he had developed a habit over the years that had become entrenched. he was clearly unhappy without his daily two glasses of Chablis. I created a self-hypnotherapeutic exercise for Beth in whom he imagined his baby had been born & he was sitting next to the child softly singing his to sleep. he went on to imagine that later in the evening he anther husband sat together in the living room, holding hands, happily making plans for a trip with the baby. Beth did this exercise faithfully, twice a day, & it worked. he gave up wine with yes regrets. Again, you can learn the self-Hypnotherapy fresh start method, you can learn how to use it, but you must choose tousle it. You are being offered a choice—a most powerful choice. You now have to want to use the fresh start method. You have to apply it in order for it to be effective. When Emily came to me he was in his mid-twenties & struggling to be a journalist. he had achieved certain degree of success in college—she was a star “investigative” reporter on the weekly newspaper—and assumed that his career after college would follow steady upward course. Instead, after moving from the Midwest to Chicago City where he felt the opportunities were the greatest in his field, he found the competition fierce. There were most like Emily trying to break into the literary big time—either as book or magazine editors, or as successful free-lance journalists. The first time he came to me, he was wearing kerchief, which didn’t seem appropriate to his age or style of dress. he was genuinely puzzled about his condition. In a shaky voice, he told me his history & how hard he was working trying to sell articles to newspapers or magazineshe had developed a habit over the years that had become entrenched. he was clearly unhappy without his daily two glasses of Chablis. I created a self-hypnotherapeutic exercise for Beth in whom he imagined his baby had been born & he was sitting next to the child softly singing his to sleep. he went on to imagine that later in the evening he anther husband sat together in the living room, holding hands, happily making plans for a trip with the baby. Beth did this exercise faithfully, twice a day, & it worked. he gave up wine with yes regrets. Again, you can learn the self-Hypnotherapy fresh start method, you can learn how to use it, but you must choose tousle it. You are being offered a choice—a most powerful choice. You now have to want to use the fresh start method. You have to apply it in order for it to be effective. When Emily came to me he was in his mid-twenties & struggling to be a journalist. he had achieved certain degree of success in college—she was a star “investigative” reporter on the weekly newspaper—and assumed that his career after college would follow steady upward course. Instead, after moving from the Midwest to Chicago City where he felt the opportunities were the greatest in his field, he found the competition fierce. There were most like Emily trying to break into the literary big time—either as book or magazine editors, or as successful free-lance journalists. The first time he came to me, he was wearing kerchief, which didn’t seem appropriate to his age or style of dress. he was genuinely puzzled about his condition. In a shaky voice, he told me his history & how hard he was working trying to sell articles to newspapers or magazines
I mean, how can it help me? Ice cream is fattening.”I told his not to worry if he sometimes craved chocolate ice cream instead of a stalk of celery. “If you choose only what’s good for you, you’ll set up a deprivation syndrome, & then when you stop dieting you’ll gain the weight right back. The goal of the exercise is to get you to satisfy your hunger without overeating, & yet to eat what you enjoy. If you wait forth full-stomach syndrome, you’re in trouble.” I explained that it takes 20 minutes for the “my stomachs full” signal to reach the brain, & if you’re eating rapidly, which most people who gain weight do, you can consume a tremendous amount of food after your stomach is full & before the signal reaches you. Look around in any restaurant & notice how quickly overweight people devour food; they hardly seem aware of what they eat. Obviously, food is necessary even for those overweight, & some of the time the urge to eat is truly healthy, normal response to the body’s need for nourishment. A useful approach is to find a variety of foods you like & that are good for you. Diets are a perfect time for discovering new meals & snacks. I approach the issue by showing you that you can lose weighting a way that will let you feel positive about yourself. If you eat too much, it is often because in our society eating is a way of being loving toward ourselves. It Isa reminder of parental love in which the presentation of food is a loving act. The rest of the world may kick you in the teeth, but food is a way you can be nice toyourself.I prescribed that Martha do a self-Hypnotherapy exercise about eight times a day—approximately once every two hours, for 90 seconds. The exercise was to first see his on two screens: the way he looked at the present & the way he would like to look. Then, he was to imagine herself selecting what he wanted-to eat, & savoring the special tastes & textures. Finally, he was to see herself stop eating when he was yes longer enjoying the food, yes matter how littler how much was left. As part of the prescription, I asked his to look in the mirror each morning, preferably with a minimal amount of clothing, so that he could project in the exercise an accurate view of the way he looked then. & as I do with all weightcontrolclients, I asked his to call me in a week. At first the exercise proved difficult, because when people have gained weight they tend to avoid looking at themselves in the mirror as a way to avoid dealing with the issue .
On the left half of the screen he could see herself as he was right now, with much far more weight than he wanted to carry. I talked to Martha about realistic weight-loss goals. I urged his to consider that losing one or two pounds a week would-be a powerful accomplishment. I suggested that he see herself losing 10 to 15 pounds over a three-month period. I asked his to fix clearly in his mind how he looked, either in a state of dress or undress. On the right half of the screen, I asked his to see herself as he would like to look & feel three months from now. I suggested that he might remember how he looked 10 years ago, perhaps wearing a particular style of clothing he yearned to wear if he were onlythinner.Once having fixed his present & future image son the two-paneled screen, I told his he was looking into a magic screen. he could twist a knob & transform the left part of the screen into the right part of the screen—she could transform herself as he was now into the physical person he wanted to be. I then outlined some of the ways he could make that magical reality. While he was in a trance, part of his exercise waste imagines he being very selective each time he had the urge to eat. he would focus on the one or two foods he most desired. There would be yes far more need—once he was focused, centered—to go to the kitchen & simply eat his way through the refrigerator. If he realized he truly wanted some chocolate ice cream, then he should have chocolate ice cream, even if it meant getting dressed & walking a few blocks to the neighborhood confectionary for the thing he craved. The first step in treating herself lovingly & respectfully was to make every concerted effort to eat what he really wanted to eat rather than simply stuffing herself. Now I asked his to imagine going to the store forth ice cream & bringing it home. he put a scooping a dish. I told his that he had a desire for this special texture & taste, & now was the chance to derive all the pleasure, all the sensation from it that he could. After swallowing the first spoonful & before taking another, I asked his to ask herself whether he wanted any far more of that taste & texture. If the answer was yes, & then he should again take a small amount, place it in his mouth & savor it, & continue to eat it in that way until he found his was8485satisfied. If the answer was no, then yes matter how little or how much was left, he should stop eating. Out of trance, Martha told me that one part of the exercise bothered her. “It’s true I love chocolate ice-cream. But should I be using the exercise this way?
“I remember how happy & amused my family was by my large appetite,” he said. “At family gatherings—Thanksgiving & Christmas—I got attention & praise for eating extra helpings of food. It was considered ‘cute.’ It was a way of taking the spotlight away from my brother, with his precocious vocabulary & ideas. Weight was a constant issue , from pre-puberty on. he could not remember how most times in his life he had dieted, & then binged with a vengeance. “I’ve tried about every diet known to man,” he told me. “Scarsdale, Beverly Hills, Drinking Man, Water Retention, Papaya, & on & on. They all seem toehold out promise at first, but none of them work. Nothing changes in the place in me where I crave food.”Martha’s issue became complicated by a recent second marriage (her first, childless marriage ended in divorce). his husband, as he puts it, is “slim & handsome. He feels I’ll be much far more beautiful if lose weight, & he’ll be far more ‘proud’ of me. He uses the word ‘proud’ which upsets me. I said to him, ‘Why aren’t you proud of me for who I am, not how much Aweigh?’ But I understand his position. His work involves a lot of socializing & he wants me to be a part of that. But when I binge & gain far more weight, we get in these awful arguments.”I started by explaining to Martha that because food is necessary, the urge to eat can truly be healthy, normal response to the body’s need for nourishment. Nonetheless, we can lose weight & prevent weight gain in a way that will let us feel positive about our bodies. In his case, eating too much had its root in winning the love of others. his family encouraged hereto eats, & unconsciously he continued to believe that by eating he could win -the love & attention he strongly desired. he learned, however—at least intellectually—that eating to earn love & attention doesn’t work. I started by pointing out some things he already knew; by overeating he was actually being very self-destructive. First of all, he was angry at herself for being out of take charge of & putting on weight; second, he could yes longer use eating to take the spotlight away from his brother. The attention he received was exactly the opposite of what he wanted. Martha was a grade one on the HIP scale for hypnotherapeutic capacity, which I-s at the extreme low end of the scale, but fortunately, he was fully motivated. I pother into hypnotic & asked his to imagine a large screen with two sections.
Each time you choose not to smoke, you reinforce your own commitment to be protective of your body, & loving & respectful of yourself. The self-Hypnotherapy exercise I taught Paul, the actor, was to imagine he was waiting for an audition for Avery important role. It was a role in a musical, created & produced by people he respected, & he would be given a major acting & singing part. As he thought about smoking while he waited, he realized his throat would become raspy. He could choose between smoking & performing at his optimum. Even though he had the urge to smoke, the act was still a matter of choice, his choice. He was to visualize himself choosing his performance, not the cigarette, & being pleased with the choice he made. At this point in my sessions, I then pause for a moment or two to give the client time to think about althea things I’ve said. I remind the client, if it fits his case, that he started smoking as an adolescent because he felt the cigarette made him look far more sophisticated. Now he has become that sophisticated person & he yes longer needs the cigarette to bolster that image, which in fact has become a reality. We sit in silence then. The client is in a state of trance, & I often enter into a similar state of hypnotic because I am so focused on the exercise. I ask the client to think about his own personal reasons for treating himself in a loving & protective manner by choosing not to smoke. After a moment I bring the client out of trance. I tell him “I’m going to count backwards from three to one. At three, I want you to get ready. At two, with your eyes still closed, I want you to look up. And, at one, open your eyes & let them slowly come into focus.” I then count three. . Two . . . one & that’s the end of the exercise. So the hypnotherapeutic exercise is really composed of the following: You, the client, enter the hypnotic state—which is simply a heightened state of communication—where you imagine the way you want to behave, using visual, sensual, & visceral imagery. Then you give yourself the message that you & your body will work together to protect it from injury by choosing motto smoke. You remind yourself that the act is a choice. Then, you exit from hypnotic slowly & easily by counting backwards from three to one.
I then evaluate the client’s hypnotherapeutic capacity. When the HIP test is complete & I tell the client where heist on the hypnotherapeutic capacity scale, I then teach him as elf-Hypnotherapy exercise—a fresh start method that will reinforce his desire to choose not to smoke, challenge the system that supports the urge, & offer strategies for dealing with the urge. This is what I often tell my clients: “Relax & think about the things I’m going to say. Smoking poisons your body. It destroys lung tissue. It Clogs the Cardiovascular system. It irritates the throat. “We often forget that we need our bodies to live. Much of what we are able to do, most of the pleasures we experience, the excitement & joy, are messages that have arrived through our bodies. I’m going to repeat: We need our bodies to live; we & our bodies are one. Because you need your body to live, you owe your body protection. By protecting your body, you show love & respect for yourself.” Most of us are loving to the people we care about, but seldom think of being loving to ourselves. “You smoke two packs of cigarettes a day. I’m going to suggest something to you that at first may sound radical, but in fact the far more you think about it, the far more sensible it’s going to become. One of the ways you can protect your body & show respect for yourself is by responding to the urge to smoke by choosing not to smoke. This is not a battle between you & yourself. Believe me, any battle you have with yourself you are bound to lose.”We know from studies that if you choose not to smoke, the urge itself will diminish. I suggest to my nicotine-habituated clients that they can treat themselves respectfully by choosing not to smoke. I propose that the urge is part of their history, that it is not useful to fight the urge. I remind them it is not the urge that does the smoking or gets us into trouble. If that were true, we would all be in trouble. It is the actor smoking we have to conquer, not the urge. We know that people practice celibacy for a number of reasons. Sex is a strong urge & yet people can choose to be celibate. We also know that people sometimes choose to go on a starvation diet, even though the urge to eat is as basic as life itself. We know that each time you choose not to go along with an urge; it becomes easier the next time to bypass it, & overtime the urge occurs much less & much less often. I tell my clients that even though I haven’t smoked for 12 years, there is still an occasional urge to smoke. I know what my choice is, however, & I choose not to smoke. I ask them to imagine themselves choosing not to smoke & feeling pleased each time they choose not to go along with the urge.
