I Want to Quit Smoking

Ben Affleck tells Oprah how he quit smoking

2008-09-06T19:37:00.001-07:00

Movie star Ben Affleck has revealed how pal Matt Damon, his baby daughter and a hypnotist helped him quit smoking.

The Pearl Harbour star admitted he was hooked on cigarettes for almost 20 years before Matt advised him to try hypnosis.

He decided to give it a go for the sake of his daughter Violet, now aged two, when wife Jennifer Garner fell pregnant.

And the treatment worked as Ben gave up puffing his way through at least a pack a day.

He told US talkshow queen Oprah Winfrey he has not had a cigarette for more than two years.

Ben said: "I thought I would give up at 25 and then 30, but that came and went.

"I finally decided to quit smoking when I was going to have a child.

"I actually went to hypnosis. Matt Damon turned me on to this guy.

"Matt quit the year before me. This guy just sat there and told me nicotine is poison."

Read the full story here

Move Over Robert Jarvik - Pfizer Ditches The Celebrity Pitch

2008-09-03T15:34:00.000-07:00

Expect to see drug companies find clever ways around the advertising rule that mandates a list of potential side effects, specifically more public service announcement-type adverting that does not mention the drug but instead talks about a given condition.

It’s already happening for Chantix, a smoking cessation drug.

The Pfizer campaign “My Time To Quit” sends patients to a website. “Find out more about a prescription treatment option” the ads say on television with a little Pfizer bug in the right-hand corner. The side effects are there but not as prominent as they must be on television ads hawking a specific drug.

The shift in Chantix advertising happened right as the drug was receiving increased scrutiny about its link to suicide, “Chantix dreams”, and the FAA ordered pilots to quit using the drug as did the trucking industry concerning drivers.

Read the full story here

www.injuryboard.com

List of drugs with suicide concerns

2008-08-31T20:04:00.000-07:00

List of drugs with suicide concerns

By The Associated Press

A list of some prescription medications for which concerns have been raised involving suicidal thoughts and actions:

_All antidepressants. Drugs such as Prozac, Paxil, Wellbutrin and Zoloft carry required warnings that the medications can increase suicidal thinking and behavior in some children, adolescents and young adults.

_Anticonvulsives. Drugs such as Depakote, Lyrica and Neurontin are used to treat seizures and other conditions. A recent FDA analysis found a small increased risk of suicidal thinking and behavior. An advisory panel recommended against applying the agency's strongest warning to the drugs.

_Chantix. The FDA is investigating whether the smoking cessation drug triggers psychiatric symptoms.

Read the full story here

Center Policy Update: Legislative Week in Review (August 18-22)

2008-08-27T10:39:00.001-07:00

The California Legislature has been very busy voting on bills over the past week as there is now only one week remaining in the 2008 legislative session. While the Legislature finishes its work on 2008 bills, a budget has still not been adopted for fiscal year 2008-2009. Because of that, legislators may need to stay in Sacramento past the end of August to continue working on and passing a budget. There are two tobacco-related bills remaining alive in the Legislature. Below is an update on those two bills with status information, vote details and next steps.

AB 2344: Annual Fee for State Tobacco Retailer License (Beall – D, San Jose)
This bill would increase the fee for a state tobacco retailer license from $100 to $185 and require this fee to be paid annually.
Status – AB 2344 has been passed by both the Assembly and the Senate and will now be sent to the Governor. Once he receives the bill, he will have until September 30 to sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

AB 3010: Prohibiting Tobacco Use at State Mental Hospitals (Blakeslee – R, San Luis Obispo)
This bill would authorize the Director of the Department of Mental Health to prohibit smoking by patients and staff at any of the five state mental hospitals upon the request of the director of one of those hospitals.
Status – The full Senate passed AB 3010 on August 20 by a vote of 29-6.
Voted in Favor – Alquist, Calderon, Cedillo, Cogdill, Corbett, Correa, Cox, Dutton, Florez, Harman, Kehoe, Lowenthal, Machado, Maldonado, Margett, Migden, Negrete McLeod, Oropeza, Padilla, Perata, Ridley-Thomas, Romero, Scott, Simitian, Steinberg, Torlakson, Wiggins, Wyland, Yee
Voted Against – Aanestad, Ackerman, Ashburn, Denham, Hollingsworth, McClintock
Absent or Not Voting – Battin, Ducheny, Kuehl, Runner, Vincent
Next Step – Since this bill was amended in the Senate, it will need to be passed again by the full Assembly, which originally passed the bill in May. After the Assembly passes the bill with the Senate amendments, the bill would then be sent to the Governor who can sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature.

IWanttoQuitSmoking.com Hypnosis

Calif. Stop - Smoking Campaign Saved $86 Billion: Report

2008-08-27T10:10:00.000-07:00

CHICAGO (Reuters) - California's large-scale tobacco control campaign has saved $86 billion in health care costs in its first 15 years, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

The $86 billion reduction in health costs, based on 2004 dollars, represents about a 50-fold return on the $1.8 billion California spent on the program, they said.

"The benefits of the program accrued very quickly and are very large," Stanton Glantz, director of the University of California San Francisco Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, said in a statement.

Read the full story here

IWanttoQuitSmoking.com Hypnosis

"Do You Want to Quit" Quiz

2008-08-13T22:10:00.000-07:00

US: CA: Councilman pushes for a smoke-free L.A.

2008-08-12T09:58:00.000-07:00

Councilman pushes for a smoke-free L.A.

August 11, 2008

With smoking already banned in almost all public areas of the city, a Los Angeles official called Thursday to broaden its prohibitions to make the city virtually smoke-free.

Councilman Bernard Parks, who also is running for the county Board of Supervisors, is calling for a measure that would prohibit smoking in any areas where nonsmokers might be affected.

Read the full story here and leave your comments

www.topix.com

The California Legislature returned to session August 4

2008-08-06T14:01:00.000-07:00

The California Legislature returned to session August 4, after a month-long recess. The main focus of the Legislature will be passing a state budget which is over a month late, but the Legislature will also continue with hearings and votes on all the bills that are still alive (including three tobacco-related bills) because the end of the 2008 legislative session is near.

The three tobacco-related bills (AB 2344: Annual Fee for State Tobacco Retailer License, AB 2662: Clarifying Tobacco Cessation Benefits for Medi-Cal and AB 3010: Prohibiting Tobacco Use at State Mental Hospitals) are all scheduled for a hearing before the Senate Appropriations Committee today. If these bills are passed by the Appropriations Committee they will move to the floor for a vote by the full Senate.

The Legislature will adjourn for the year on or before August 31. All bills must be passed by both houses and sent to the Governor for his signature before this date. As the legislative activity increases on tobacco-related bills during the final weeks of session, I will send out weekly legislative updates.

WeeklySnapShot

www.statescape.com

There's a story of twin brothers that you might find interesting.

