Continued from homepage In other words the smokers have the craving taken care of while they have the chance to let the habit go and then later are able to reduce nicotine consumption to nothing. It sounds like a great idea, but unfortunately it just doesn't work.
Reporting that a method of smoking cessation doesn't work doesn't mean that no one will have success. A small percentage of smokers are so ready for change that all they need is a little push - a catalyst for change. Up to ten percent of the smokers who do anything to help them stop and believe in what their doing, will stop (at least temporarily). NRT may possibly get this same initial rate of success someday, however studies show that it has had dismal success to date.
Studies have shown that Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) is totally ineffective for long term cessation. In a 2003 study conducted by NRT industry consultants, seven over-the-counter NRT patch and gum studies were combined and averaged. It was found that only 7% of study participants were still not smoking at six-months.
2 What it doesn't say is how many stopped using nicotine altogether. In another study, sixty-five subjects were tested with one type of patch and found that continuous abstinence at the end of three weeks was 18%.
3 One might translate this into a success, but it must be pointed out that the 18% were still using nicotine, just not smoking! The other 72% returned to smoking and by the end of six-months it's very probable that the remainder did also. Other studies demonstrate the same thing.
A California study concludes "NRT appears no longer effective in increasing long-term successful cessation in smokers."
4 And in 2002, a study concluded that health plans that offer smoking cessation pharmacy benefits produce no change in the use of bupropion, nicotine patches, or nicotine gum, nor does it result in higher rates of quitting smoking.
5 The actual success rate for NRT is unknown because there are so many different ways to define success. However, to help a person switch from one method of taking a drug to another method of taking that same drug cannot be considered success. One can not compare NRT with a smoking cessation program that successfully helps people to become nicotine free such as Solving The Smoking Puzzle TM.
The reason NRT and pharmaceuticals don't work and will never work is because the most important motive for a smoker to continue smoking is far more psychological than physical. Most of the smokers I deal with know this to be true. In opposition to the myths that are constantly circulated, it has been proven that the physical withdrawal is no where near as powerful as many are lead to believe. However, the fixed beliefs about how smoking helps with certain crucial aspects of life are very strong. This may seem hard to understand for non-smokers but a quick research of psychomatic deaths shows that some people have accepted erroneous ideas that were so strong the mistaken belief killed them. The most complex and, for many smokers, the most difficult hook to conquer is psychosocial dependency. Some have estimated that the psychological reasons smokers can't quit total at least 90% of the real problem. With my experience I have certainly found this to be true. Therefore with the nicotine only being responsible for a small part of the problem, one can easily see that feeding the nicotine craving will not produce a permanent solution.
The U.S. Surgeon General report concludes, "Smoking cessation researchers have long recognized smoking to be a complex behavior influenced by physiological, psychological, cognitive and social factors.
6 Numerous scientific reports have noted that laboratory animals such as monkeys and dogs will only breathe cigarette smoke if they're absolutely forced to. And, even when they've been forced to smoke thousands of cigarettes, they'll stop as soon as they physically can and do everything they can to avoid breathing cigarette smoke ever again. In other words, they're incapable of getting physical pleasure from smoking.
7 This can be explained easily by noting that smokers connect smoking with a pleasurable time in their lives and the animals connect it with a traumatic time.
Drug companies promote many drugs that supposedly produce a reduction in the need for smoking. As with NRT this approach does not satisfy the psychological, cognitive and social factors and therefore will not be effective for permanent cessation. Another point to remember about NRT is that it contains large amounts of nicotine and nicotine is a poison. Nicotine's commercial use is as a pesticide. It kills bugs and it kills people too! Nicotine, the active and addictive ingredient in tobacco, is a mild central nervous system stimulant and a stronger cardiovascular system stimulant. It constricts blood vessels, increasing the blood pressure and stimulating the heart, and also raises the blood fat levels. In its liquid form, nicotine is a powerful poison-the injection of even one drop would be deadly.
8 According to the Surgeon General's report, (2004) the rate of cancer in many of the internal organs is double for a smoker over a non-smoker. Remarkably, this report identifies a substantial number of diseases found to be caused by smoking that were not previously causally associated with smoking: cancers of the stomach, uterine, cervix, pancreas, and kidney; acute myeloid leukemia; pneumonia; abdominal aortic aneurysm; cataract; and periodontitis. This is because the nicotine goes throughout the cardio vascular system and not just to the brain. What makes nicotine ingested by smoking any different than the nicotine ingested by NRT substances? Could nicotine from NRT cause major health problems in the future? More importantly, could there be liability issues for a company if it sponsored such a program? It's too early to tell the range of negative effects that nicotine replacement could have.