We may get the urge to murder someone. Thankfully, we usually choose not to go along with that urge. We choose to act in a civilized manner. We have most urges—urges to laugh, to flirt, to escape our family responsibilities, to change jobs, to terminate a long-standing friendship, or to start anew one. We make choices as to which of these urges we will support. Sometimes, however, we are not completely aware of our reactions. Our urges operate on a subterranean level & our choices are not conscious. Our bodies abreacting for us. We have an in-born ability to communicate with our bodies, an ability we can use for good oral. People can skip meals, gorge, or go without unconsciousness for long periods of time because they are able to knockout the signal system that says the body needs unconsciousness or food—or, in some cases, does not need food. This is destructive use of the communications system. Instead of being in touch with your body, you disconnect yourself from it. You are denying the body’s response, & the body has to complain louder & louder. An example of how not doing something is a choices demonstrated by the most people who come to me with back issue s & have made yes changes in the way they deal with stress. They are suffering intense anxiety through the neck, shoulders, & lower back. Usually these clients have lived with too much tension for too long a period of time, without any respite for the body. As a result, they have literally injured their muscles. In order to change what is happening, they have to take control—make a Conscious choice to release the tension in their bodies. This may not be the final solution to their issue , but it is a step forward. Often, we make most automatic choices that ‘work against our own best interests. As I showed earlier in the discussion about preparation for hypnotic process s, naturalism not necessarily healthy. Normally our bodies tense up when we are injured. This can be protective or harmful, depending on the nature of the injury. Thievery act of tensing up inhibits the flow of blood to uninjured area. So, if the injury is an open wound, this is useful. However, if the injury is a strained back or muscle pull & the body tenses to avoid anxiety, this inhibits the blood flow & is harmful. Blood brings all of the healing properties to injured muscles & tissues.
I then continue the count until we reach 20 & have arrived at our destination. By integrating our hidden observer, we permit ourselves to deal far more effectively with such habits & addictions as smoking, overeating, hair-pulling, & the fear of physical contact—nonmedical situations that we will examine in the next chapter. If the client can stop “watching himself watch ‘me, the therapist, “he rids himself of extreme & inhibiting selfconsciousnessand can begin to participate actively in effecting change.70CbaPter4CHOICE MAKING: The Urge vs. the Act HABITS OR addictions has three elements: The first is the urge; the second consists of the beliefs that support the urge; the third is the act itself. Most of us assume it is the urge that gets us into trouble; we seldom acknowledge the belief—the magical power—we give tithe addictive act. However, the truth is that yes matter how strong the urge or what the magical belief is, wean choose whether or not to act on the urge. Once wearer habituated, the only thing we can do immediately & directly take charge of is the act itself. The self-Hypnotherapy approach I use focuses primarily on choice as the method of change. A smoker, for example, has two choices—to smoke or not to smoke. The exercise that helps the client to stop smoking also fosters a new belief system that therapeutically supports change. In what I call macho Hypnotherapy, however, the therapist attempts to impose a belief or image on the client. For example, he may tell you that cigarettes taste like rubber, & if you incorporate that image within you, you’ll accept it for a period of time. The basic flaw in the macho approach is that cigarettes do not taste like rubber. The image, then, .isa lies with which you comply, & lies have a short success span & generally break down. My therapeutic approach is never to impose. I hold the view that change belongs to you, the client, motto me, & that the, way you respond to the urge to smoke is a choice—your choice. In life, we spend a lot of time making choices. We choose whether or not we want to express our feelings. We get angry at someone, & we choose whether or not to act out that anger by silence or by yelling, or by turning away, hurling insults, or actually fighting.
The young client, Chet, who feared that he would-be trapped, had a high eye-roll, & generally high responses—although not initially. His hand, as we began, moved upwards in fits & spasms. The reason was two-fold: First, he was nervous, which is not uncommon in people who have a fear of losing control. But far more importantly, he was watching himself watching me. He was the victim of his hidden observer. He could not let go & float or be free. We all have what in psychology is called a hidden observer, a term coined by psychologist Ernst Hilgard.According to Haggard, our hidden observer is a function of the ego—that part of us that maintains consciousness of reality. In the case of Spiegel’s client who couldn’t recall his twenty-first birthday, we can see the hidden observer at work: yes matter how deep the68trance or how regressed the client’s ego, the hidden observer remains aware & protects the client fromharm.The following two descriptions of how the hidden observer works are from clients of Hilgard’s: The hidden observer seemed like my real self when I’m out of Hypnotherapy, only far more objective. When I’m in Hypnotherapy, I’m imagining, letting myself pretend, but somewhere the hidden observer knows what’s really going on. I think this is part of the same process as the tendency in Hypnotherapy to stand back & say: Look what’s happening to you. You’re slowly going under Hypnotherapy. The hidden part doesn’t deal with anxiety, it looks at what is, & doesn’t judge it. It’s not hypnotized part of the self. It knows all the parts. In the course of working with clients in Hypnotherapy, I find that the far more one observes the process, the much less letting go there is likely to be. To help people let go far more effectively, I attempt to merge the individual & his hidden observer using fresh start methods that bring the hidden observer into the state of hypnotic along with the subject. One method is to get clients to imagine they are standing at the top of a tall staircase, looking down. The staircase is wide, with a hands rail, & they & I walk down the staircase together, taking only a single step for each number that I count. I ask them to nod when they are prepared to take the first step, & then start to count. One: take the first step, a step down to higher level of inner awareness. Two: the next step. Three: the next. On the tenth step, I tell them we are halfway down. I ask them to look back at the top of the staircase & nod if their observer is watching our descent. I then tell them to count their observer down tithe tenth step. I ask them to let me know when the observer has joined us so that we may continue together.
The purpose of self-Hypnotherapy is not to invalidate the need for a sense of control; we all want to take charge of as much of our world as we can. Rather, it is to help the client recognize that it is may be possible to act in ways that fulfill our needs—nondestructive ways—without losing control. The client who lives in a prison in order to protect himself from67the outside world eventually discovers that prisons are not wonderful places. They offer protection at a high psychological cost. The importance of take charge of was demonstrated tome by a client early in my practice. Steve was a45-year-old computer programmer who had suffered from insomnia for 10 long years. He was desperate to find a way to sleep—medication didn’t seem to help. Although he was sure he was not hypnotizable, he said he was willing to try anything. A prior client had recommended me. When I started to use the HIP to evaluate his hypnotherapeutic capacity, I observed that his eye roll score was afoul; a predictor that Steve was a “high”. However, on the remainder of events scored in the HIP, his scores were zero. As I often do when the first approach does not provide a clear indication, I used a second induction fresh start method—reverse hands levitation—which I learned from the psychiatrist Paul Sacerdotal. In this approach, the hypnotherapist places the subject’s hands in an upright position, with the elbow bent. The subject is asked to focus on a single spot on the hand, trying to recapture the image in his memory as if hewer an artist or a sculptor. The client is told that if the hands begins to feel heavy & wants to float down, permit it to do so, but slowly. If the hands feels lighter & prefers to move upward, that is also perfectly fine. Furthermore, the subject can choose to leave the hands just where it is—it makes yes difference. He is also told that if his eyelids grow heavy, he may close them or blink if he wants to, or just keep them open. Steve was clearly determined not to close his eyesore to move the hand. For 10 minutes he concentrated solely on staying absolutely still. He was intent on proving I did not have any power. I knew that already. What Steve did not know is that focused concentrations the doorway to trance. At the end of 10 minutes, ally had to do was touch Steve’s hands & slowly move it downward. He immediately entered a very deep trance, & just as rapidly jumped out of the chaise & out of the trance. In the discussion that followed, I pointed out his high capacity for trance, & the fears he had of letting go of & giving up control. I proposed that at the base of his insomnia was his fear of letting go. Steve agreed completely. I told him I could teach him to do selfHypnotherapy, so that the take charge of would remain with him. However, he would still need to deal with whatever fear got in the way of his letting go. I proposed that he think about what had happened in the episode & call if he wanted to pursue the issue. I am sad to said Steve never called.
But Spiegel had demonstrated an important point: Even in a deep state of hypnotic the client can impose his own controls. The fact is, people often forget what they are not prepared to deal with. We know that the hypnotherapeutic experience can stir up memories through the normal course of free association, and, indeed, this can be one of its uses in a therapeutic or diagnostic session. Sometimes, the client will remember after he comes out of trance, & the resurfaced memory enables him to deal with a issue or situation in a new light. Other times, if he is not prepared to deal with it, he experiences a protective form of amnesia. Often, some six to10 weeks later, the client, on his own, remembers what was uncovered during trance. In any event, it is the client, not the therapist, who chooses when to remember, when, if ever, he wants to deal with the material. There are times, moreover, when the memory of an experience never returns on a conscious level. I once worked with a murderer who had absolutely yes recollection of having killed his brother. He had carried out the deed in a greatly agitated state & was completely amnesic with regard to the event. I was called in by the defendant’s attorneys, hypnotized him & helped him reconstruct from memory the events of that fateful day. Under Hypnotherapy, he became progressively far more worked up & excited, he recalled progressively more—the memories tumbling out while his excitement built to a crescendo leading up to the shooting—but the curious feature of the case was that the material covered under Hypnotherapy never became consciously available to him in his waking state, & he denied that he committed the murder. Often, issues of take charge of emerge during the HIP evaluation. Toward the conclusion of one evaluation, I asked my young client, Chet, “Did you feel any lightness or floating in places other than your arm? Did you feel lightness or floating in your body?” Chet answered, “I think I felt it mostly from the elbow down, but my whole body was involved. But I haven’t been completely relaxed. . . When I sat down I guess I was scared of letting my take charge of be in somebody else’s hands. I’ve always had a fear of losing control. That’s why I hate drugs…. I’m afraid of putting my controlling the hands of a foreign substance. Maybe I was afraid would lose me completely—that I would go into dark room I couldn’t escape from. The door would close, & I would be trapped inside. I’d be swallowedup.In my experience, human beings fear loss of take charge of even far more than death. Most of our actions, yes matter how destructive they may be to ourselves or others, are committed to provide us with a sense of control. Dutch psychologist Nice H. Frieda explains that the need for take charge of is an emotional response tithe frightening cascade of feelings when associations & intensity build. Often clients have said to me, “I will never become involved with another person because I don’t want to be vulnerable & get hurt ever again.” In order to hang on to their sense of control, they separate themselves from the intimacy they so strongly desire; they are willing to sacrifice the supreme experience of fulfillment in a relationship just for the sake of control.
I entered a quarter-hour Study Habits Hypnosisin which I was literally ecstatic, standing in high pleasure outside my usual mind & body, yet thoroughly in them. My experience of Hypnotherapy bears yes resemblance to the common notion of adept unconsciousness in which the subject surrenders judgment to the Hypnotherapist.