2008-08-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

There's a story of twin brothers that you might find interesting. These brothers grew up in a very poor family and difficult times. Their youth was a struggle of survival as they helped support their family, working early mornings on the farm and then late into the night after they finished their homework. They shared the hard labor, working side by side through it all. When they grew up and moved away, their lives took different paths. One brother became very successful in business and life, raising a family and enjoying the fruits of his labors. The other brother struggled to keep a job, lived alone, and became an alcoholic.

One day, a college student read an article about the successful brother, who told of his childhood and mentioned he had a twin brother. The student did some research and discovered the sad tale of the other twin. Having read about the uncanny similarities between adult twins, she became curious about how such a gap could happen between the lives of these brothers who were identical and even shared the same upbringing. She decided to interview them and learn more.

As she sat down for the interview with the successful brother, he smiled and shook her hand, appreciating the comfortable chair she had provided and the beautiful decor of the room. She asked him, "How do you explain the way life turned out for you?" He shared how the struggles of his childhood had taught him the importance of staying focused and seeing the positive in every moment. "You know," he said, "even in the rough times, we had each other. Life brings all sorts of ups and downs. You just have to do the best you can and enjoy the ride!"

Next, she interviewed the other twin. He walked into the same room and sat in the same chair. He grumbled about bad traffic and complained about wasting his Saturday on this foolishness. She asked, "How do you explain the way life turned out for you?" He frowned and told of the hardships that poverty brings. He recounted stories of how the cruel world had let him down. He closed saying,
"You don't get any breaks in life," he said. "We were dirt poor and I never got a chance at the good life. Life beats you up then kicks you when you're down."

The interviews over, the student went back home and thought about what she'd learned. As she reflected on the tale of the brothers, she realized that if the same experience can wield such different responses, there must be more to it than just what's happening in the world around us. She decided that life is more about what's inside than what's out there.

T W I N B R O T H E R

www.mcsweeneys.net

Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act

2008-08-02T08:06:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 30, the House of Representatives voted on H.R. 1108, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. This bill would provide the federal Food and Drug Administration (FDA) with the authority to regulate tobacco products. Among other things, H.R. 1108 would require tobacco companies to provide a detailed
disclosure of ingredients in their products, prohibit tobacco companies from making health claims about their products without adequate scientific evidence and ban all flavored cigarettes except menthol. Previous versions of a bill to provide the FDA with the authority to regulate tobacco products have passed the Senate in years past but this is the first time such a bill will be voted on by the House of Representatives.

If you are interested in watching the debate and vote on this bill, you can view House floor proceedings at http://www.cspan.org/Watch/C-SPAN_wm.aspx. H.R. 1108 is on the suspension calendar, meaning that the bill will be debatable for up to 40 minutes and that it must receive two-thirds vote for passage. This bill is the 14th bill listed on the suspension calendar and the House recently finished debate on the 9th bill on the suspension calendar. More details about the House vote and the bill will be sent out tomorrow following the vote.

Read more here

IWanttoQuitSmoking.com Hypnosis

VA Leaders Questioned On Response To Suicide Risk In Agency Study

2008-07-29T18:22:00.000-07:00

By Stephen Spotswood

Posted: 29-July-2008

WASHINGTON—In what is becoming a regular ritual on Capitol Hill, legislators took Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) leaders to task last month, this time for a possible breakdown in the agency’s human subject protection system of a study on combining smoking cessation therapy with therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The study began in 2004 and was designed to determine whether smoking cessation therapy would be better implemented when combined with PTSD therapy, or whether treatments should be kept separate. Irregularities came to light in June in news reports that highlighted the discovery of suicide as being a possible side effect of Chantix, one of the smoking cessation drugs administered to some patients in the study, and VA’s delayed notification of study participants taking the drug of those side effects.

Read the full story here

www.usmedicine.com

And now a few words about creative visualization:

2008-07-26T08:08:00.000-07:00

You know when you are working on something and you just can't seem to come up with new and fresh ideas? This happens to me every now and then. It's like a writer's block. I call it a creativity block.

In order to accomplish your goals and dreams, sometimes a little inspiration is needed. If you work in a creative field such as writing, design, or painting, you are probably trying to constantly come with new and creative things. In addition to needing creative and fresh ideas, sometimes it is hard to focus. Perhaps you have to meet a deadline and you feel pressure to come up with something new.

For me, some of my best ideas seem to randomly pop into my head. Sometimes I'm not even trying to focus on my work and I visualize a new idea. The other day I was running some errands and I got a new idea for a product line to offer on my website. With hypnosis you can achieve creative visualization.

Writer's Block

www.emofree.com

Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates Join to Combat Global Tobacco Epidemic

2008-07-24T15:17:00.000-07:00

July 23, 2008
Bloomberg and Gates Commit $500 Million and Call on Governments to Implement Proven Interventions to Reduce Tobacco Use, Save Lives

[New York - July 23, 2008] Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates today announced joint efforts to combat the global tobacco epidemic. A combined investment of $500 million will help governments in developing countries implement proven policies and increase funding for tobacco control. Unless urgent action is taken, as many as one billion people this century - more than two-thirds in the developing world - could die from tobacco-caused illnesses. Paula Johns, executive director of Brazil's Alliance for the Control of Tobacco Use, and broadcast journalist Charlie Rose joined Bloomberg and Gates for the announcement.

Bloomberg's Initiative to Reduce Tobacco Use, which was established in 2005 and includes a $125 million commitment, will be extended with a new $250 million, four-year commitment. This brings Bloomberg's total commitment to date to more than $375 million.

Read the full story here

www.mikebloomberg.com

Bush administration opposes tobacco regulation

2008-07-23T11:18:00.000-07:00

By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Bush administration strongly opposes legislation to give federal health authorities the power to regulate tobacco products, a top official said in a letter to Congress obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

The letter is the strongest indication yet that the administration will try to block the broadly popular legislation, which is supported by majorities in both chambers, and lists both presidential contenders among its co-sponsors. Although a floor vote is expected in the House this summer, a protracted battle with the White House could doom chances for passing the bill this year.

"The administration would strongly oppose this legislation," Health and Human Services Sec. Michael Leavitt said in a July 21 letter to Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas. Barton is the senior Republican on the Energy and Commerce Committee, which approved the bill on a lopsided 38-12 vote in April. At the time, 11 Republicans on the panel voted in favor of the legislation.

Read full story here:

Anti-smoking drug study investigated

2008-07-21T06:42:00.000-07:00

Anti-smoking drug study investigated
Audrey Hudson (Contact)
Sunday, July 20, 2008

Officials with the Department of Veterans Affairs are preparing to determine who was at fault for failing to quickly notify participants in a smoking-cessation study about the potentially dangerous side effects of a drug they were prescribed and whether the study will be ended.