In the future it's possible that more and more studies will be reported in which it may appear to prove that NRT is somehow successful. Manipulated statistics can make it seem things are true when they are not. We live in a world where one day a study shows that something is highly probable and another day another study discounts the former one and shows the opposite findings. One can use studies to prove anything by manipulating the data. With a huge percentage of the reason for smoking being psychological rather than physiological, given the psychological factors I've seen, it is impossible for me to believe NRT or any other pharmaceutical can ever be permanently successful when used without erasing the cause of the smokers' psychological need.
On Philip Morris's web site there is help for smokers who want to quit. The links go directly to nicotine replacement therapy. There is, at the time of this writing, at least one TV advertisement which advertises NRT. It states right in the advertisement that it is provided by Philip Morris. One might ponder why a manufacturer of one product pushes or advertises a competing product. Could the answer be that the two concerns, pharmaceuticals and tobacco, are in reality one and the same? There is a study published by The Journal of American Medical Association which proves a connection between pharmaceutical and tobacco companies is the reason. Thousands of tobacco industry internal documents were studied and it was found that, "Corporate diversification has resulted in financial ties between pharmaceutical companies that market nicotine replacement therapies (NRTs) and the tobacco industry." 9 There is also the expectation that the people using NRT are in much greater danger than if they had never started using it. I have helped many clients who had started using the patch during working hours because of embarrassment or unavailable time to smoke. They then form the habit of smoking in their car on the way home or on a walk at lunchtime, with the patch still on. Combining the use of patches or gum with continued smoking can result in nicotine overdose and toxicity, causing nausea, palpitations, and headache. 10 It could even lead to stroke or heart attack. 11 One can only wonder how widespread this behavior is presently and will be in the future.
In conclusion, a thorough understanding of the smoking problem proves that there is only one way to erase the smoking "habit" for the majority of smokers who have a strong psychological dependency, and that is to get to the erroneous beliefs (misperceptions that the cigarette is doing something important for the smoker's well-being or survival) and clear them. These erroneous triggers are ingrained subconsciously and are miraculously and permanently erased with hypnosis.
END
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2 Hughes, J R, Shiffman, S, Callas, P, and Zhang, J, A meta-analysis of the efficacy of over-the-counter nicotine replacement, ,Tobacco Control 2003;12:21-27
3 Rowe,J.e., Levin, E.D., Behm, F.M., Adivi,C., Schur, C., Transdermal nicotine facilitates smoking cessation. Clinical Pharmacol Therapy, 47:323-330, 1990.
4 Pierce, John P. PhD, and Gilpin, Elizabeth A.MS, Impact of Over-the-Counter Sales on Effectiveness of Pharmaceutical Aids for Smoking Cessation, The Journal of American Medicine (JAMA), http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/abstract/288/10/1260.
5 Health Affairs, Vol 21, Issue 6, 162-168.
5 Burton D., The American Cancer Society's "Freshstart:" 21 Days To Stop Smoking, 1986, Nemo Publications, 18.
6 2000 Surgeon's General Report, http://www.philipmorrisinternational.com/PMINTL/pages/eng/smoking/Quitting.asp.
7 Casey, N., The Nicotine Trick, Metro Publishing Ltd. London, 2002, 80.
8 Kleinman, L. M.D., and Messina-Kleinman, D. M.P.H., What's In Cigarette Smoke?,
http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/whatsinit.htm.
9 Shamasunder and Bero, Financial Ties and Conflicts of Interest Between Pharmaceutical and Tobacco Companies, The Journal of American Medicine (JAMA), 2002;288:738-744.
10 Yahoo! Education, Search Encyclopedia, nicotine, /C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/All%20Users/Documents/Hypnosis/All%20Portable%20HD/Hypnosis/Folders/New%20Smoking%20Program/XTRA%20STUFF/Nicotine%20reference.htm
11 Shubinski, Robert MD, Stop Smoking, http://unr.edu/homepage/shubinsk/smoke.html.