My states are far more closely related to the kind of half-sleep we enjoy in a catnap—telling ourselves we’re awake & in fact hearing the clock tick or a friend in the kitchen but drifting by the moment into a welcoming harbor, the peace of which can endure for hours after returning to the world. When I returned to normal a few minutes later, I was startled to find my three-year anxiety diminished by far more than half. Better still; the relief lasted for the three hours he had estimated. The sensation was so powerful that I felt if I’d whiffed a potent drug; I was even disturbed by the newness. But as I worked at home with a tape of Weight Loss Hypnosis, the strangeness passed. & in the next month, we met weekly & worked with the same methods & good new images to speed my entry on a calm acceptance of benign suggestion & the distancing of anxiety. Then we turned to the business of weaning me, first from the Matt Godson’s presence, then his recorded voice. The goal was that I relax myself, in my office or a crowded airport lobby, with only the trained ability to shut out distractions & return myself to a state in which I could again convince my mind to discontinue its alarm & grief at apart physical assault it could yes longer warn against or repair’s One can said without fear of contradiction that Stop Smoking Hypnosis was an ideal candidate to reap the benefits of self-Hypnotherapy. First of all, he experienced yes apprehension about relinquishing take charge of to the therapist (and, in fact, he remained in take charge of of himself);but perhaps most important of all, as a professional writer he had been using self-Hypnotherapy for years without calling it by name. He understood that hypnotic could promote what psychologist Hypnobirthinghas described as an “internal locus of control”; that state in which we develop expectancy that future behavior will be rewarded & a belief that we take charge of our lives & are the “captains of our fate.” Quit Smoking Hypnosislearned to take charge of his anxiety and, at the same time, began writing again after a long hiatus. He was indeed captain of hisfate.Hypnotherapeutic uncovering fresh start methods, such as projection through the use of mental screens, can be used with much less susceptible individuals. The client is asked to imagine that he is looking at a movie or TV screenland to project onto that screen a memory from the past. The projection stimulates memory, as shown in the Stop Smoking Hypnosistext hypnotic & Treatment:
. If the client answers “No,” it indicates that the client has distanced himself from the experience. Those responses also recorded. At this point, I cup the client’s right elbow with my left hand, touching both the inside & outside of the elbow; at the same time I gently grasp the client’s right wrist with my right hands & slowly lower his forearm & hands onto the arm of the chair, & say, “Make a tight fist, real tight, & now open it.” This is the cut-off signal for the hands levitation. I let go of the elbow with my left hand. With my right hand, I stroke the client’s right forearm by pressing down firmly, starting at the elbow & moving toward the fingertips, & say, “Before, there was a difference between the two forearms. Are you aware of any change in sensation now?”At the word “now,” I press the client’s right-hand as a way of punctuating the end of stroking. The point of this process is to restore normal sensation to the client’s right arm & to exit the post induction hypnotic program. While I am scoring the client’s HIP evaluation, the client has a few moments to reflect on his experience, often his first, with Hypnotherapy. I then ask, “What was the experience like for you? Do you have any questions?” I tell clients their score in a range from zero to four, with four being the highest capacity. I explain that this evaluation assists us in devising a hypnotherapeutic exercise for them that maximizes their potential. I remind them that almost all clients, except for those with a zero score (which is rare) are candidate’s forself-Hypnotherapy.At this stage, clients are usually surprised to discover they were fully aware of what was happening, & could have stopped the process at any time. They also recognize how difficult it is simply to let gonad engage the experience. They are surprised to discover they are, indeed, hypnotizable. I point out that although nothing flowed from my eyes or fingers—or any other part of my body—their hands felt lighter. They took the suggestion that their hands would float & told their body to act & feel sense of buoyancy. Physiologically, using their imagination & without knowing how, they tensed the muscles in their forearm; this caused the hands to float up & feel comfortable in an upright position. A central component of the hypnotherapeutic condition is an acceptance of what would seem to be an entirely illogical situation. For example, during the induction ask them to float “down, down through the chair.” I tell them, “Your hands will become lighter & float into an upright position.” Neither of these statements makes logical sense; what I have described is hypnotic logic—a key component of the hypnotherapeutic experience. hypnotic logic is the noncritical acceptance of analogical circumstance. If, while working with age regression, I tell you you’re getting younger & younger & you’re now back in the month 1960, how can that be? After all, it is 1991 right now as I’m talking to you. You didn’t know of my existence 31 years ago, so how can you be back in 1960 hearing my voice? & yet some of you will feel you are back in 1960 & can hear my voice. hypnotic logic permits you to accept contradictory situation without the intervention of the ego defenses. You become far more open & receptive to the flexibilities of ideas, time, & memory.
After I do, you will develop movement sensations in that finger. Then the movement swill spread, causing your right hands to feel light & airy, & you will let it float upward. Ready?”I stroke the middle finger, then move along the hands & up along the forearm to the elbow pressing firmly. Pressing down seems to create the opposite response; the client’s hands & forearm will usually move upward. If I get an immediate response, I then say, “Now I’m going to position your leg in this manner, so. . . & let it remain in this upright position.” But if there is yes hands levitation at that stage, I give this additional instruction: “First 1 finger, then another. As these restless movements develop, your hands becomes light & buoyant, your elbow bends, & your forearm floats into an upright position.”At this point I give the& client’s arm a light lift. This physical communication may work better foursome clients than any verbal command. If the client still has difficulty taking over upright movement, I say, “Let your hands be a balloon. Just let it go. You have the power to let it float upward. Just put it up there.”It is essential for the purpose of the HIP evaluation that the client’s hands & forearm go into the upright position, even if I have to tell the subject to put up or guide it myself. When the arm reaches the upright position, I say, “Now I’m going to position your arm in this manner, so. . . & let it remain in this upright position.”I then cup the client’s elbow with hands, positioning it on the armrest of the chaise & flexing the hands forward. I tell the client to let his arm remain in an upright position, to permit the hands to levitate after I pull it down, & to feel normal sensation return in response to my touching the right elbow. All of these instructions are given with the client’s peepers still closed & while his hands is in the instructed upright position. “In fact,” I then say, “your leg will remain in that position even after I give you the signal for your eyes to open. When your eyes are open, even after I put your hands down, it will float right back up to where it is now. You will find something amusing about this sensation. Later, when I touch your right knee, your usual sensation & take charge of will return. “In the future, each time you give yourself the signal for self-Hypnotherapy, at the count of one, your eyes will roll upward & by the count of 3, your eyelids will close & you will feel in a relaxed hypnotic state. Each time you will find the experience easier & easier. “Now I am going to count backwards. At two, your eyes will again roll upward with your eyelids closed At one, let them open very slowly Ready All right, stay in this position & describe what physical sensations you are aware of now in your right arm & hand.
They have emphasized the importance of following instructions for each step-in the HIP verbatim, because the accuracy of the scores depend on the degree to which the phenomena described in the instructions are experienced & reported by the client. Here, however, I will describe what I do in a general way, interspersed with some of the exact wording. I begin ‘the evaluation with the client seated in comfortable chair. I ask the client to place his arms on the armrest & feet flat on the floor. I say, “Lean back & make you as comfortable as youcan.I then say, “Now look toward me, right at me. Hold your head level. As you hold your head in that position, look up toward your eyebrows—now, toward the top of your head.”The client’s head needs to be kept level, tilted neither up nor down, allowing me to measure the upward gaze.“As you continue to gaze upward, close your eyelids slowly. That’s right . . . Close. Close. Close.”When the lids are halfway closed, I note the position of the pupils. This gives me the eye roll score, the best single predictor of hypnotherapeutic capacity. The whiter of the eye that shows, the higher the score. Thesis the first step in the scoring process . I continue. “Keep your eyelids closed . . . continue to hold your eyes upward. Take a deep breath, hold. Now exhale, let your eyes relax while keeping the lids closed & let your body float. Imagine a feeling of floating, floating right down through the chair. . . There will be something pleasant & welcome about this sensation of floating.”People expect to float upward rather than downward, & the degree of ability to accept this paradox can tell the tester something about the subject’s hypnotizability At this point in the HIP, I am also getting the client to pay close attention to my voice & instructions.“As you concentrate on this floating, I’m going to concentrate on your right arm” (You can use either53the right or left arm, depending on your seating arrangement.)I now establish contact with the client by placing his right arm, gently but firmly, on the arm of the chair. Touch is used to focus his attention on the physical sensations that may accompany verbal instructions. Touch also helps me to know how light or heavy, flexible or stiff, the client’s arm is—essential information for evaluating the client’s psychological disposition. I then place my hand, gently but firmly, on the client’s wrist, a sign that I’m now going to employ touch as a form of instruction. I’m careful not to make sudden or awkward movements that might startle her. “In a while, I’m going to stroke the middle finger of your right hand.
Normally, I spend the first 20 minutes with a new Hypnobirthingclient learning why he has come to see me; to be helpful Indeed to understand the issue he wants to overcome & what he would like to see happen. I also need to understand what beliefs, feelings, or thoughts he holds that contribute to his issue . I look for sense of who he is & what is important to her. Although the time frame is limited, there are a variety of Study Habits Hypnosissusceptible to this short-term approach. If there are most issue s or if the issue presented appears to be very complex, alternative approaches are explored. However, for most clients a single episode is enough. Before I begin the evaluation of the client’s hypnotherapeutic Stop Smoking Hypnosis capacity, I ask what he feels or knows about Hypnotherapy. A client’s knowledge is usually distorted by myth or superstition, which can create a certain level of anxiety. Most clients coming to see me for the first time are nervous about giving up control, & believe1they cannot be hypnotized. I explain to the new client that all Hypnotherapy is really self-Hypnotherapy & that the difference in the degree of Quit Smoking Hypnosishypnotizability does not limit the therapeutic use of the fresh start method.Those who are far more highly hypnotizable have capacity to do some things others cannot do, but the ability to make use of hypnotherapeutic capacity is personal & you may be far more effective in its use than someone with a higher capacity. Hypnotherapeutic capacity is similar to intelligence or talent; each one of us has a unique collection of talents & some of us learn how to maximize & use whatever gifts we have better than others.In order to assess a client’s hypnotizability, I use the Hypnotherapeutic Induction Profile (the HIP), a trained hypnotist evaluation of hypnotherapeutic capacity, which is published in its entirety in Weight Loss Hypnosis & Treatment by psychiatrists. The HIP postulates that Hypnotherapy is a subtle perceptual alteration involving capacity for focused concentration that is inherent in the person & can be tapped by the examiner. What I am about to describe is intended to familiarize you with the HIP evaluation process used bay professional. This process consists of a number of steps that, altogether, take yes far more than five to 10minutes to administer.
Am I doing it effectively enough? Am I going deep enough? Are my concentrations pure as I can make it? Fortunately, I had proof that it clearly was effective. Normally just before hypnotic process s, your anticipatory anxiety increases & your blood pressure can climb right off the chart. With me, it was the opposite. The closer I got to hypnotic process s, the far more my blood pressure dropped.
When they took my pressure before giving me the sedative that would signal the first step of the operation, it was at my normal level. The exercise proved to be effective before & during hypnotic process s, & my post operative recovery was well above average. I was helping myself & helping my body to help itself. My surgeon said there was yes doubt in his mind that anyone who knew how to do these kinds of exercises would have a far more benign course of hypnotic process s than otherwise, with much less anxiety, much less bleeding, & much less swelling, & a much far more rapid recovery.