Dr. Tom Puglisi, chief officer of the VA's Office of Research Oversight, says he has several concerns that veterans suffering from post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were prescribed the smoking-cessation drug Chantix without receiving timely written information or warnings about its possible side effects, which can include psychosis and suicidal behavior.

Read full story here:

www.washingtontimes.com

Navajo Council to consider commercial smoking ban

2008-07-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

Navajo Council to consider commercial smoking ban
By FELICIA FONSECA Associated Press Writer
Article Launched: 07/18/2008 05:06:46 PM MDT

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.—The Navajo Nation Council is to consider a measure next week during its summer session that would prohibit the use of commercial tobacco in public buildings and shared public air spaces, such as fairs and rodeos.
The measure would prohibit cigarettes and chewing tobacco, but not tobacco used in ceremonies for traditional or religious purposes.

The Southwest Navajo Tobacco Education Prevention Project is pushing the passage of the law, backed by the tribe's Division of Health and the Hataalii Association Inc., a group of medicine men.

"It's a healthy decision," said David Begay, a medicine man from Ganado, Ariz. "I would say the majority of Navajo people probably support it. What people do at the home as far as smoking is concerned ... that's their decision. We're talking about public places."

The Navajo Nation Gaming Enterprise opposes the measure, saying it would put the tribe's first casino at a disadvantage against others in the area.

Read the full story here

www.lcsun-news.com

Do we like McCain being McCain?

2008-07-19T08:37:00.000-07:00

Published: 7/19/2008 12:06

McCain is an expert on world affairs (or so says McCain).

Why then does he not know that Czechoslovakia was dissolved 15 years ago?

Why does he have still have trouble distinguishing between Shia and Sunnis?

Why does he think Iran is training Sunnis?

Why does he mock Obama for not going to Iraq and Afghanistan and then trivialize him when he does?

Why does he reject the demand of the Maliki government for a timetable for leaving Iraqi? I guess that sovereign government of Iraq really isn't so sovereign after all.

McCain is the veteran of all veterans (or so says McCain). Why did he not support the new GI Bill for the those who have born the brunt of Bush's folly?

Why did he object to increased funding for the VA?

McCain is a champion of children (or so says McCain). Then, why did he vote against expanding health insurance for children and uphold the Bush veto of the bill?

McCain is a champion of women (or so says McCain). Why then does he not support equal health care treatment for women and men?

Why does he not believe a woman has the right to choose what she does with her own body?

Why does he vote against every women's issue when given the chance?

McCain apologists offer that telling jokes about rape and killing Iranians by sending them more cigarettes
is just McCain being McCain instead of referring to it as scandalous and inane (respectively).

It strikes me that McCain being McCain reveals the exact flawed character that this country doesn't need another four years of.

James Prescott

Schaumburg

Do we like McCain being McCain?

www.dailyherald.com

And now a lesson from Forrest Gump:

2008-07-19T07:33:00.000-07:00

My favorite movie is Forrest Gump. Here's a guy who didn't know he wasn't supposed to achieve greatly. He just did it. He ran across the country, played ping pong at a world championship level, saved his friends from certain death in a jungle of Vietnam, and disassembled his rifle in record time just to name a few of his achievements. He was not 'smart' enough to know that normal humans 'can't' achieve these things.

We are all programmed in our youth to know our general direction in life and our limits. Nobody says to us "You will be a lawyer and make $100,000 per year." Or "You will be a carpenter and make 50,000 per year." Through a series of experiences and information we receive from parents and others, we form a subconscious image of what we should 'be,' how much money we are worthy of earning, how attractive we are (and therefore how attractive our mate should be), etc. If at any time we are 'threatened' with achieving beyond our subconscious boundaries in any of these areas, sabotage kicks in to bring us back in line. This happens so that we don't get hurt. So that we don't feel the pain of being uncomfortable, of being in the unknown, of violating our programming.

Sabotage is designed to protect us. To keep us safe. It's also designed to punish us when we violate the programming of our parents, etc. It sends us to our rooms because we were 'bad,' it takes away our playmates because we were 'bad,' it doesn't give us our allowance because we were 'bad.' We are living as children and thinking we are in control of everything, yet we are still being punished. So we have the aspect of sabotage that punishes us and the aspect that protects us by keeping us in the 'safe' zone.

Read full article here

www.synergyinstituteonline.com

Board backs ban on smoking

2008-07-17T09:43:00.000-07:00

By Ruth Ingram

The city of Clinton's new smoking ban ordinance goes into effect in 30 days.

Aldermen on Tuesday approved the new law that prohibits smoking in public buildings, city-owned vehicles, schools, restaurants, bars, indoor and outdoor athletic facilities as well as day-care and health care facilities, theaters and at least 80 percent of hotel rooms.

The unanimous vote by the 7-member board comes after a July 1 public hearing to allow residents, business owners and others to voice comments about the proposed ordinance.

Clinton joins more than two dozen Mississippi cities with smoking bans in place.

Smoking is defined in the Clinton ordinance as "inhaling, exhaling, burning or carrying any lighted cigar, cigarette, pipe or other lighted tobacco product in any manner or in any form."

Aldermen on Tuesday approved one change to the ordinance in its proposed form - a change that would strengthen it.

The new language prohibits smoking within 30 feet of a main entrance of any building governed by the ordinance.

"We've continued to receive comments" following the July 1 hearing, city attorney Ken Dreher said at the Tuesday meeting.

The new language was added, he said, "so you didn't have to fight your way through a number of smokers at the entrance" to a smoke-free building.

The law will carry a fine of $500 for violators and fines up to $500 for the facility owner or manager.

Alderman At-Large Jehu Brabham said the ongoing debate by those on both sides of the smoking issue "could go on from now until eternity, and probably no one would change their minds."

But in his mind, Brabham said, a deciding factor is what is said in the preamble to the nation's constitution.

"It says, 'We the people.' It doesn't say, 'I the people,' " Brabham said.

The nation's founders "realized you'd never have a perfect union if it was just based on individual rights," Brabham said.

"People have the right to go to a common area of space and not be subjected to smoke.

"Sometimes, I have to give up some of my 'I' to make a better 'we,' " he said. "I can defend that from a constitutional point as well as a health point."

Read the full article here.

www.clintonnews.com

Smoking violations are reported to Iowa Deptartment of Health

2008-07-14T13:05:00.000-07:00

By BOB LINK,

MASON CITY — In the first 10 days of Iowa’s Smokefree Air Act, the state Department of Public Health received 237 complaints of possible violations of the public smoking
ban.

To date, authorities have not busted into any smoke-filled bars. They have not handcuffed or shackled any smokers, and they haven’t closed any establishments.

And, according to the Iowa Department of Public Health, no one will be handcuffed and no businesses will be closed.

“It’s an educational process,” said Brent Saron, a community health consultant with the Iowa Department of Public Health. “Education is a key to compliance.”

