As he has promised to sign an unprecedented $6.10 per carton cigarette tax into law our president who smoked a pack a day up until the campaign skirted the issue if he is or is not a non smoker yesterday.
When asked "have you smoked since coming to the White house"? Obama stated, "I have not smoked on the White House Grounds".
Then he gave a cute little smile like when your doctor asks how much you smoke and you cut it in half. He stated it is hard to quit and the reporter gave him an out by saying "I won't push on this". Obama laughed again and end of topic.
Now Obama will have FREE healthcare for the rest of his life as all presidents do and have lived very long lives becasue of it. Should we not be told the truth if our president legally smokes cigarettes so that smokers can call him on it when he overtaxes us. I bet it is a running joke already at the White house with the secret service.
This may hurt a little: Hypnotised patient has two teeth removed without anaesthetic
By Andrew Levy Last updated at 9:49 AM on 04th June 2008
After avoiding the dentist for the best part of a decade, Leslie Mason was in pain and knew he needed urgent treatment.
Two rotten teeth and four roots had to be removed but he could not afford to pay £400 for the work and was also dreading the discomfort he would have to endure.
He mentioned the dilemma to his friend John Ridlington, a qualified hypnotist, who revealed he had been discussing the potential of hypnosis to a dentist he knew.
Enlarge Mind over matter: Dentist Bhavin Bhatt pulls Leslie Mason's teeth without aneasthetic as hypnotist John Ridlington offers moral support
A quick check confirmed Mr Mason could act as a guinea pig to test the theory and have the treatment free.
He underwent a two-hour procedure without anaesthetic, remaining conscious but in a trance-like state, and reported feeling nothing more than a 'little sting'.
He is believed to be the first person in the country to have major dental surgery using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic.
'It was incredible,' said Mr Mason, 54, a DIY store worker from Colchester, Essex.
'There is no worse pain than that inflicted by dentists but I didn't feel any. The dentist had to dig away at the rotten roots that were right up into my jaw.
'There isn't anything I wouldn't have done under hypnosis now.'
Mr Mason, a father of seven, had previously used hypnosis to quit a 40-a-day smoking habit.
He added: 'Not everyone is as susceptible as me to hypnosis but it's an area that should be exploited further. There are so many benefits.'
Guinea pig: Mr Mason couldn't afford the £400 private cost
Mr Mason's last visit to a dentist before the recent check-up had been in 1998.
During the operation on May 20 he had two upper right molars removed along with their roots, plus two roots from teeth which had been pulled in the 1980s.
Mr Ridlington spent 45 minutes getting him into a relaxed state of mind beforehand by making him visualise his favourite subject - historic battle reenactments - to distract his mind from the pain.
Mr Mason also had to imagine a dial numbered one to ten, one representing no pain and ten pure agony. Whenever he felt a twinge, he mentally turned the dial back to one.
Mr Ridlington, 59, from Dunmow, Essex, said: 'We all have the ability to control pain with our brains.
'They control everything about our bodies and our subconscious is the most powerful part - it controls our breathing and the blood pumping through our veins.
'Hypnosis taps into the subconscious mind. It's all about mind over matter.'
The operation was performed by Dr Bhavin Bhatt, who runs the Smile and Wellbeing dental practice in Bishop's Stortford, Hertfordshire.
He said: 'The hypnosis was 100 per cent effective. We're now exploring the possibility of offering tooth transplants under hypnosis.'
Studies have shown that using hypnosis instead of anaesthetic can reduce recovery time after surgery.
It also removes the chance of possible side-effects from anaesthesia.
But the technique's long association with stage acts has kept it at the margins of mainstream medicine.
Hypnoanaesthesia, where the patient enters a deep trance state and is told he will feel no pain, has been used to help burn victims manage their agony and ease fears over surgery and childbirth.
The British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis said that even heart operations had been carried out under hypnosis.
In April, hypnotherapist Alex Lenkei had an 83-minute operation without anaesthetic on his arm to treat osteoarthritis.
Afterwards, he revealed he had been aware of his surgeon making a four-inch incision into his wrist and chiselling the bone to remove a tendon.
He added: 'I heard everything he was saying to his assistants and anaesthetist but there was no gossip. It was a shame - I was hoping to hear something juicy.'
The fact that Sen. Obama was a smoker is old news, since he quit. Right? Think again.
The stories that have explored this issue all missed the point: Obama's history of smoking raises questions about his current and future health.
Some, like Jake Tapper, have suggested that Obama was less than honest about whether he still smoked, at least as of last August.
Others have suggested that Obama's smoking history makes him "more human," and that his (alleged) ability to quit makes him more heroic.
And some, perhaps with tongue in cheek to this, think quitting may actually hurt him by changing how his voice sounds.
Meanwhile, Sen. McCain's health questions are almost as old as he is. Congressman Jack Murtha (75), thinks John McCain (71) is too old for the pressures of high office, and he has come under legitimate pressure to release his medical records.