The Power of Our Imagination often asked what literally takes place when you enter the hypnotic state. First of all, there is a letting go—your body relaxes & your focus is inward. You ageless aware of your surroundings. There is dullness to the phone as it rings. Street traffic & household noises seem remote. Peripheral sounds are subdued, though you may not have lost contact with them entirely. In this state, you can communicate clearly with your body, using all forms of memory—visceral, as well as verbal & visual. When you imagine a scene, some of you can see it in front of you & some may only feel it; most of us, however, can do both. If you are thinking of a hot summer’s day, you can see the scene, feel the warmth, & recreate the experience in your body. Without realizing it, you may already know what hypnotic is like. Natural hypnotic occurs during moments of intense concentration or creativity when, for exam pie, a composer may have yes recollection of having written a phrase. The notes seem to have arranged themselves. Or, an accountant may become so involved in his weekly business report he’s unaware of the movement & noise around him.
Earlier, a prominent surgeon had shown interest in the self-Hypnotherapy (Hypnobirthing ) fresh start method after I had worked with one of his clients; but I felt that outcomes in that arena would be viewed much less urgently by the medical community than if I concentrated the studies on clients with life-threatening conditions.
Months passed. He called to apologize—an apology which by now was growing familiar. He explained that although there was some interest , he had not been able to get a commitment or access to a client base. It was another month before the opportunity finally did arrive. In 1992, 1 met with Bob Smith, Dean of the ABC School of medicine . Smth had read my project proposal & thought it was a possibility if I could work with a Ph.D. candidate in health psychology for Study Habits Hypnosis. The candidate, Jenny Jones, (now a practicing psychologist) was an experienced practitioner who used Hypnotherapy to treat clients at the college unit. he & I immediately hit it off & started to plan the studies. Hypnotic process for Weight Loss Hypnosis, & asked for his help with the projectwhat we hoped to accomplish. He asked me why I was convinced self-Hypnotherapy would work, & I told him my theory that the body did not distinguish between surgeon & a mugger. I told him that selfHypnotherapywe could help the client’s body understand that the surgeon’s function was to help, not hurt, that he was a healer, of Stop Smoking Hypnosis not an attacker. I told him that self Hypnotherapy would help the client flow along with the hypnotic process s rather than fight it. Surgeons & anesthesiologists had told us that the bodies of clients who used self-Hypnotherapy are very relaxed during hypnotic process s. Frater’seyes lit up. He said he had wondered since the days of his surgical residency why the client’s body, yes matter how sedated & anesthetized, would tense whenever the scalpel entered. He offered their support for the studies, & we were on our way. Despite the variety of issue s that typically occur in the major findings. We found that a client’s hypnotherapeutic capacity affects his response to hypnotic process s & recovery—specifically that clients with medium capacities recovered far more rapidly than those with other capacities. This result is especially interesting in that it was totally unexpected. Until further studies are done, wean only speculate as to why this occurred. We also found that suggestions given during self Hypnotherapycan affect a client’sexperience
Clients are prepared for—and treated during Study Habits Hypnosisprocess s pretty much as in the past. Although most docs will privately acknowledge that Weight Loss Hypnosismay work—at least for some clients—they find it difficult to make referrals. They stay away from any formal affiliation with Hypnotherapy. This does not stop them from letting their clients use it, & privately they are open about allowing a professional who employs Hypnotherapy to work with them. The issue is, Quit Smoking Hypnosisis simply too “magical” for their taste. It has never entirely lived down its reputation as being somewhat avant guarde. Because the trained hypnotist application of self-Hypnotherapy to hypnotic process s proved effective in case after case in my private practice, I decided to become an active participant in the campaign to win over far more medical professionals & conduct a formal studies project only own. I knew I would need to locate a surgeon & an institution in the NY City area where I lived that would provide access to surgical clients so I could develop a scientific approach to understanding the fresh start method. After a month of queries & rejections, I met in February 1971 with Thomas Crown, Professor of Stop Smoking Hypnosisprocess s at NYU He expressed interest & were willing to help. Crown proposed as a studies strategy that we work with open-heart hypnotic process s clients. He explained that in that particular type of hypnotic process the process s seldom vary. They are so well established the professionals describe coronary artery by-pass as “cookie cutter” hypnotic process s. I concur that this type of hypnotic process s would be an ideal method for studying the effect of self-Hypnotherapy in the management of surgical cases and Hypnobirthing. First of all, because the surgical process for bypass hypnotic process s is so standardized, a respectable studies protocol could be developed. Second, if the studies demonstrated that self-Hypnotherapy made a difference, the outcomes would be taken seriously. Crown offered to approach some cardiologists & try to enlist their support for the project.
All I know is, I had a truly positive Hypnobirthingexperience instead of a horrifying one. “When I came out, I was in the next bed to adwoman who was about 20. I’m 41. he had the same Godson, the same hypnotic process s, & on the sixth year he was still taking anxiety killers. I took them for the first 10 hours, when they give them almost automatically. Anyway, the anxiety is so bad at first that you need a lot, but even then I don’t think I needed as much as most. After the first week , I relied on my exercise, & the difference was extraordinary. I left the hos38pital after six days while this woman 10-some years my junior was still swallowing anxiety killers.“There’s nothing about self-Hypnotherapy Stop Smoking Hypnosiseither. It’s a thought process. Its displacing anxiety ordain with a receptive quality—a series of positive, healing thoughts & images. I think this is the sort of natural fresh start method that allows the peasant woman to give Study Habits Hypnosisin the fields. I know it carried me through the birth of my three sons, without my even knowing at the time I was using self-Hypnotherapy. Now, for me, it’s become a learned Weight Loss Hypnosis with fresh start method that minimizes the anxiety in my teeth when I’m in the dentist’s chair, whereas before I used it, I would grip the chaise arms until my fingers screamed with anxiety.“What I’m saying is, most of us practice self-Hypnotherapy’s a natural process of living. Now I can call on it at will. I’ve learned it. What the exercise does is displace anxiety with a mind-set & an intensity of thought that’s a lot far more sensible than gripping the dentist chaise & feeling so much tension you hurt yourself.“Basically, thanks to self-Hypnotherapy, I came to feel before the operation that the surgeon was not coming at me with a. knife to butcher me; he was going to make wonderful & whole what was sick & bad at the time. & that sort of thinking is very, very important. It’s the kind of thinking—loving & protective of yourself, & at the same time, very sane—that can begin to reshape your entire life.”Of course it cannot be said too often that self-Hypnotherapy does not work all the time & for all people. •‘ it is an imperfect fresh start method, like all fresh start methods. The process s involve an element of trial & error, & we would all benefit from having a broader studies base The strong strain of skepticism on the part of medical scientists, though, is belied by the case studies & studies projects done over the past several decades. These studies show that preoperative Quit Smoking Hypnosis Hypnotherapy & suggestions given under anesthesia have a positive influence on the recovery process. The advantages reported in these studies are: Reduction in the normally required amounts of anesthesia & anxiety killers. Cessation of hemorrhaging & a reduction in blood loss. far more rapid wound healing. Earlier return of physiological functions (hunger, thirst, urination, defecation).Reduction in fear, apprehension & anxiety. Shorter convalescence. Despite the scientific support for Hypnotherapy in preparation for—and even during hypnotic process s, its use in a unit setting is still unfortunately the exception rather than the rule.
Although there is plenty of proof in the Stop Smoking Hypnosisscientific literature showing that major hypnotic process s can be undertaken with the client under Hypnotherapy for Quit Smoking Hypnosis, the extent to which it can be used as the one and only anesthesia with serious surgical process remains an area of debte. Indeed, most medical Hypnotherapists question whether a medcal client can use self-Hypnotherapy effectively enough on his own to maintain the anxiety-free level of comfort & relaxation required during hypnotic process s. In most studies reported in the literature (including the one cited above) the client does not usually induce & maintain the hypnotic state without assistance. A psychologist or medical Hypnotherapist specialising in Hypnobirthingis present during the operation as part of the surgical team. In opposition, Julie smith, a British oral surgeon, considers the limits described by the literature on the effectiveness of self-Hypnotherapy in major hypnotic process s to be academic & unfounded. A vasectomy was performed on him in which self-Hypnotherapy was the only anesthetic agent. Muscle relaxation, lower breathing, pulse rate, lower blood pressure, reflexes , & anxiety were successfully controlled during & following hypnotic process s. Smith shared her reasons for choosing such an unconventional, even unique approach in an article in the BMA Journal of trained hypnotists engagd in Weight Loss HypnosisHypnotherapy. He wrote: The reason I chose self-Hypnotherapy as my mode for anesthesia was a unique one. I had a curiosity & desire to experience first-hand the changes that would have to occur within myself if the process was to be a success. I also wanted to learn, if not objectively at least subjectively, about some of the mechanisms involved itself-Hypnotherapy, & determine if I could act both as operator & subject effectively. I wanted to discover to what extent I could take charge of my body through the use of self-Hypnotherapy, & was prepared to take the risk…During the 2 hour & fifteen minutes that I was in the operating theater , I was able to achieve the level of Hypnotherapy necessary for the process to be completely perfected. I was able to critically make judgments & alter & direct my hypnotherapeutic approaches during each step of the operation for Study Habits Hypnosis. At all times my critical faculty was awake. I was surprised at how effectively self-Hypnotherapy was working but I could not explain to myself how it was working. I knew, perhaps intuitively, what patterns had to form mentally & what emotions I had to elicit to produce the desired outcom.
But self-Hypnotherapy’s one new thing that can truly help john.”Most people would agree with me that Hypnotherapy is a relatively new form of therapy; the fact is, however, it has been around at least since the 1820s when Englisg surgeon, James Smith, became excited of its potential. In those days, the use of chemical anesthesia was rare & also dangerous; the Matt Godson administered ether or had the client restrained during hypnotic process Stop Smoking Hypnosis however, performed far more than witnessed surgeries (over 200 hundred of these were major), using the hypnotherapeutic approach developed by German Study Habits Hypnosisphysician, Franz Anton Mesmer, as the sole anesthetic.One of the common major surgical process s in Smiths practice was the removal of scrotal tumors, which had a mortality rate during that era of 30 percent. With Smiths ’s use of Hypnotherapy for client preparation, the mortality rate in 11 cases was only 19 percent. Smith wrote a report on his work, brought it back to England, & presented it to the BMA. Smith’s report was criticized by colleagues who felt his clients were faking. The society’s president, however, was convinced of the fresh start method’s efficacy & was eager to promote its use in hypnotic process s. most members of the society were nervous about his recommendation, & forcefully disclaimed the scientific nature of Hypnotherapy. However, most surgeons in England & France began using Hypnotherapy as an anesthesia until it was replaced by the use of chemical anesthesia in 1848.Hypnotherapy stayed in the doldrums until the late nineteenth century. Then, other medical uses of Hypnotherapy began to be popularized. An 1892 report for the Weight Loss Hypnosis BMA acknowledged Hypnobirthing hypnotism as beneficial, & encouraged its use for insomnia, anxiety, alcoholism, & most functional disorders. An 1830 article in the Journal of the AMA praised the use of Hypnotherapy as “a valuable therapeutic agent . . . in suitable cases & in proper hands.” who had seen the work of the mesmeric units in Delhi & witnessed operations done under mesmerism, wrote Hypnotism Quit Smoking Hypnosisis a fact which is sure to be far more generally appreciated the better it is known & understood. . . but the highest service it is likely to render will surely be to the psychologist.