The Iowa law, which went into effect July 1, applies to restaurant, bars, food service establishments, outdoor sports arenas and amphitheaters.

It also covers places of employment such as office buildings, health care facilities and child care facilities.

Assistant Cerro Gordo County Attorney Carlyle Dalen said the county attorney’s office has started to get calls with people questioning what establishments are included in the law.

“Right now there just seems to be a lot of questions with not a lot of clear answers,” said Dalen.

Smoking violations are reported

www.globegazette.com

Ridiculous Suppositions About Weight Loss With Hypnotherapy

2008-07-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

Posthypnotic suggestion, thanks to movies and TV shows, the very word conjures up the impression of a beady-eyed hypno-technician swinging a watch and droning the words, “You are getting sleepy.”

Do a Google search, and you will find millions of web pages focused on the subject, especially weight loss hypnosis. Unfortunately, many websites that sell recorded hypnosis programs for weight loss make wild, unsubstantiated affirmations. I’ve been in professional practice since 1978. So I think that I’m more than competent to set the record straight on weight loss hypnosis.

First of all, hypnotic suggestion is a tool, just like a scalpel is a tool. Just as assorted surgeons have diversified skill levels in the use of a scalpel, varying hypnotists have assorted there are many remarkable forms of hypnosis.

Here are just a couple of the wild suppositions about weight loss hypnosis that I’ve seen on websites, along with the truth of the matter:

“Hypnosis for weight loss will speed up your metabolism.” If you want to know the total truth, the fact of the matter is that weight loss hypnosis can’t directly speed up your metabolism. But it can be very functional at helping to program your subconscious with increased motivation to exercise, and exercise can increase your metabolism. Similarly, hypnotherapy to speed up the metabolism for quick weight loss can be effected by programming the subconscious to motivate the intake of increased amounts of protein, because that intake will step up your metabolic rate.

Posthypnotic suggestion will make you shed some weight. This is false. But weight loss hypnosis can be used to help delete your appetite, so that you eat less, and eating less can help you to drop a few pounds.

The average person’s appetite and urges are caused by two subconscious programs:
A. When you pair eating with any other behavior, the other behavior will trigger cravings for food and a compulsion to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example, if you eat while you drive, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you drive your car.

B. When you feel tense, you feel a strong urge to put food into your mouth for relaxation. This is the result of training that you received as an infant. When you got crabby, your mom or dad put a bottle in your mouth. You got distracted, relaxed, and probably fell asleep. Now when you get cranky (anxious or tense), you feel compelled to put something into your mouth for relaxation and pleasure.

C. There is a third unconscious program that is present for some people. It’s called emotional eating. Emotional eating takes place when an individual is motivated to make him or herself fat, because by being fat they will protect themselves in some way.

For example, if a subject got their heart broken in a relationship, their unconscious will usually force them into a behavior that would prevent them from getting their heart broken again. Example: They are motivated to become overweight to keep them out of new relationships, because that will clear out the possibility of another broken heart.

D. I have written several articles on hypnosis for weight loss and compulsive overeating that are available on my website. There are some very effective ways to use hypnotic suggestion to reduce or overcome emotional eating.

So just how can weight loss hypnotherapy fix the above problems? Let’s cover them one at a time.

In paragraph “A” above: Conditioned responses can be “wiped out” easily using a course that I call the “Flash.” The flash trains the unconscious mind to setup a new set of triggers. In the above example, the subject had unconsciously banded together the depiction of food in the hand, with the TV. Each time he / she sat down to watch the TV, the unconscious mind filled in the missing part of the depiction: It “Flashed” the image of the food in the hand, and the subject felt an urge, and a craving to eat.

The Flash is a mode of operation we use to program the subconscious to use the visualization of the TV as a trigger for an impression of yourself watching TV without eating. When we lose the depiction of the food, we lose the cravings.

When we momentarily disassociate (see ourselves from the point of view that another person would), we are not able to sense our feelings (cravings and urges).

When we see ourselves in an activity (watching TV without eating), we feel a strong compulsion to generate that behavior. So the subject loses the cravings, and actually gets a compulsion to reject food.

In paragraph “B” above: The subject is eating and drinking for relaxation and pleasure. We teach the subject self-hypnosis for weight loss, because the very essence of the hypnotic state is deep relaxation.

And we utilize the “Flash” to program the unconscious to use the mental pictures that are triggering feelings of annoyance and aggravation, as triggers for secondary mental images and thoughts that will trigger feelings of relaxation. When the subject feels more relaxed overall, oral urges are greatly diminished.

In paragraph “C” above: We discussed emotional eating which makes the person overweight. The “behavior” of being overweight then provides some sort of emotional protection. So we use a mode of operation called an NLP Six-Step Reframe for weight loss, which programs the unconscious to be responsible for making the subject automatically substitute some other larger acceptable behavior that will provide the same emotional protection, in place of being overweight. And that reframe will delete the craving to eat for emotional purposes.

Self-hypnosis for weight loss can be a very powerful method. I can only uncover the tip of the iceberg in this short characterization. Please see my website for larger comprehensive articles and information

Ridiculous Suppositions About Weight Loss

www.medinfo2004.org

If the drugs don’t work...

2008-07-12T08:58:00.000-07:00

If the drugs don’t work...

Jul 12 2008 by Abbie Wightwick, Western Mail

From past life regression and faith healing to stopping smoking and learning to eat more slowly, hypnotherapy is fast becoming the buzzword in alternative therapy – you can even do a degree in it in Wales now. Abbie Wightwick looks into the eyes (not around the eyes) of the believers

IMAGINE you have half a fresh, juicy lemon in your hand. Squeeze it and breathe in the tangy, citrus smell. Bring it up to your mouth and bite into the crunchy, cool flesh. Feel the fresh, sour juice hit your tongue. By now your mouth may be watering.

The lemon test, an example favoured by Cardiff-based hypnotherapist Richard Haggerty, is recognisable to anyone who has experienced the drooling sensation sparked by picturing favourite or sour foods.

It is one example of how the mind can affect the body, he says.

If eating isn’t your thing then invoking a beautiful place may do the trick in transporting you elsewhere.

It is this ability to put the mind in a more relaxed state to aid physical health that is at the heart of the booming industry in healing and complementary therapy.

A survey last year showed that more than half of people asked in Wales would turn to alternative therapists rather than endure long NHS waiting lists. Research has been carried out into complementary treatments for cancer patients at Velindre Hospital, Cardiff and many people book visits to therapists as regularly as the hairdresser.

Every year Britons spend £130m on alternative treatments, from hypnotherapy to reflexology, and predictions are that this will swell to £200m in the next few years.

The NHS spends around £50m a year on alternative treatments working from a recommended list of practitioners offering everything from acupuncture to yoga.

Christian churches also report an increase in religious healing, if not the numbers of people worshipping.

