The following is a summary of some of the clinical studies that were conducted using cold laser to treat Alcoholism. These studies are presented here to demonstrate the wide uses of cold lasers in the treatment of different medical conditions.
Acupuncture for alcohol withdrawal: a randomized controlled trial
1 Psychiatric Hospital,
2 Department of Complementary Medicine (KIKOM), Inselspital, University of Berne, 3010 Berne, 3 Department of Social and Community Psychiatry, University of Berne, Laupenstrasse 49, 3010 Berne, Switzerland,
4 MRC Health Services Research Collaboration, Department of Social Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, UK and 5 Department of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Berne, Finkenhubelweg 11, 3012 Berne, Switzerland
Received 1 February 2002; in revised form 11 March 2003; accepted 27 March 2003
Background and Aims: Previous trials on acupuncture in alcohol addiction were in outpatients and focused on relapse prevention. Rates of dropout were high and interpretation of results difficult. We compared auricular laser and needle acupuncture with sham laser stimulation in reducing the duration of alcohol withdrawal.
Methods: Inpatients undergoing alcohol withdrawal were randomly allocated to laser acupuncture (n = 17), needle acupuncture (n = 15) or sham laser stimulation (n = 16). Attempts were made to blind patients, therapists and outcome assessors, but this was not feasible for needle acupuncture. The duration of withdrawal symptoms (as assessed using a nurse-rated scale) was the primary outcome; the duration of sedative prescription was the secondary outcome. Results: Patients randomized to laser and sham laser had identical withdrawal symptom durations (median 4 days). Patients randomized to needle stimulation had a shorter duration of withdrawal symptoms (median 3 days; P = 0.019 versus sham intervention), and tended to have a shorter duration of sedative use…
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More research in this area is needed. While protocols have been developed that are claimed to be successful in treating alcoholism and also used for smoking cessation. The type of laser, locations on the body, ears, face and hands can vary from one protocol to another. While a cluster laser can treat an entire ear in 4-12 minutes, a probe style laser can be more focused on specific points and deliver up to 8 or more times the energy in a given time period, thus resulting in superior results when done correctly.