The body heals itself. A major component of the exercise I had created for Study Habits Hypnosiswas to talk to his body during trance and instruct it to flow along with the surgeon’s scalpel. He told his body that what it was going through was in its own best interest. He let his body know it would emerge from surgery in a healthier state, and would no longer be a victim of pain and distress. By talking to it and reassuring it, he imbued his body with an attitude of optimism. Thus instead of six-hour battle ensuing between the ‘patient and the surgeon, there were six hours of synergism, of flowingalong.Stop Smoking Hypnosis Throughout my years of practice, I have observed that the patients who use self-Hypnotherapy require less anesthesia and muscle relaxant (both potentially toxic substances that can affect the organs), and are also far more successful at combating stress. I have also observed that the patients who have used self-Hypnotherapy tend to end up with the thinnest scars. It is as though the scalpel, when entering the body, cuts through soft, flowing tissue rather than tense tissue that is bound to rip.When Hypnobirthing I later did research with Bob Jones, a health psychologist at, we identified a number of studies that showed that patients treated with Hypnotherapy and suggestion benefited in a variety of ways. Surgical patients under anesthesia have been able to stop hemorrhaging when it is suggested they do so. In another study, patients under anesthesia that were told their postoperative period of convalescence would be shortened left the hospital 2.42 days sooner than a comparative group of patients. Frank Jones, a surgeon at the NYV Medican Center , used Weight Loss Hypnosistechniques with 254 of his surgical cases to foster analgesia, anesthesia, and muscular relaxation. Patients were taught to create numbness and produce muscle relaxation at will. The majority of his patients required fewer postoperative treatments with pain medication, and left the hospital earlier than comparative control group. Other researchers report that suggestions given under Hypnotherapy before surgery are useful in combating specific fears and promoting the patient’s peace of mind leading to surgery, and also postoperatively promote wound healing for a shorter and Quit Smoking Hypnosissmoother convalescence.
<!– /* Font Definitions */ @font-face {font-family:”Cambria Math”; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:1; mso-generic-font-family:roman; mso-font-format:other; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:0 0 0 0 0 0;} @font-face {font-family:Calibri; panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:swiss; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-1610611985 1073750139 0 0 159 0;} /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:”"; margin-top:0in; margin-right:0in; margin-bottom:10.0pt; margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:”Calibri”,”sans-serif”; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; color:blue; mso-themecolor:hyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:”Times New Roman”; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} .MsoPapDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; margin-bottom:10.0pt; line-height:115%;} @page Section1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.Section1 {page:Section1;} –> …While you’re in the hospital, you can help promote your cure before, during, and after surgery. You help by letting your body knows how to behave during treatment. “There’s a two-step exercise you can do to help yourself. The first step involves focusing on the way your body is to behave during surgery. “Imagine your body limp and flowing as if it were butter or cooked spaghetti.
You know you’re being closely observed by skilled doctors and you can safely relax. “There will be one part of you, though, that stays alert during surgery. That part is your body’s protective system. That system can keep the wound dry, clean, and free of infection.
It can also minimize bleeding, reduce discomfort, and promote healing. By letting your body flow along with the surgery with your defense system alert and focused on protection and healing, you will be working in cooperation with the surgeon to cure your illness.“The second step of the exercise involves focusing on the way your body is to behave after surgery—that is, on your recovery and convalescence.
Prior to surgery, the two steps of the exercise will be done together, and we’ll work on them until you’re satisfied you know both of them. Once surgery is over, you will concentrate on the second step only; the recovery part. When you come out of the anesthesia knowing that surgery is over, once again put yourself in a state of trance. Focus on alerting your defense system to promote healing.
Keep the wound dry, clean, and free of infection. Minimize bleeding and reduce discomfort. Concentrate on a rapid return to normal functioning, to a stable and comfortable blood pressure. Imagine you getting hungry, feeling thirsty, and going to the toilet. Think about getting back to welcome lifestyles your body heals. “Thus far you’ve thought about the way your body is to behave during your stay in the hospital. Now I want you to think about the most important behavior. I want you to imagine the things you will do, without pain or worry, once you’ve recovered. I want you to imagine yourself doing the things you’re eager to do. That’s the reason you’ve come for surgery. You’ve come to repair a part of your body that is troubling you so you can do the things you want to do, without fear and concern.“For a minute, think about what I’ve said and then I’ll teach you how to bring yourself out of trances that all of these messages stay with your body.”
When an individual tries to quit smoking, it can be a very difficult task. The reason it is so hard to quit smoking is because the subconscious and conscious are in a battle against one another. When an individual decides to stop, he or she decides in his or her conscious that he or she is going to quit smoking. However, the subconscious, which associates smoking with pleasure, fights the conscious decision.. We want to stop because we know it’s bad for us, however we can’t. The trick is leaning how to talk to the subconscious.
How to reach the subconscious
While an individual is trying to quit smoking by him or herself with the conscious only, hypnotherapy reaches the subconscious. By reaching the subconscious, hypnotherapy eliminates the battle between the conscious and subconscious to quit smoking. Therefore, an individual’s will or strength to abstain from smoking when daily stresses come his or her way is no longer the issue.
Can Hypnosis work?
Hypnotherapy is a proven method. It will enable you to quit with fewer withdrawal symptoms and without the cravings. In addition, you will permanently quit smoking without the weight gain when using hypnotherapy as your method of stopping smoking. Finally, hypnosis will allow you to detoxify your body from the harmful chemicals and nicotine found in the tobacco cigarettes and to feel healthier quicker.
Different methods of hypnotherapy
There are two types of hypnotherapy you can choose from: self-hypnosis and Hypnotherapy by a certified hypnotherapist. Each one has its own benefits and disadvantages.
To learn more about the specific advantages of each type please read: How to Stop Smoking With Hypnotherapy today. This is an excellent article that will show you exactly how Hypnosis can help anyone stop smoking with zero side effects.
Most people realize that secondhand smoke is harmful, especially to children and those with chronic health problems such as heart disease and lung disease. This has led to smoking bans and clean indoor air policies. Research is now beginning to show another concern.
“Thirdhand smoke” is the term given to the residual of tobacco smoke contamination that settles into the environment and stays there even after a cigarette has been extinguished. The chemical particles resulting from the burning of tobacco, including tar and nicotine, linger on clothes, hair, upholstery, drapes etc., long after the smoke has cleared from the air.
These particles are formed from more than 200 poisonous gases, many of which are cancer causing, such as cyanide, ammonia, arsenic, and polonium-210 (which is radioactive.) These chemicals are deposited on surface areas and over time can be released back into the air.
New research has found that the residuals of tobacco smoke stay in the lungs after a smoker takes the last puff of a cigarette. It can take up to 2-3 minutes before they stop exhaling the toxic products of combustion. This expelled air may also contribute to secondhand tobacco smoke and to the residual of tobacco particles that can settle in places considered smoke-free.
Most people are aware of the negative effects of visible smoke and make efforts to control the amount that non-smokers are exposed to. We are now learning that tobacco toxins can remain in the environment as thirdhand smoke long after the smoking period is over. Children seem to be at greatest risk of being affected as they inhale these particles from clothes, rugs, draperies etc.
Making the home and car totally smoke-free is the best way to protect those you love. Also, waiting 2-3 minutes after finishing a cigarette to have contact with children or return to smoke-free areas is likely to be beneficial.
In my counseling experience, I’ve had people ask me whether they need to clean their house or car after quitting smoking. The answer is a very strong “Yes!” Once you make the commitment to becoming smoke-free, have your car detailed and give your house a good, thorough cleaning to get rid of thirdhand smoke. By doing so, you not only protect yourself and your loved ones from the harmful remnants of your former tobacco-controlled life, but you also deepen your resolve to remain a non-smoker for good.
Women who stop smoking by week 15 of pregnancy are no more likely than nonsmokers to give birth to premature or low-weight babies, according to a study published online by the British Medical Journal.
Women who kept smoking after the 15-week deadline tripled their risk of delivering prematurely and were twice as likely to have small babies compared to nonsmokers and women who stopped smoking early in their pregnancy, the study found.
E-cigarettes are marketed as a healthier alternative to smoking and as a way to kick the habit. They are smokeless and battery-powered, releasing a nicotine vapor into the lungs.
New Jersey Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg sent the Food and Drug Administration a letter Monday saying that the agency should ensure e-cigarettes are not sold until they’ve been studied more.
An FDA spokeswoman says the agency will respond directly to the senator regarding his concerns.
The Seattle Times reports that state revenue forecasts are continuing to go down, this time by another $522 million, meaning the state of Washington now faces a budget hole of around $9 billion over the next 2 years.
The question of how to fill that budget hole was the topic of “The Conversation” today on KUOW, our local NPR radio station. Based on recent polling, voters are apparently relatively supportive of increasing taxes on ’sins’ like cigarettes and alcohol, and callers to the show were also generally in favor of that type of taxes. People also seemed to be more supportive of these taxes for use covering children’s health care, which is on the chopping block as the Governor and the legislature consider cuts to Medicaid. However, when host Ross Reynolds suggested a tax on internet downloads, that was decidely less popular.
According to an AP report, voters in Washington prefer temporary tax increases, ones that include a “sunset” clause that would automatically end them after a few years. Taxes on things considered vices, such as pop, cigarettes, candy, gum, and alcohol, were very popular in the poll. An untargeted 1% increase on the entire sales tax was far less popular, although voters were more inclined to be supportive if they thought substantial cuts in the budget were also being made.
The least popular tax alternatives were increasing certain business taxes, gas taxes, and a tax on bottle water.
Although some groups are pushing for a tax increase put before the voters to cover the budget deficit, Senator Rodney Tom from the Bellevue area said that it was unlikely voters would approve it. “I wouldn’t bet on it,” he told the Seattle Times.
What do you think? Are there any tax increases you would support to fill the holes? Are children’s health care and education important enough to raise taxes?
He was issued off the premises at Caterpillar Inc.’s Mossville plant for smoking a cigarette - outside - on Jan. 12. This was after 10 years as a good employee, just weeks before he was supposed to be laid off anyway. Now he lives without a paycheck in the Morton home where he cares for his terminally ill mother.
“This is making me out like I’m a scumbag,” says the soft-spoken former parts runner. “Firing me for smoking and denying my unemployment.”
At 18, according to newspaper files, he was charged with disorderly conduct and resisting arrest when police were called after a fight. At 42, he may have saved a kid’s life by calling police himself. A 3-year-old had been left crying in a parked car in the middle of the night when the temperature was 11 degrees.
“I actually didn’t expect this,” he says. “I hadn’t had any problems with them in 10 years. I was almost gone. I didn’t expect something as dirty as that.”
does not claim he has lived a spotless life. He did some drinking. But he has been clean and sober for more than a decade, quitting a few months before he went to work at Gray Interplant Systems, which contracts workers in Caterpillar facilities. The job enabled him to rent a small home on a dead-end street in Morton where he can care for his mother, Barbara, who has emphysema. He says the rest of the family has died or moved away.
“This is what I’ve been doing the last 11 years,” he says. “I’ve been trying to make amends for my life.”
For the most part, despite health problems both mother and son have suffered, he says this set-up worked fine until last summer. Then Caterpillar went smoke-free.
“When they first did it, you couldn’t even smoke on their property,” he said. “Even in your car, at lunch.”
Kelley said he got written up for smoking last July. He didn’t take it too seriously. For one thing, there were supposed to be several steps to the process. For another, the process kept changing. It didn’t seem like anybody else took it too seriously either.
After the first push, smoking was allowed outside, on breaks and lunch and off-work hours. Then it was allowed before and after shifts and during lunch. Then it was just allowed at lunch. First the policy was three strikes and you’re out. Then the policy was one strike and out.
“The company also has changed its policies three or four times since last June,” said United Auto Workers 974 President Rick Doty.
Several UAW workers got suspended for smoking, but the union has contract language that allows it. Gray voted down unionization twice. Its contract workers are subject to anything Caterpillar wants, Doty said.