The Reverend Beatrice Brandon, the Adviser for the Healing Ministry to the Archbishops of Canterbury and York whose mother was Welsh, believes Wales is “a healing place” and that pilgrimages to a holy well here helped cure her crippling rheumatoid arthritis.

“I was in an awful lot of pain at the time. I came across the holy wells in Wales and found them peaceful places,” she says.

“I went to St Cybi’s Well on the Llyn Peninsula. The time in Wales visiting these places sustained me. That had a strong healing dimension and helped the healing process.

“It was not a case of going into the water and being healed. The whole culture and spirit of Wales is one of healing and peace. There are parts of Wales where I feel very close to God.

“My mother left Wales as a child but she talked to us about it and I feel Welsh. My aunt had a farm near Lampeter and we spent a lot of time there.”

As an elected lay member of the General Synod of the Church of England, Rev Brandon was instrumental in reviving the healing ministry in the Church of England.

Her groundbreaking report to the House of Bishops, A Time to Heal, was published in 2000 and the associated handbook was sent to clergy in the Church in Wales.

She has since been ordained and trains lay people, priests and ministers in the Church’s healing ministry.

“We don’t call ourselves healers. That’s one of the factors which distinguishes us from faith healers,” she explains.

“The healing comes from God. We intercede and ask God for help.”

She says people don’t have to believe in God to be healed by him but it “helps to have a good relationship with him”.

Her own experience baffled her doctors.

“After the report on healing was published, I had to think about whether I would ever be well enough to function as a priest if I was ordained. I had had rheumatoid arthritis for seven years,

“I prayed to God that if it was his will for me to be ordained, he would have to heal me, for his sake, not mine.

“Within three weeks I had recovered. It has been eight years and it’s not come back.

“I think the significant increase in awareness and in the availability of the healing ministry is partly because mainstream medicine can be very effective but it does not have all the answers and is limited.”

Reverend Mike Endicott from the Church in Wales healing centre in Cwmbran agrees.

The Well Centre is run by the Order of Jacob’s Well which was set up by the then Bishop Rowan Williams, who also ordained Rev Endicott.

The centre has 120 lay and religious healers from a range of denominations. Rev Endicott is a vibrant figure not shy to declare that it is only God who heals.

“It’s to do with God, not us,” he says with unflinching conviction.

“There is a growing interest in healing because there are a lot more sick people. People live longer and doctors are making symptoms easier, but not stopping illness.

“I can heal anybody but they don’t all get healed. If you proclaim the good news but people don’t want to receive anything from God and pull up the portcullis, he can’t get in.

“If you are ill and you come to me I would pray with you. A lot of people are very sceptical. I preach the Bible – nothing else.

“People are becoming more open though. There’s a general increase in interest in things spiritual, but not religious.

“I don’t believe in Wales’ healing wells but it may be some people feel nearer to God in these places.”

Rev Endicott, 63, who went blind through inherited illness as a teenager, does not want his sight restored.

“Being blind is part of me,” he declares.

“ It would be too scary. Sight brings with it things like responsibilities.”

He has a zeal which is tricky to argue with. It is this unshakeable belief that links both church and faith healers.

The National Federation of Spiritual Healers charity is the only body that most doctors will use when seeking faith healers.

Members are listed on the NHS Trust Associations list of approved healers and therapists.

NFSH chief executive Tereena Davies, who was born and grew up in Swansea, cuts an establishment figure in many ways.

A former city high flier, she is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman. Duties include voting in the Lord Mayor of London.

But Tereena says people are increasingly open to the benefits of healing.

“In my 30s I trained as a healer with the NFSH whilst still being involved in my career. I became chief executive last November.

“Most people know I’m also a healer and it’s respected and accepted. A lot of people are hungry for an understanding of spirituality. You would be surprised at the people who ask questions or come for healing or train with the NFSH.

“The range of people who are healing include everything from doctors, solicitors, osteopaths, managers mothers and retired people.”

Her interest in healing grew during her career as head of a medical department for a pharmaceutical company and a City consultancy firm.

She is keen that healing is not seen as something weird or fraudulent and believes that’s why the NFSH two-year training programme is important.

“My concern is that there are a lot of vulnerable people who have cancer or other illnesses who go to people and pay a lot of money and get unrealistic expectations.

“As NFSH healers we never say we can cure. We leave it to the patient to gauge benefit. Whilst there are no guarantees many of our patients report positive results. We are the largest healers’ member organisation and the main one used in the NHS.”

She is passionate about the benefits healing can bring to both patient and practitioner.

“We have 14 regions around the UK where healers represent us at voluntary centres where people can get healing. If they are able to give a donation they do, but that is not required.”

But many people are more than willing to pay for the chance of healing.

Hypnotherapists in Wales, who charge from around £45 to £90 a session, report an almost doubling in trade in the past few years, partly sparked by the new anti-smoking law.

Richard Haggerty says hypnotherapy can complement mainstream medicine by tackling everything from irritable bowel syndrome to phobia and anxiety.

Some dentists also use it for pain relief. Although research is not conclusive, hypnotherapy has been shown to be so effective for some patients that they have had teeth removed with no other painkiller.

The British Medical Association acknowledges there is “immense interest” in alternative medicine among doctors in Wales and elsewhere.

Some regularly suggest patients try complementary therapy. The NHS Trusts Association includes a database of alternative practitioners that doctors can use, although patients must usually pay themselves.

A new regulatory body called The Complementary and Natural Healthcare Council is also due to launch later this year. The organisation is aimed at protecting the public by vetting complementary health practitioners, and only giving their seal of approval to well-qualified, responsible professionals.

But BMA Wales spokesman John Jenkins says more research and safeguards are needed.

“With up to five million people a year consulting a therapist in complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), and many more asking their doctor for advice, the BMA wants to see stricter regulation of the CAM therapies.

“Patients and doctors show an immense interest in CAM therapies but there is a great need for adequate regulation. Only osteopathy and chiropractic are currently regulated by law and we want to see this extended. Acupuncture and herbal medicine are obvious candidates and we would want other areas to follow.

“The BMA has called for more and better scientific research into the efficacy of CAM therapies. People want to know what works and what doesn’t. It is sensible if the NHS is going to share treatment and management of patients with CAM that there should be good information about therapies available for health care workers and patients.

“The BMA believes only those therapies that are adequately regulated should be available on the NHS.”

The Hypnotherapists’ professional body, the National Council for Hypnotherapists, hopes its register will be officially recognised by Parliament within the next 18 months giving it more credence in mainstream healthcare and assuring people prices are fair.

Spokesman Paul Howard fears stage hypnotists have led people to believe their minds will be controlled by someone waving a watch in front of them.

“It has nothing to do with ‘looking into your eyes’ and more to do with looking into your behaviour,” he insists.

