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.

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.