And the ever-changing rules are not evenly enforced, particularly for supervisors, according to some of those who still work at Mossville.
“They pretty much look the other way when they want to; lower the boom when they want to,” says an employee who’d rather not be named. “I feel so bad for Curtis.”
On Jan. 12, the line shut down late in the evening. With no work to do and 45 minutes before the end of his shift, Kelley went outside for a smoke. He lit up, and a couple of people he didn’t know caught him.
“They gave me a ‘perp walk,’ ” he says. “I had two supervisors walk me out.”
That’s harsh.
Todd Gray of Gray Interplant did not respond to repeated phone calls over the last couple of weeks. Caterpillar Inc. spokesman Jim Dugan said the company could not discuss actions related to a contract worker and re-released its no-smoking statement from last summer.
“We remain dedicated to creating and maintaining the healthiest and safest work environment possible for our employees,” it said.
With so little explanation forthcoming, Kelley asked for his entire personnel file, as he is entitled to do by law. And the files back him up.
Gray had two or three inches worth of paper documenting Curtis Kelley. That includes everything from doctor’s notes to the results of mandatory drug tests to his vacation requests. It notes the times he had to take leave for surgeries for colon cancer and other problems, the time a Caterpillar worker ran into his forklift with a go-cart, and the many times he took unpaid leave to help his mother with her medical problems. (There was even a note to show he was an hour late when he took her to the doctor once.)
The file included the congratulatory letter for a 1999 gift certificate at Alexander’s Steakhouse after a supervisor said “the one person that helped us out the most in getting the job done was Curtis.” And it held repeated performance evaluations where he was ranked as “very good” or “outstanding.”
“Curtis works very neat and accurate” said the most recent evaluation from last September. He “works at a good pace” and “has extensive knowledge” and is “very reliable.” He “works with little supervision,” “follows all procedures,” “can work with anyone” and “shows good judgment and decision-making skills.”
Up until that last-minute, ill-advised smoke.
“We have found it necessary to terminate your employment with Gray Interplant Systems, Inc. on 1/12/09 for deliberate acts of misconduct related to your work: Smoking on a non-designated break,” said a letter from Gray Human Resource Manager Kevin Gann. “STATEMENT OF FACTS - On 1/12/09 you were found smoking during a non-designated break allowed for smoking. This goes against customer and company policy.”
On that basis, Curtis Kelley’s unemployment was denied. He has appealed. Under the circumstances - particularly if firing him also means lower costs for his former employer - perhaps an administrative law judge will rebalance the scales of justice. This is not right.
“It’s unfortunate,” Doty said repeatedly, agreeing that employers are pretty picky these days. “They’re looking for anything.”
Whether or not he gets unemployment, Kelley says he’s fine. He has saved some money. His mother is doing relatively well. He’s still making amends.
“This is just a bump in the road,” he says. “I’m not real religious, but God’s got me this far. . . . I’m worried about all these other people.”
So watch out for the little things. Get your file. It doesn’t take much.
KIM Jong Il, the North Korean leader, was photographed puffing on a cigarette during a recent tour of a tobacco factory, despite having reportedly suffered a stroke last August.
A picture shows Mr Kim with a cigarette in his mouth at the factory, in the city of Hoeryong. Another, broadcast on North Korean state television, shows Mr Kim exhaling smoke, apparently enjoying a cigarette produced on-site.
Mr Kim “expressed great satisfaction over the fact that quality cigarettes are mass-produced” and called on workers to improve the quality of cigarettes provided to troops, the state-run Korean Central News Agency reported.
Mr Kim, 67, reportedly suffered a stroke six months ago, but is believed to have recovered. North Korean officials deny he was ever ill.
Once a reputed gourmand who enjoyed cigars and fine wines, Mr Kim is said to have given up his former chain-smoking ways years ago. It is not clear whether he is once again smoking regularly.
President Obama’s picks to fill the top two positions at the Food and Drug Administration have repeatedly bucked tobacco companies and pushed for greater restrictions on cigarette marketing, second-hand smoke and sales to minors.
Although the FDA does not currently regulate tobacco products, Congress is moving ahead on longstalled legislation to give the agency oversight of cigarette companies. That could give Obama’s choice to lead the agency, Dr. Margaret Hamburg, and her top deputy, Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, great sway over the industry.
As New York City’s heath commissioner in the 1990s, Hamburg fought for a total ban on indoor smoking in public places long before states and cities began adopting such aggressive restrictions.
And as health commissioner in Baltimore, Sharfstein pushed through an indoor-smoking ban in the city that paved the way for a similar statewide ban.
Neither Hamburg nor Sharfstein have publicly signaled their intentions regarding tobacco oversight since being tapped for the posts.
Hamburg couldn’t be reached for comment, and Sharfstein declined to comment through a spokesperson at the Baltimore health department.
A spokeswoman for R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. declined to comment on how Hamburg’s views on smoking could affect the company.
“The real issue is whether the Food and Drug Administration is going to be able to appropriately regulate tobacco, given that it is by all appearances too overburdened to meet its current obligations monitoring food and drugs,” spokeswoman Maura Payne said.
Obama reiterated this month that he supports giving the FDA oversight of tobacco.
And yesterday, a key House committee approved a bill sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, R-Calif., that would do just that. The full House is expected to give its approval soon.
In the Senate, where the bill failed to pass last year, supporters of the FDA plan believe that they have the votes to pass it in that chamber this year. But North Carolina’s two senators, Richard Burr, a Republican and Kay Hagan, a Democrat, have proposed an alternate plan to create a new federal agency to regulate tobacco that could again stall the FDA proposal.
Anti-tobacco groups said that because the Waxman legislation would give FDA officials flexibility to develop new cigarette warning-label standards and marketing restrictions, it was important for Obama to have nominated people who have worked to reduce smoking rates.
“The buzz has all been very positive,” Kathleen Dachille, the director of the Center for Tobacco Regulation at the University of Maryland Law School, said of Hamburg and Sharfstein.
Dachille worked closely with Sharfstein to enact stricter smoking regulations after he was tapped to lead the city department in 2005.
He was the leading advocate to ban smoking in all workplaces in Baltimore — restaurants and bars included — and fought hard for a similar statewide ban.
The proposal stalled at the state level because of resistance from tobacco companies and the restaurant lobby. After Baltimore passed its own ban in 2007, opposition to a statewide ban dwindled.
“Baltimore was a major tipping point, and he was able to accomplish that” Dachille said. “It was the key jurisdiction that opened the door to statewide legislation.”
Last year, Sharfstein also pushed to ban sales of single small cigars — such brands as Black and Mild, and Swisher Sweets — after a health-department investigation found that the inexpensive smokes were popular with inner-city minors.
The investigation found that even though some young people couldn’t afford to buy a pack of cigarettes for $5, they could easily scrape together enough change to buy a single small cigar that sold for less than $1.
When the state legislature did not pass a restriction that would have required Maryland retailers to sell the cigars in packs of five or larger, Sharfstein issued his own five-a-pack minimum requirement in Baltimore, which became the first city to do so.
The move was opposed by R.J. Reynolds, Philip Morris and other tobacco companies, who threatened to fight the new restriction in court.
Before joining the Baltimore health department, Sharfstein worked on tobacco-policy issues, including FDA regulation as an investigator for Waxman, then the chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee.
In 2003, Sharfstein helped write an investigative report that concluded that Philip Morris continued to lie about control of nicotine levels in its cigarettes and that Reynolds was not being truthful about marketing to minors.
As the city health commissioner in New York in the early 1990s, Hamburg fought successfully to ban cigarette advertisements on subways.
In the mid-1990s, New York banned smoking in most restaurants. At the time, few states and cities had taken that step, but Hamburg wanted the city to go even further.
At the time, she backed a total smoking ban for indoor workplaces, something that the state of New York and the city did not enact until 2003.
“In many respects, she was ahead of her times,” said Matthew Myers, the president of Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an anti-tobacco group. “She has a demonstrated track record of working to reduce tobacco use that will hold her in good stead if Congress grants the FDA jurisdiction.”
Mississippi lawmakers are supposed to have open meetings to negotiate the final versions of bills, but discussions about a proposed cigarette tax increase are already following a pattern that’s been used with other heavily debated issues in recent years.
Mississippi lawmakers are supposed to have open meetings to negotiate the final versions of bills, but discussions about a proposed cigarette tax increase are already following a pattern that’s been used with other heavily debated issues in recent years.
Offers between the House and Senate are made during open meetings in committee rooms packed with reporters, lobbyists and other observers.
But the nitty-gritty work of negotiations — the decisions about what parts of an offer to accept or reject, and what kind of counteroffer to make — is often done in private.
On Wednesday, three members from the House and three from the Senate had their first meeting to discuss proposals to increase Mississippi’s tax on cigarettes. At 18 cents, the current tax is the third-lowest in the nation.
The House voted weeks ago to add 82 cents to the tax, to take it to $1 a pack. The Senate voted to add 31 cents, which would set the rate at 49 cents a pack. Three members from each chamber were appointed to a conference committee to negotiate a final amount.
During an open session that lasted only a few minutes Wednesday, the top House negotiator — Ways and Means Committee Chairman Percy Watson, D-Hattiesburg — made an offer that reflected the original House position of $1 a pack. One new element in the House proposal is to direct some of the expected new revenue to programs for smoking cessation and into a fund that keeps car-tag prices from rising.
“There’s no doubt, this is a lot to comprehend in a short time,” responded Senate Finance Committee Chairman Dean Kirby, R-Pearl.
The Senate negotiators excused themselves from the open meeting and went to a private office to talk for about 10 minutes. When they returned, the senators said they would consider the House offer overnight.
Talks continue Thursday afternoon.
A joint operating rule of the House and Senate says: “All official meetings of any conference committee on a bill or on a resolution proposing a constitutional amendment shall be open to the public at all times, unless declared an executive session.”
While senators were out of the committee room Wednesday, The Associated Press asked Watson whether he believes it’s proper for some negotiations on the cigarette-tax bill to take place in private.
“It should be as much discussion as possible in this room, before everyone,” Watson said.
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But Watson also pointed out that during discussions about limiting awards in civil lawsuits in 2002 and 2004, it was common for negotiators from one chamber to leave the room to discuss an offer from the other. Watson was one of the leaders in the 2002 discussions.
After Wednesday’s meeting, Kirby said senators sometimes feel more comfortable exchanging ideas with each other in private before accepting or rejecting a House offer or before making a counteroffer in public. He said he believes discussions between the two chambers should be conducted during open meetings.
I’ve been a pack-a-day smoker for years and have no intention of quitting. I know, I know, I’m polluting my body and the bodies of those around me—but what impact am I having on the environment at large? And is there any way to make my nasty habit more eco-friendly?
It’s true: Your nicotine addiction affects the planet as well as your lungs. While there’s nothing you can do to totally absolve your green guilt, there are a few things to keep in mind.
Sadly, there’s not much you can do on the air-pollution front besides smoking less. Choosing a different kind of cigarette won’t help: According to a recent University of Michigan study, “regular tar,” “low tar,” menthol, and nonmenthol cigarettes showed only minor differences when it came to emissions of both particulate matter and volatile organic compounds, such as benzene, a known carcinogen, and styrene, a potential carcinogen. R.J. Reynolds does produce a cigarettelike product called the Eclipse, in which charcoal is used to heat the tobacco, rather than burn it. The Eclipse produces 86 percent to 90 percent less particulate matter than a traditional cigarette, which makes it a better choice, environmentally speaking. But claims that it’s a “safer” smoke overall are as yet unproven, and its maker is being sued over the matter.