“Hypnotherapy is commonly used to help with weight loss and stress, and it has also been proven to be beneficial in smoking cessation and irritable bowel syndrome, but surprisingly it is probably most often used for psychological problems like anxiety and low self esteem.

“With smoking cessation, hypnotherapy in general has shown to be two and a half times more effective than nicotine replacement like nicotine gum or patches, and is five times more likely to succeed than will power alone.

“Hypnotherapy, rather than submerging the mind, is a way of helping people access it for themselves, according to those who use it.”

Aleks Fowler, 32, a natural bodybuilder from Nantgarw, has regular hypnotherapy to boost her confidence before the World Championships in Belfast in August.

“I’ve been going for two months to get focused to win,” she says.

“I’ve been competing for years and always get into the first three, but I want to win. The hypnotherapy makes me happy and confident. If you are stressed you can calm yourself down in just a few minutes. It’s a whole approach to life.

“When I am in a trance I am aware what’s happening but am so relaxed. It’s like sleeping while you’re awake.

“I’m a personal trainer as well and this has a great place in sport. Your brain is like a computer. If you put in only positive messages your life can change.”

Kerry Macdonald, 28, from Cardiff finally kicked her 12-year smoking habit after one one-hour session with hypnotherapist Richard Haggerty.

“I gave up exactly a year ago,” she says with a smile, as if she cannot quite believe it herself.

“He put the idea into my mind that the smell would make me feel sick.

“When I finished I got into my car and drove off. At the traffic lights a man in a car beside me was smoking and the smell made me feel sick.

“I’m so glad I went for hypnotherapy. It’s been the best thing. I had good reason to give up because I’m trying for a baby.

“I was told to picture myself at home with my new baby and people visiting. Then I had to picture myself coughing and going to the doctor and then having tests and being told I had three months to live and wouldn’t see my baby grow up.

“It put things in perspective. I don’t think I would have been able to stop smoking without hypnosis, even though I wanted to. I had tried before and had lasted three months but always went back to it. I really just don’t want to smoke now.”

After years of dieting Helen Caudle who lives near Llantrisant finally tried hypnotherapy which she credits with helping her lose several stone.

Helen, 52, a customer services manager for Barratt Homes, says: “I’d never done anything like this before. The first time I felt self conscious. You see these stupid television programmes where people run around and do things under hypnosis.

“At the end of the first session I came out feeling totally relaxed. You are conscious throughout and totally aware of everything that’s going on. You aren’t totally out of it.

“I was told to put my fork down between each mouthful. I’m a fast eater but in the third week of hypnotherapy I realised I had started putting my knife and fork down and going slower, but not deliberately.

“I’m not a gullible person. Normally my will power would have gone by now but I’m in my fourth week, I don’t feel like I’m on a diet and I’ve lost 10lb without any effort.

“He suggested I’d refuse junk food and eat healthier. My weakness is cakes but I found I didn’t want them.

“You need motivation but the hypnotherapy helps you keep it.”

Her hypnotherapist, Richard Haggerty, believes the treatment has an important role in healthcare.

“Many studies have consistently shown a subject will not do anything against their core values when in trance. Since you are aware at all times, it is your choice to follow the suggestions,” he says.

“We can reach parts of the subconscious under trance.”

Andy Garland, who practises at You Be The Best You Can in Penarth, does past life regression and hypnotherapy and is on the NHS Trusts Association list.

He says: “It’s becoming more and more accepted by the general medical profession. People on the data base are insured and it is a list that’s accredited by the NHS to give security to GPs and the medical profession.

“In past life regression we use clinical hypnosis techniques to access past life.

“Sometimes people are curious and want to find out who they were in lives before. Others believe problems they have stem from events in a past life.

“It doesn’t matter whether it’s true or not. If they believe their issues stem from another life then we can work with that and bring that into the present and bring a positive outcome.

“I believe in what my clients believe in.

“You put them into a trance where they are in a state of deep relaxation and within that we are able to access thoughts and memories.

“I have never taken someone back and found they were someone famous. Most people were farmers or in a war.

“People may come to you stating they have a lot of anxiety but can’t think of anything in their current life causing it. They think maybe it’s something from a previous life.

“You can go back and bring the issue forward and deal with it in the present time.”

Psychic Diane Lazarus from Crosshands, Carmarthenshire, stresses that she is not a healer but says many who come to see her report “feeling better” afterwards.

The 42-year-old mother of two, winner of Channel Five’s Psychic Challenge in 2006, is on a database of approved psychics police can contact. She has helped in a number of cases including the murders of television presenter Jill Dando and West Midlands college lecturer Mark Green.

Those who have come to her for readings include nurses, a Nasa scientist, a Catholic priest and singer Bonnie Tyler.

Police, like doctors, are not often keen to publicise their belief in systems beyond the mainstream, but the National Crime and Operations Centre Faculty in Hampshire holds the database of officially approved mediums and Diane believes society is becoming more open to the paranormal.

“There are parts of the brain people don’t understand. I believe everyone has the ability I do, but not everyone can use it,” she says.

“It was not accepted a few years ago but I feel it’s more accepted now.”

Diane, who is married to solicitor Peter Lazarus, warns “there are charlatans” and supports new consumer laws protecting people from those deliberately aiming to dupe them.

One of her clients is Newmarket racehorse trainer Steve James who visits for business forecasts.

“People can believe what they want. I’ve been going for 18 months and it worked for me,” he announces confidently.

“I’m analytical in life and wouldn’t consider myself ‘away with the fairies’. I’ve got both feet on the ground.”

Steve says he “didn’t want saving” but Diane’s forecast helped give him the determination and confidence that he was heading in the right direction.

Some psychologists believe it is this reassurance that many are searching for in complementary treatments.

Whatever it is the growing acceptance and demand for alternative and complementary therapies and healing means there is an urgent need for more research.

Uwic, which runs the only complementary therapy degree course in Wales, has seen demand for places on its Cardiff-based course double.

Principal lecturer Philip Harris, who runs the course, explains: “Our BSc (Hons) Complementary Therapies programme had its first intake of 12 part-time students in September 2003.

“In the following year the programme ran full-time as well as part-time with an intake of 24 students.

“Subsequently we have taken about 24 new students per year. It is the only undergraduate programme of this type in Wales.

“It was started because of a need for professionally qualified complementary therapy practitioners who are able to understand the research process. Most of our graduates will go on to be full time practitioners in complementary therapies. Some, we hope, will undertake further training and become researchers themselves.

“There is currently a shortage of researchers who both provide complementary therapy and research skills.

“Last year we had our first graduation, one of our graduates won an award for the best undergraduate dissertation on the programme with a cash prize of £500, sponsored by the Welsh Assembly Government.”

The course covers aromatherapy, reflexology, massage, physiology and anatomy and, crucially, business skills.