But what of Senator Obama's health? It's not as if once you quit smoking, all of the health effects immediately disappear. In fact, after enough smoking, some health effects are irreversible. Consider just the arteries and lungs.
How long and how much one smokes makes a difference. A 1998 study in the Journal of the American Medical Association reported that the amount of fatty deposits in the carotid artery depended on total pack-years of tobacco exposure, not whether the patient currently smokes. And a smoker's excess risk of a stroke doesn't return to that of nonsmokers until at least five, or as long as twenty years after quitting. Sen. Obama would have to serve a hypothetical four smoke-free terms before his stroke risk returned to normal.
So how long and how much did Sen. Obama smoke? The information has not been officially released, and the campaign has not returned calls or emails posing this question. But he smoked a lot over his life.
He admits to having smoked up to ten cigarettes a day, but usually closer to five or six. Most people underestimate how much they smoke, but let's take him at his word. Let's also assume he really did quit when he said he did, in February 2007 (although he admits to having fallen off the wagon). That's about twenty-six years, given that we know he was smoking by the time he was a freshman at Occidental College. That's more than 55,000 -- maybe 70,000 cigarettes! Has this aspect of Sen. Obama's ability to serve really been explored?
Just because he's young, looks great, and exercises doesn't mean he's healthy. Recall Jim Fixx. An overweight smoker when he turned his life around at thirty-five, Fixx became the icon of fitness. He quit smoking and started running. Then he died in 1984 at age fifty-three -- while running.
Sen. Obama, while not overweight, smoked a lot longer than Jim Fixx did. And while the stresses of running may have contributed to Fixx's death, it was his years of smoking, not his running, that caused the plaque to build up in his arteries. Doctors say the stress of being president may in fact exceed the stress of running. And it's an unhealthier kind of stress.
The public deserves to know how long and how much Sen. Obama really smoked. Does he have other risk factors for heart disease? Compared to whites, for instance, African-Americans are more likely to die of a stroke, according to the American Heart Association. This, in fact, is probably the only time race is a legitimate question to raise this campaign season -- and just one of several health question on voters' minds.
HYPNOSIS HELPS TO STOP SMOKING, LOSE WEIGHT, REDUCE STRESS
by Cara Gallucci, M.A., C.Ht., Certified Hypnotist
Imagine you have, on a kitchen counter in front of you, a bright yellow lemon. Now, picture cutting the lemon in half. Lift one piece to your nose and sniff. Do you notice how the acrid scent makes your nostrils tingle? Now imagine biting into the cut surface of the lemon. If you are like most people, by now your lips have puckered and your mouth has filled with saliva simply from imagining the tart juice. Congratulations! You have just hypnotized yourself.
This classic exercise shows just how easy—and powerful—hypnosis can be. It produces physical and emotional effects, so the applications are extensive. My practice focuses on helping people to lose weight, stop smoking, relieve stress and pain, and enhance performance in athletics, test-taking, or other demanding situations.
Addressing stress is a big part of many hypnosis programs. Why do we hold onto bad habits like smoking? Why do we continue to eat foods we know are not right for us? It almost always comes down to stress relief. There is some sort of emotional comfort or feeling of release we get. Some clients tell me that they are afraid to quit or that they don’t want to be disappointed by yet another weight loss program. Yet these same people marvel at the feeling of relaxation and self-confidence they experience with hypnosis. When Cathi Doherty quit smoking, she said, “I feel extremely in control and determined in a very relaxed way. I would recommend hypnosis for anyone that really would like to get rid of this demon.” Clients learn to develop new resources so that it becomes easier to behave differently. As another former smoker, Gary Rousey, shared: “I feel really at peace inside. Truth is, I would have spent $1,000 to feel this good!”
Hypnosis is a natural, enjoyable state of mind. We experience hypnosis daily, even with our eyes open—while driving, watching TV, daydreaming. Hypnotists emphasize that all hypnosis is self-hypnosis. The person being hypnotized chooses to cooperate with the process. It’s a myth that a hypnotist can take over a person’s will. Instead, hypnosis is a powerful way to strengthen a decision to change, empowering you to do what you are willing to do.
If all hypnosis is self-hypnosis, why bother with a hypnotist? For one thing, a good hypnotist is like your favorite coach, helping you develop the skills you need to achieve peak results. Although hypnosis is a natural state, it must be properly directed. In daily life, people can be hypnotized into negative behavior by fear, shame, and other painful emotions. Context and intention make the difference in benefiting from this natural tendency of the mind to go into hypnosis.
For another thing, here’s a fascinating secret to the science of mind power: 1 + 1 does NOT equal 2. It’s actually 1 + 1 = 22 or 4. Having someone help you hold and direct the energy of your intentions intensifies that energy to fuel change. When you work with a skilled hypnotist, you amplify the power of your own abilities.
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