the theory is competed, students have to practice on patients for a further 40 supervised hours (+- 50 treatments) and keep meticulous client records. In reality, anyone can learn it. All that is needed is a sincere desire and commitment to staying within the NADA worldwide treatment protocols and quality standards. Can I treat myself? Actually it’s quite difficult to see the points in a mirror and reach them with accuracy. It’s also not allowed. What else can be treated with Acudetox? NADA ADS’s also learn a certain magnotherapy procedure for treating ADD or ADHD. It has been known to work extremely well with the NADA 5 Point Protocol by keeping the brain balanced. A small gold plated magnet is placed on specific point on the reverse of the ear. The result of the magnetic stimulation of that point is that it keeps the left and right hemispheres of the brain balanced electrically and chemically. Emotional disorders like depression, anxiety, anger and bi-polar disorder also respond very well to the treatment as these all fall under the same theory, that organ health is the seat of human emotions and the path to stabilizing brain chemistry.
“What we’ve found is that many many children have been misdiagnosed with ADD or ADHD and put onto chemicals which themselves toxify the organs and in turn make brain chemistry unstable. Sometimes all that is needed is a sincere review of the child’s diet, toxic history and whether or not their boundaries are being managed correctly at home” said Whitfield. “By restructuring their diet, detoxing them and using the magnotherapy, we can restore brain chemistry function very quickly and get rid of the ADD behaviours”. The most difficult part however is teaching the parents how to manage their children’s boundaries as we have no control over how involved the parents will be with their child’s recovery. When parents work with us by changing their children’s diet and managing their boundaries, the results are almost guaranteed” he said. Over 80% of the people in addiction treatment facilities report that they were on Ritalin and other drugs as children. Some doctors have even tried the method on their own kids because they don’t want to put their children on pharmaceuticals. Whitfield says, “There are so many alternative treatments that we have not even considered because we have been conditioned to believe that pharmaceuticals are the only way. In China, in order to be eligible to be included on the Traditional Chinese Medicines register, you have to be able to prove that you have treated the cause of an illness successfully for at least 100 years. In the West, all you have to do to release a dangerous chemical as a medicine is to do a double blind clinical study where you treat the symptoms well without too many side effects. Depending on how bad the side effects are or how dangerous the medicine is, it will then receive a schedule 1 to 7 rating. “I think the west needs to seriously look at what Eastern methods have to offer. If we continue to approach the addiction epidemic in South Africa with the same close minded way as we have in the past, things will only get worse. We can only benefit by welcoming Acudetox as a way of detoxing people safely, cheaply and effectively” he said.
*2009 UNODC World Drug Report stated that 15% of South Africa's population are problem drug users. RESEARCH
http://acudetox.org.za/research/
ACUDETOX AND TRAUMA
http://acudetox.org.za/acudetox-trauma-addiction/
ACUDETOX FOR ADHD
http://acudetox.org.za/acudetox-for-adhd/