Alternative therapies, like much medicine, make money. Practitioners have to make a living.

Tereena Davies of the NFSH is keen to point out that many healers offer their skills free and the churches do not charge for healing services or visits to the sick.

But money does not seem to be an obstacle for the growing numbers of people trusting their health to alternative practitioners.

If the drugs don’t work

Pain relief that’s all in the mind

2008-07-09T13:46:00.000-07:00

Pain relief that’s all in the mind

MARISA DUFFY July 07 2008

REST AND BE THANKFUL: Dr David Spiegel believes that focused concentration can provide an alternative to treating chronic pain
When Dr David Spiegel's wife Helen gave birth to the couple's two children, she dealt with the pain by imagining she was floating on Lake Tahoe. Her first labour lasted for 12 hours, but she required no pain relief medication and gave birth to a strapping 10lb baby.

"Women go through fairly substantial pain when they give birth, but it's a wonderful happy experience and you know that the pain doesn't signal lasting damage to your body," says Dr Spiegel. "It's a matter of just learning to focus your attention on other things."

All very well for him to say, you might think, but when it comes to matters of mind over body, Dr Spiegel, a former President of the Society for Clinical and Experimental Hypnosis who is based at Stanford University medical school, knows what he is talking about.

While hypnosis still suffers from its unfortunate association with gimmicky stage shows, more is being discovered about its power and that of the human brain. "Our brain is this very complex computer that tells us what to pay attention to and what to ignore," says Spiegel, who is also director of the Centre on Stress and Health at the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford. "If we were aware at any one time of 1% of everything, we would be totally immobilised."

advertisementSpiegel believes focused concentration can offer a real alternative to pain relief drugs. "The brain is really good at filtering in and out information: you have to pay attention to pain in order for it to hurt. Brain imaging studies show that during hypnosis you don't just feel the same pain but report that it's okay, you actually reduce your perception of pain. We have more control over our bodies than we give ourselves credit for."

Dr Spiegel is interested in using hypnosis in a clinical setting and estimates that two thirds of the population can be hypnotised, often in one 45-minute session. "Studies show that during stressful medical procedures, ranging from invasive radiological imaging studies and needle biopsies through to actual lumpectomies, you can teach patients to do self-hypnosis to release their pain and anxieties, decrease the amount of pain meds they use and shorten procedure time." Hypnosis can also be useful for the treatment of chronic illness. "We teach patients in support groups to learn to filter out the pain, focus on something else, imagine the part of their body that hurts is warmer or cooler. We get a 50% reduction in pain over a year or so."

A former president of the American College of Psychiatrists, Spiegel has been in Scotland assessing the Maggie's cancer care centres as part of an external review. Much of his own research has been used to improve the experience of cancer patients. As he walks round the Glasgow centre he talks about how social support is a major stress buffer. "We are social creatures. We think of ourselves as splendid individuals but we are more like ants than eagles. We don't survive without social connection and yet what happens to people when they get cancer is that they get socially isolated. If you stress people alone you get a much higher psychophysiological stress response that if you gave them the same stressor but when there are other people with them."

The previous day Spiegel was speaking with patients at the Maggie's centre in Edinburgh who told him that the centre had made them feel part of a community for the first time since their diagnosis. One of the defining features of the centres is that they allow people to speak to others in a similar situation.

"We are finding that it is very damaging to try to suppress negative feelings," says Spiegel. "If people want to put on a happy face, we call it the prison of positive thinking', it's a bad thing. As a psychiatrist, if somebody has a bad case of cancer and isn't sometimes sad, angry and fearful, I worry about them because they ought to be. We're finding that you actually get reductions in stress physiology when you're more open and expressive about all of the feelings that you have."

Again, he cites research showing that discussion groups change people's tendency to express emotion and make them feel more confident about managing their emotion, both of which serve to reduce anxiety and long-standing depression.

At Stanford, Spiegel and his team have spent decades exploring the links between social environment, mind and body, links which he describes as strong but not simple. "How much stress you experience, how you handle that stress and the social support you have certainly affects your quality of life. It may even have an effect on the way that the disease progresses. It's not the case that you can wish away cancer in your head or just put on a happy face and the cancer will go away. We have these two extremes that the public thinks: that either doctors say take your medication and that's it, or patients think; If I fix my head I can fix my body'. Neither of those is true but the mind and the body do interact."

Indeed, modern life and its associated stresses are leaving us more prone to illness than our ancestors. "We drive around in fancy four-wheeled wheelchairs so that we keep our bodies from exercising. We are isolated from other people so that you don't bump into people when you are going home, you honk your horn at them if they cut you up. We've erected lights that have completely disrupted our circadian rhythms (our natural 24-hour cycle) so we sleep far less than we should. We have evidence in our laboratory that disrupted circadian patterns predict an earlier progression of breast cancer, for example.

"A lot of the things we do - bad diets, lack of exercise, lack of social encounters and disrupted sleep cycles - are bad for our physiology and put us at higher risk through things like obesity and smoking."

In addition to physical factors that can make us vulnerable to illness, Spiegel believes that stress, trauma and depression can make people more susceptible to illnesses such as cancer. "The literature is complicated but there are large-scale studies showing that objective stressors like losing a spouse, or a job, are associated with a higher incidence of breast cancer. Some 19 of 24 recent studies show that being depressed is associated with more rapid progression of cancer.

"Maggie's centres are offering support for the long-term effects and the stress is the one thing which is going to be with you the most because you are going to be going back every year, having tests and possibly developing multiple cancers," says Spiegel.

"Some of the comfort offered by hypnosis or other forms of support becomes incredibly important as this evolves."

How to get involved

To mark our 225th anniversary, The Herald is teaming up with Maggie's Cancer Caring Centres in a campaign that will provide lasting support for people across Scotland affected by cancer. We are inviting you to become a Herald Friend of Maggie's, either as an individual, a group or a company, to support the charity's work in 2008 and beyond.

Maggie's Personal Friends are individuals who give by direct debit to Maggie's. This is a simple way to make a big difference. Knowing how much money is coming in each month makes it possible for Maggie's to plan ahead for the year-long courses they offer at their centres. From as little as £5 a month, a Personal Friend can give someone affected by cancer the chance to attend one of Maggie's workshops once a month for a year. The programme of workshops supports the emotional and psychological wellbeing of people with the disease and their friends and family. They include Living with Cancer, Stress Management, Nutrition, Relaxation, Yoga, T'ai Chi and Expressive Art.

Active Friends are volunteers who form a group that represents Maggie's in their home area and helps raise money in local communities. Groups of Active Friends have between five and 20 members. You don't need experience, just good organisational skills and a passion to improve cancer support in Scotland. A Maggie's fundraiser in your area will work closely with you to develop a variety of activities. Examples include coffee mornings, book sales, fashion shows and balls.