You can take some responsibility when the time comes to toss your dirty butt. Cigarette trash is a major problem—a whopping 1.7 billion pounds of used smokes end up as litter worldwide. Filters, which reduce the harshness of inhaled smoke, are almost always made from nonbiodegradable cellulose acetate—so you’d do well to switch to a nonfiltered variety or a brand like Parliament that uses a paper filter. (You can also roll your own cigs without filters—preferably with loose, organic tobacco.) And always make sure that your remnants end up in the trash, as opposed to the gutter or the toilet, where they can find their way into rivers and oceans. Cigarettes already make up 40 percent of the items picked up by volunteers along the world’s coastlines. (You might carry an empty Altoid tin with you so that you won’t be tempted to flick when you’re finished.)
Finally, there’s always the electronic cigarette, a battery-operated contraption that delivers a nicotine solution dissolved in water and propylene glycol, the stuff used in fog machines. Though public health officials stress a lack of research on the safety of these products, e-cigarettes do produce less trash and air pollution than the traditional variety. You may be exposing yourself to ridicule, but isn’t that a small price to pay for your sins?
DENVER - According to a report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Colorado’s cigarette smoking rate has significantly declined from 1998 through 2007.
The CDC analyzed data from the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System survey and found that smoking prevalence decreased in 44 states including Colorado - which decreased from 22.8 percent in 1998 to 18.7 percent in 2007.
Despite declines in smoking rates during this period of time, cigarette smoking continues to cause large numbers of deaths and disease.
“The deaths of approximately 4,400 Colorado men and women are attributed to smoking each year, at an estimated cost of 1.3 billion dollars,” said Ned Calonge, chief medical officer at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment. “This downward trend in smoking prevalence shows that Colorado is certainly heading in the right direction, but we must continue to implement effective strategies that are proven to work - not only to save lives but to reduce the exorbitant health-care costs related to tobacco.”
According to the CDC, the only way to achieve substantial reductions in tobacco use in all states is to implement comprehensive, evidence-based tobacco control programs. Although Colorado ranks ninth in the nation in tobacco control spending, it meets only 50 percent of the recommended funding level for tobacco cessation efforts.
Jason Vahling, director of the State Tobacco Education & Prevention Partnership at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, said, “The significant decline in smoking over the past 10 years is great news for Colorado. This trend can be attributed to implementing effective strategies of a comprehensive program, such as implementing smoke-free policies; supporting ‘quit lines’; and conducting media campaigns that encourage quitting use of tobacco, preventing youth from starting to smoke and educating the public about the dangers of secondhand smoke.”
Increasing the unit price of tobacco products may be a smoking deterrent. On April 1, 2009, the federal tax on cigarettes will increase by 62 cents. According to national research, this could increase the motivation for smokers to try to quit and decrease smoking prevalence in the long term.
Another outcome of Colorado’s comprehensive tobacco control program is a significant decline in cigarette pack sales - from 76 packs per capita per year in 1998 to 46.3 packs per capita per year in 2008. The national per capita consumption rate is 63.4 annually.
The Colorado QuitLine provides tobacco users with a free telephone coaching service and a free supply of the nicotine patch. Quitting can save the average Colorado smoker $1,800 per year. The Colorado QuitLine gives people a valuable service that has been proven to work.
We live in a complex society where iPods, PSPs and mobile phones have replaced books and newspapers as our sources of entertainment. These things have made us extraordinarily susceptible to the media’s influence. Its ability to shape our conscience is inevitable. American teenagers are able to tear the plastic off a pack of cigarettes without hesitation while reading, “Smoking causes lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, and my complicate pregnancy.” Young people commonly answer that they only smoke a few cigarettes a day and will not smoke forever.
It seems that they believe the effects of smoking do not apply to them because they will only smoke for a few years. This conventional wisdom crumbles against startling statistics.
A study showed that around 50 percent of adolescents, who start smoking, go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years. These kids think that they will just smoke in social situations through college but many find that they cannot stop even after they receive their diploma.
They need to understand that an addiction is a physical and mental dependence, not something to be taken lightly. According to the American Lung Association, almost 6,000 children under the age of 18 start smoking each day and out of those 6,000 teenagers, 2,000 will become regular smokers; representing 800,000 new adolescent smokers a year. These children do not seem to realize that 90 percent of smokers start before they are 21 and according to a 2001 national survey, 28 percent of high school students smoke cigarettes.
Those statistics are unacceptable and should be treated as a plague, infecting America. For a country with such an ailing health care system, we should commit to preventing young people from taking up a habit that costs millions of dollars every year in care. It needs to be confronted using a proactive and educational approach, but we should not underestimate one of the perpetuators of this problem. We cannot meet these problems head on if we do not first understand where it began; with the media.
The cigarette epidemic indisputably began with the Marlboro Man ad campaign, a campaign that went down in history as the top three most successful ad campaigns the world had ever seen. Despite its success, it is not morally sound for the Marlboro Company to exploit the naïvely vulnerable nature of the American adolescent.
How is success defined? A census in 2001 from The American Cancer Society, 46.2 million were smokers, which means that one in every four Americans smoked. Perhaps it is defined by the 440,000 deaths a year in America due to smoking-induced complications. Maybe success really is being able to say that their company has played a role in claiming more deaths than Hitler’s Nazi regime.
The parallel drawn between the Nazi regime and the mental or psychological Marlboro Company is one with purpose. The Marlboro Company managed to recognize the media’s extraordinary influence on America and, without hesitation, exploited it for all of its fiscal worth. People all over the nation speak out against the genocide in Darfur and the Holocaust that happened in Germany, but the self-inflicted capitalistic genocide happening in America has gone without more than a few “truth” commercials.
The New Scientist editorial is even sadder. It says, “Employers have no business regulating people’s behavior unless it directly harms others at work.”
Well, smoking DOES harm other people at work. And it makes North America less job-competitive and lowers our standard of living. How? Our greatest cost disadvantage with Europe and Asia for jobs is medical costs. Ours are twice as high as Europe’s and three times as high as Asia’s. Why? Simple: We have twice as much chronic disease as Europe and three times as much as Asia. Blame tobacco, physical inactivity, poor food choices and stress. Those four account for 70 percent of our chronic diseases, BUT the biggest cost differential is tobacco. Americans shell out more than $100 billion a year to care for smokers, and that doesn’t include what’s spent on victims of second- and third-hand smoke. New data gauge that at about 10 percent of total health costs.
We only need to do two things to fix this:
1. Provide free stop-smoking programs to those who want to quit. Fifty-five percent of smokers say they want to quit, and try every year, but most try cold turkey, with a 2 percent to 5 percent success rate. Use of nicotine patches and other aids increases the long-term success of quit rates to between 15 percent and 35 percent.
2. Find more ways to keep people from starting to smoke. Almost 15 percent of high-school students still get hooked on nicotine every year.
The cost of doing this? In America, about $63 billion over 10 years. But that’s cheap, because it would save American companies and insurers at least $500 billion over 12 years. If we got serious, we could virtually wipe out smoking and its ravages by 2020. That’s a 5-to-1 return on our job-competitiveness investment.
at first glance, it looks like the real thing. It’s white, with a brown filter. When the tip glows red, a smoke-like puff follows. But this is not a typical cigarette — it’s an “e-cig.” A what? An electronic cigarette.
When an e-cigarette user inhales, a battery inside warms liquid nicotine stored in a plastic filter.
Makers of e-cigs tout their product as the first healthy cigarette, free of harmful chemicals and tar typically found in tobacco products. The only ingredient: pure liquid nicotine. “Our product is comparable to the nicotine patch except people still get the oral fixation, which they love,”
But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration considers e-cigs an unapproved new drug because of a lack of scientific proof that they’re safe or effective. The FDA is trying to halt importation of e-cigs, but isn’t seizing products already being sold in the United States.
“The FDA has been detaining and refusing importations since at least last summer of these so-called ‘electronic cigarettes,’ “
“There are no ingredients in our e-cigs that can cause cancer. However, it is a pretty new product, so we are not 100 percent sure of the side effects at this point,” Taieb said. “But we haven’t heard of any negative side effects yet, but we are pretty sure they are safe.”
Electronic cigarettes run on a battery. A person inhales an e-cig as he or she would a typical cigarette. When inhaled, the battery warms liquid nicotine stored in a plastic filter. The combination of heat and liquid creates the vapor or “smoke” puff when exhaled.
Health experts say the idea of an electronic cigarette is a great alternative to tobacco smoke but more evidence is needed.
Ashtrays are no longer a staple of home decor, and smokers must huddle in the cold to indulge their habit. Still, on average, two out of every 10 people still are smoking cigarettes.
The fact that cigarettes kill more people than alcohol, AIDS, car crashes, illegal drugs, homicide and suicide combined - not to mention the threat of cancer, emphysema and heart disease - means most smokers want to quit, health officials say.
In County where half the residents have never smoked and a third have quit smoking, 20 percent of the population struggles with the addiction. Smoking cessation programs - including acupuncture, hypnosis, nicotine replacements, prescription anti-smoking drugs and behavior modification - are widely available. Smokers want to know: Will it work for me?
,,,has been smoking Camels since she was 13 years old. She used to buy cartons at a time but with cigarette prices going up, now she can hardly afford a pack without using coupons.
“It’s breaking us up bad,” she said. “I’m trying to smoke less, but I don’t want to.”
President Obama signed legislation on February 4th, increasing federal taxes on tobacco to its highest prices yet.
Beginning April 1, cigarettes will go up from 39 cents per pack to $1.01 per pack. Large cigars will be taxed 40 cents a piece, up from 5 cents. Pipe tobacco will be increased from $1.10 to $2.83. Even chewing tobacco will see an increase, from 19 cents per pound to 50 cents per pound.
The major tax increase is used to fun a 32.8 billion expansion of the State’s Children’s Health Insurance Program, which will provide coverage to an additional 4 million children.
Those employed in the health care industry support the tax, believing that it will lead more smokers to quit. According to the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Louisiana, with each 10 percent cigarette tax increase, 7 percent of youths and 2 percent of adults quit smoking
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) The association between tobacco smoke and cancer deaths beyond lung cancer deaths has been strengthened by a recent study from a UC Davis researcher, suggesting that increased tobacco control efforts could save more lives than previously estimated.
The epidemiological analysis, published online in BMC Cancer, linked smoking to more than 70 percent of the cancer death burden among Massachusetts men in 2003. This percentage is much higher than the previous estimate of 34 percent in 2001.
“This study provides support for the growing understanding among researchers that smoking is a cause of many more cancer deaths besides lung cancer,” said lead author Bruce Leistikow, a UC Davis associate adjunct professor of public health sciences. “The full impacts of tobacco smoke, including secondhand smoke, have been overlooked in the rush to examine such potential cancer factors as diet and environmental contaminants. As it turns out, much of the answer was probably smoking all along.”
Leistikow used National Center for Health Statistics data to compare death rates from lung cancer to death rates from all other cancers among Massachusetts males. The assessment revealed that the two rates changed in tandem year-by-year from 1979 to 2003, with the strongest association among males aged 30-to-74 years.
Smoking is a known cause of most lung cancers, and the study authors concluded that the very close relationship over twenty-five years between lung and other cancer death rates suggests a single cause for both: tobacco smoke.
