We all know that smoking is harmful, potentially lethal, and that the nicotine in tobacco is addictive. Even with government warnings on cigarette packs, billboards, and commercials alerting people to the dangers of cancer and heart and lung diseases, 44.5 million Americans continue to smoke. Quitting this habit is the best thing you can do for your health.
Less Of A Decline
Smoking declined steadily for years but seems to have leveled off at about 20% of the American population. According to the compiled statistics at smoking-facts.net, cigarette smoking has been identified as the most critical source of preventable morbidity and premature death in the United States and the world. Smoking-related diseases cause an estimated 440,000 American deaths each year, costing the country more than $150 billion annually in healthcare costs. A 2004 study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion found that cigarette smoke contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which have been shown to cause cancer. Women account for 39% of all smoking deaths.
Facing Reality
Millions of individuals quit smoking every year, or at least attempt to quit. Methods developed over the years to help smokers kick their habit include quitting cold turkey, hypnotherapy, psychotherapy, detox programs, and non-cigarette nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). NRT products are now the most popular, as more people are trying to quit by substituting their cigarette nicotine consumption with an alternative nicotine source and gradually reducing their daily intake.
This article will discuss some interesting and perhaps surprising information from two recent studies on nicotine therapy.
The Memory-Nicotine Link
Since the 1980s, scientists and doctors have known that there is a link between memory and nicotine: nicotine stimulates the receptors responsible for thinking and memory. This connection likely explains why smoking has been a long-standing tradition among writers and artists who require creative stimulation and thinking power. However, recent research published in the journal Neurology shows that small amounts of nicotine may limit memory loss and Alzheimer’s in an aging population.
The study involved 74 non-smokers with a mean age of 76 years. The group was divided into two, with one group receiving transdermal nicotine patches and the other half receiving transdermal patches with no nicotine (placebos). After a six-month period, the nicotine group “regained 46% of normal performance for age on long-term memory, whereas the placebo group worsened by 26% over the same time period.”
However, where nicotine therapy is used specifically for smoking cessation, another study shows it is not effective. The positive outcomes of gum, spray, and patch application are the results of placebo.
Quitting Effectiveness
A recent study by Harvard University School of Public Health found that nicotine products like gum, sprays, and patches are no more effective than quitting on one’s own. Harvard research scientist and study lead Hillel Alpert says, “The study shows that using NRT is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes in the long term than trying to quit on one’s own.”
This study involved 787 participants who had recently quit smoking. They were followed over three different periods between 2001 and 2006. During this time, about 30% of participants who used NRT relapsed, which is the same average for those who tried to quit without assistance. This finding is intriguing because there have been numerous studies to the contrary, showing that nicotine replacement therapies are effective. However, the Harvard scientists stand by their discovery and assert that “although previous randomized trials have shown NRT to be effective in helping smokers quit, the latest research shows the weakness of those trials among the general population in a real-life setting.”
Using NRT and Losing
To be clear, the latest research does not say that NRT is useless in helping smokers quit, only that it is no more effective at keeping them off cigarettes in the long run than quitting without spending money and time on their use. Many tobacco addicts find it difficult to gather the emotional strength to attempt quitting on their own, so NRT offers a crutch or an emotional support based on the belief that using them will lead to successful quitting. In addition to chemical addiction, there is a behavioral component to smoking cessation that must be addressed. A combination of detox, energy balance, and behavior changes are recommended to support long-term success.
Nicotine is a toxin that affects several parts of the body, such as the blood, tissue, lungs, heart, liver, and others. The main organs used for cleansing the body and its fluids are the skin, liver, and kidneys. However, cigarette smoke contains high amounts of nicotine and other dangerous chemicals that prevent self-detoxification. Therefore, it would be beneficial to start a smoking cessation program with a detox.
Detoxing
Examine your personal belief systems, including why you smoke, how you feel about it, why you want to quit, and how successful you think you can be. Several good programs offer behavior modification methods for habits like smoking. Some recommended techniques come from Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and The Sedona Method.
It is a good idea to enlist a method to help support your quitting efforts. This can take the form of NRT products or hypnosis. Auricular (ear) acupuncture has been found to be very effective in helping people stop smoking. In this treatment, an acupuncturist inserts tiny needles into your ear and hooks up a “stim” device to activate your energy more quickly. Many acupuncturists who perform auricular-stim acupuncture for smoking cessation also recommend drinking West Lake Tea, which helps clear the toxic nicotine and other chemicals from your system. If you do not wish to fast on the Master Cleanse, then drinking this tea helps the detox process. Without detoxing, there remains a chemical addiction in your body that makes quitting smoking more difficult in the long run.
Best Interests
In the end, quitting smoking benefits everyone: you, your family, those who inhale your toxic secondhand smoke, and the planet. Smoking is one of the preventable causes of disease whose eradication rests squarely on every individual who smokes. Small amounts of nicotine in the elderly population do help memory and cognitive functions — just as long as they don’t get their nicotine from cigarettes.