Corporate Friends can support Maggie's in a range of ways, including taking them on as their Charity of the Year or holding networking and business breakfast events. The Maggie's corporate fundraising team will work with you to tailor a programme of collaboration that meets your goals, whether you want to build your profile as a socially responsible company, improve teamworking or boost staff morale.

Everyone who signs up as a Personal or Active Friend is sent a stylish carrier bag designed by the Scottish textile and wallpaper design studio, Timorous Beasties.

Pain relief that’s all in the mind

www.theherald.co.uk

Think Chantix side effects are bad? Just wait

2008-07-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

Since 1988 when then Surgeon General C. Edward Coop announced “that nicotine was as addictive as cocaine or heroin” every governmental agency, non-profit organization, hospital, and university has and continues to be the sales spokesperson for the chemical models of smoke cessation. These models, ranging from Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), antidepressants like Bupropion (Zyban and Wellbutrin), anesthesia shots, and Varenicline (a derivate of the poison Cytisine) sold as Chantix, unfortunately contain very adverse and potentially lethal side- effects, are costly, and have very high relapse rates, which range as high as 95% in the fist year.

Chantix the new wonder pill to emerge is proving dangerous to many smokers. Since Chantix's approval in May 2006 there had been 26 "severe adverse effects". Chantix has been linked according to the FDA to at least 40 suicides and 400 attempted suicides, over 397 cases of possible psychosis, and 525 reports of hostility or aggression with many of the patients reporting hallucinations and thoughts of killing people. This has prompted the Veterans Administration to inform 32,000 veterans that they are using a drug linked to suicide or violent behavior. The FAA as also banned the use of Chantix for all pilots and air-traffic controllers. Chantix is also banned for all truck drivers.

It may get worse!! Nabi Biopharmaceuticals is already developing NicVAX -- a vaccine to treat nicotine addiction and prevent smoking relapse. The vaccine is designed to stimulate the immune system to produce antibodies that bind to nicotine. A nicotine molecule attached to an antibody is too large to cross the blood-brain barrier. Nabi says, NicVAX blocks nicotine from reaching its receptors in the brain and prevents the highly-addictive pleasure sensation experienced by smokers and users of nicotine products.
Nabi also said in 2007 that trials are expected to show that antibodies from NicVAX will last 12 months or longer. If that proves to be true, it would support getting through the 95 percent relapse rate in the critical first year.

The problem once again the side-effects First, a university of Michigan study concluded that only 32% of smokers are nicotine dependent (this researcher feels that is on the high side). However, if this figure is true then 65% to 75% of smokers do not continue to smoke because of Nicotine addiction. Second, we must look at the averse and potentially lethal side-effects, to wit, one in particular come to mind. We know that nicotine mimics the neuro-transmitter acetylcholine and binds to it receptors in the brain. Since the anti-body’s are designed to seek out nicotine and bind to it, once a person has stopped all nicotine injection these anti-bodies will in essence lose their job and just move aimlessly through the body. Since nature is always in flux suppose these anti-bodies were to mutate ever-so-slightly and begin to block, alter, or destroy the receptors for acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction? This would in-turn prevent muscle contraction from occurring producing a disorder called Myasthenia Gravis, a debilitating and potentially lethal muscle disease.

When you are ready to stop smoking in an effective and healthy manner, with no adverse side-effects, use the non-chemical herb-free, safe, and reusable TobaccoB’Gone Stop for Life System.

When the want is gone the need is gone and you can…. Stop for Life

The TobaccoB’Gone Stop….for Life System

Richard Erickson PhD HHCP LPHt

Helen & Martin Weiss: Freedom from the smoking habit

2008-07-05T13:19:00.000-07:00

Helen Ginandes Weiss, M.A. and Martin S. Weiss, M.A.,
Learning Consultants

Woody Allen once said, “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying!” This famous comedian and psychologist seem to have had the right idea. Take care of yourself and beat the system. Though it’s no positive cure self control and knowledge may help to beat the addicting monster.

Nicotine’s grip is an overpowering force for some of us. We all know the stories about people who have broken the tobacco habit after 30, 40 or even 50 years. Marty’s father was one of those amazing smokers who broke his habit without medication when his doctor told him that he would not see his grandchildren grow up. He stopped and saw the birth of his first great grandson.

Currently medical men see smoking as a medical addiction or even a chronic disease. Most smokers try and fail numerous times before they actually are able to beat the monkey on their backs. There are many reasons for this and experts like Dr. Neal L. Benowitz of the University of California, San Francisco described the pleasurable effects that cause smokers to continue their habit even after being warned that they have developed heart disease, emphysema or cancer. The battle to stop smoking is up against some heavy odds. The smoker who tries to free himself from the yoke of nicotine temporarily gives up relaxation, reduced anxiety and stress, better ability to concentrate and better reaction time. Unfortunately the withdrawal often results in increased restlessness, sullen moods, anxiety, hunger and weight gain and even insomnia. The craving for tobacco is a nasty master that keeps one trapped over the course of time.

Smokers ask why it is so difficult for them to quit. Is it a character flaw? Is it an immoral act? Is it just a bad habit? No! It is a true biological addiction. Nicotine-specific receptors in the brain receive a host of neurotransmitters that “signal a pleasurable experience” and lead to constant reinforcement of the need for this deadly habit. If nicotine is the drug of choice it can be just as habit forming as any other drug. According to Dr. Benowitz, the reward center of the brain actually changes in function when measured on en electroencephalogram (EEG). The smell of smoke, the taste in the throat and the effect of nicotine all please the smoker and displease the non-smoker who has just quit cold-turkey.

To quit smoking for good one needs constant support physiologically, psychologically and behaviorally. Recommending that you quit smoking simply doesn’t do it. Most of us need other supports, such as medication, and behavioral therapy. If lunch with friends, a visit to a local bar, smoking at home with a spouse are identified with pleasure, then continuing that behavior will help perpetuate the habit. Like one who follows the 12 steps to sobriety, avoidance of behavior enforcers is an important control factor.

Recently nicotine replacement therapy has come into vogue and many have found it contributes to improved success and behavior change. Such treatment as the use of a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, inhalers and nasal sprays have been found to be successful for some smokers. These avoid some the toxicity of smoking on the lungs. Medically, those who gain a good deal of weight also need further support and even specifically designed drugs that have proved successful. For some, acupuncture or hypnosis have proven successful. If you need further information on currently available treatments you can check out suggestions at Web sites: such as www.becomeanex.org, www.quitnet.com and www.naquitline.org or call your local hospital and health center and ask about programs.

Join the legions of quitters and find your life less stressful and improve the health as well. Remember “If you try and don’t succeed try, try again”!

For further information contact Helen Ginandes Weiss, M.A and Martin S. Weiss, M.A., Learning Consultants.

Helen & Martin Weiss: Freedom from the smoking habit

www.leadvillechronicle.com