Am J Chin Med. 1996 ; 24(2): 177-84.

Influence of acupuncture and pharmacotherapy on sensitivity of sensory systems to alcohol irritants in patients with alcoholism.

Timofeev MF.

Research-Practical Center Reflexotherapy of Alcoholism, Moscow, Russia.

The sensitivity of an alcoholic's sensory systems (SS) to alcohol therapy is a good indication of treatment efficacy in this disease. In this study, we compare pharmacotherapy (PHT) and acupuncture therapy (AP) on the sensitivity of visual (VL), acoustic (AC), olfactory (OL) and taste (TS) systems to alcohol irritants (AI). The results showed that PHT changed the threshold sensitivity of SS to AI but did not cause aversion of SS to AI. In acupuncture treatment, results can be divided into four groups: Group 1, no aversion of AC was produced to AI; Group 2, no aversion of TS and OL were produced to AI; Group 3, no aversion of VL to AI; and group 4, no aversion was recorded to AI. Supposedly, one of the sensory systems of the organism is genetically leading in organizing sensory-emotional operation of information, and other SS are subordinates. Therefore, before acupuncture treatment for alcoholism, it is necessary to cause excitation to the ethanol-dependent system (target-system) by means of irritation to the leading sensory system of the patient.