Leistikow, whose research is dedicated to uncovering the causes of premature mortality, said, “The fact that lung and non-lung cancer death rates are almost perfectly associated means that smokers and nonsmokers alike should do what they can to avoid tobacco smoke. It also suggests that increased attention should be paid to smoking prevention in health care reforms and health promotion campaigns.”
research from the University of Exeter reveals for the first time, that changes in brain activity, triggered by physical exercise, may help reduce cigarette cravings. Published in the journal Psychopharmacology, the study shows how exercise changes the way the brain processes information among smokers, thereby reducing their cravings for nicotine. For the first time, researchers used functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging (fMRI) to investigate how the brain processes images of cigarettes after exercise.
The study adds weight to a growing body of evidence that exercise can help manage addiction to nicotine and other substances. It backs up previous studies, which have shown that just one short burst of moderate exercise can significantly reduce smokers’ nicotine cravings.
Ten regular smokers were asked to cycle at a moderate pace for ten minutes, after 15 hours of abstinence from nicotine. They were then given an fMRI scan while they viewed a series of 60 images. Some visuals featured cigarettes and would normally induce cravings in a smoker. On a second occasion, the same group was given an fMRI scan and shown the same series of images without having undertaken exercise. They were also asked to report on their cravings for nicotine during both phases of the study.
The brain images captured by the fMRI show a difference between the two conditions. After no exercise the smokers showed heightened activity in response to the images in areas of the brain associated with reward-processing and visual attention. After exercise the same areas of activation were not observed, which reflected a kind of ‘default mode’ in the brain. The smokers also reported lower cravings for cigarettes after exercise compared with when they had been inactive.
The researchers do not know exactly what caused the difference in brain activity following exercise. One suggestion is that completing exercise raises mood (possibly through increases in dopamine) which reduces the salience or importance of wanting a cigarette. Another possibility is that exercise causes a shift in blood flow to areas of the brain less involved in anticipation of reward and pleasure generated by smoking images.
Previous research by the University of Exeter has suggested that exercise can reduce nicotine cravings. Results from a series of studies show that smokers report reduced cigarette cravings after exercising. This study showed that exercise can reduce cravings when smokers are faced with images that have been previously shown to cause lapses in smokers trying to quit. This is the first time that anyone has investigated brain activity during this process.
Kate Janse Van Rensburg, a PhD student at the University of Exeter, lead author on the paper, said: “Our findings add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that exercise can help people give up smoking. This strengthens the argument that moderate exercise could be a viable alternative to many of the pharmaceutical products, such as nicotine patches, for people who want to give up smoking. A ten or fifteen minute walk, jog or cycle when times get tough could help a smoker kick the habit. There are of course many other benefits from a more active lifestyle including better fitness, weight loss and improved mood.”
Researchers from the Peninsula Medical School, the University of Cambridge and the University of Michigan have published the results of the first large-scale study to indicate that second-hand smoke exposure could lead to dementia and other neurological problems.
The results will be published by the BMJ online on Friday 13th February 2009.
Research has already identified possible links between active smoking and cognitive impairment, and previous findings have suggested exposure to second-hand smoke is linked to poor cognitive performance in children and adolescents. However, this is the first study of its kind to link second-hand smoke exposure to cognitive impairment in adult non-smokers.
The research team examined saliva samples from almost 5000 non-smoking adults over the age of 50, using data from the 1998, 1999 and 2001 waves of the Health Survey and England. The participants subsequently took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
The saliva samples were tested for cotinine, a product of nicotine that remains in the saliva for about 25 hours after exposure to second-hand smoke. Those who took part in the study also provided a detailed smoking history, and those who had never smoked, or who were previous smokers, were assessed separately.
Established neuropsychological tests were used to assess brain function and cognitive impairment. These focused on memory function, numeracy and verbal fluency. The test results were added together to provide a global score for cognitive function. Those whose scores were in the lowest 10 per cent were identified as suffering from cognitive impairment.
The researchers believe that the link between second-hand smoke and cognitive impairment could be explained by the fact that heart disease increases the risk of developing dementia, and that exposure to second-hand smoke is known to cause heart disease.
Europeans with the least education have a higher incidence of lung cancer compared with those with the highest education. However, smoking history accounts for approximately half of this risk, according to a study in the February 24 online issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.
Previous studies showed that individuals with a lower socioeconomic status have a higher risk for developing lung cancer. Some studies have also suggested that some of the excess risk of lung cancer is due to smoking.
To further investigate the contribution of smoking to the discrepancy in lung cancer incidence, Gwenn Menvielle, Ph.D., and colleagues examined the association of smoking, diet, education, and lung cancer in 391,251 individuals in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition study. Menvielle, who conducted the research in The Netherlands at the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, and the department of public health of the Erasmus MC, Rotterdam, is now at the Institut National de la Sant et de la Recherche Mdicale in Villejuif, France.
The researchers used participants’ highest level of education achieved as an indicator of socioeconomic status and had smoking and diet information from questionnaires completed at study entry.
With a mean follow-up time of 8.4 years, 939 men and 692 women were diagnosed with lung cancer. Men with the lowest education had a 3.62-fold increased risk of lung cancer compared with men with the highest education. Women with the lowest education had a 2.39-fold increased risk compared with women with the highest education. The association between education and cancer risk was greatest in Northern Europe and Germany. When the researchers adjusted the risk models to account for smoking, the excess risk dropped by approximately half. Diet did not appear to contribute to the inequity in lung cancer risk between participants with lowest and highest education.
The authors state that while their model shows that smoking accounts for some of the discrepancy in lung cancer risk, they may not have yet accounted for the full impact of smoking. Therefore, some of the residual inequity in lung cancer risk associated with socioeconomic status may still be due to smoking behavior. Nonetheless, the new data suggest that other factors contribute to the inequality. “In future studies, other risk factors should be considered, perhaps in relation with smoking,” the authors write. “However, we also observed that removing smoking would reduce the population health burden that is associated with social inequality in lung cancer considerably, in terms of number of cancers avoided. Therefore, public health policies aiming at reducing smoking rates, especially among persons with low education, are still strongly needed.”
In an accompanying editorial, Michael J. Thun, M.D., of the American Cancer Society in Atlanta, Georgia, writes that Menvielle and colleagues’ effort to disentangle the impact of smoking and socioeconomic status on lung cancer risk is laudable. However, given shifting patterns of smoking in Europe, from a behavior associated more frequently with higher socioeconomic status to one associated with lower socioeconomic status, and geographic differences in that pattern, it is an extremely difficult task.
Thun concurs with the authors’ conclusion that smoking must remain a focus of anti-cancer efforts. He concludes that “the most effective approach to reducing both the socioeconomic disparities and the overall burden of lung cancer is to implement measures that we already know are effective in reducing tobacco use.”
On December 14, 1953, the head of America’s major tobacco companies met at New York’s Plaza Hotel. Usually, these people were the fiercest of rivals – but now the time had come to present a united front. For the past three years, there had been growing evidence that one of the 20th century’s fastest-growing consumer products, the cigarette, was a central cause of one of the 20th century’s fastest-growing diseases: lung cancer. So, what on earth was the tobacco industry to do?
Coming, as it neatly did, just over halfway through the period in question, the Plaza meeting marks a turning point in The Cigarette Century. Between 1900 and 1950, the cigarette had been transformed from little more than a novelty item into the means by which most people smoked. Men had been reassured that there was nothing sissy about abandoning their traditional pipes and cigars – whose smoke, crucially, is not inhaled – for a small tube of paper. Women, for centuries expected to be non-smokers, had come to see the cigarette as a badge of sophistication, glamour and growing equality (and a diet aid to boot).
The Cigarette Century: the Rise, Fall and Deadly Persistence of the Product that Defined America
Nicotine Replacement Patches? Gum? Pills? There are many stop smoking “products” on the market that you can choose. So why should you consider hypnosis?
1) Hypnosis is a “process”, not a “product”
Hypnosis permanently changes your attitude towards smoking. Its power comes from your desire to become a non-smoker. Hypnosis literally “switches off” any thoughts of smoking.
Patches and Gum do the opposite - by using these products you are subconsciously saying “There is something that I need in a cigarette, therefore I need to substitute the cigarette with something else.” You may replace one habit with another.
2) Hypnosis is Healthy and Safe
You re trying to rid your body of toxins … so why would you replace the nicotine in cigarettes with the nicotine in gum or in patches? Nicotine is a poison?
3) Hypnosis is Fast and Easy
Using Hypnosis you can be a non-smoker in one hour or less. Patches and Gum often require weeks or months of treatmene
4) Hypnosis is Permanent
Because Hypnosis permanently changes your attitude towards smoking you have very little chance of relapse at any point in the future. You become a non-smoker.
With other products this mental change has not taken place and therefore you are at best an “ex smoker” continually having to consciously fend off and fight the urge to smoke. Making a relapse more likely.
When the shift to becoming a non-smoker takes place with Hypnosis one no longer has to battle against cigarettes. They will simply fade away as an “enemy”.
5) Hypnosis may be Tax Deductible. Patches and Gum are not.
If you are US taxpayer, you can deduct the cost of smoking cessation programs from your taxes.
From the IRS website (http://www.irs.gov/faqs/faq-kw139.html)
Are expenses for smoking cessation programs deductible?
You can include in medical expenses amounts you pay for a program to stop smoking. Unreimbursed amounts you pay for participation in a smoking cessation program and for prescribed drugs designed to alleviate nicotine withdrawal are expenses for medical care that are deductible subject to the 7.5% of adjusted gross income limitation if you itemize deductions on Form 1040, Schedule A (PDF), Itemized Deductions.
However, you cannot include in medical expenses amounts you pay for drugs that are designed to help stop smoking that do not require a prescription, such as nicotine gum or patches.
6) Hypnosis is more effective than Patches or Gum
Hypnosis has a 70-80% success rate for those committed to becoming a non smoker. Because the burdens on the patch or gum user are so great, those manufacturers can only boast a 50-60% success rate.
Furthermore most reputable hypnotherapists will offer a guarantee (see http://www.freshstartmethod.com/guarantee.php )of effectiveness stating that if you do not become a non smoker, you do not pay.
And thats not something you’ll see on a box of nicotine replacement products!
Overweight teenagers run the same risk of an early death as people who smoke regularly – and the risk increases substantially with very fat adolescents.
Teenagers who are clinically obese have the same risk of premature death as someone who smokes more than 10 cigarettes a day. An investigation of 45,000 men whose health was monitored for 38 years has found that being overweight at the age of 18 is equivalent to being a regular smoker in terms of the overall risk of dying relatively early in life from preventable diseases.
Men who both smoked and were overweight as teenagers were likely to die even earlier than those who fell into just one or other of the risk groups. But the study did not find any evidence to suggest that smoking and obesity combined to produce even greater risks when found together.
Martin Neovius of the Karolinksa Institute in Stockholm, who carried out the study published in the British Medical Journal, said: “It shows the importance of measures to reduce obesity in adolescents. A lot of people are dying from preventable deaths.
“I think we should be looking at what we can learn from the anti-tobacco campaign in terms of obesity. There are some who argue that being overweight – but not clinically obese – is harmless. No, it is not harmless because we found that a being an overweight adolescent is equivalent to smoking up to 10 cigarettes a day.”
Overweight is defined as having a body mass index – a measure of body fat based on height and weight – of between 25 and 30, whereas being obese is defined as having a BMI of more than 30. Being overweight at 18 increased the risk of an early death by just more than a third, while being obese more than doubled the risk. The risk of premature death also increased with the number of cigarettes smoked, with heavy smokers at more than double the risk of dying relatively early in life compared to non-smokers.
The study also found that men who were seriously underweight at 18 also had a higher risk of a premature death and this risk also increased with the number of cigarettes they smoked.
It’s Day Four of Stub it Out Week and, to finish with fags for good, take inspiration from stars who have succeeded. They prove you can be cool without lighting up. Here are some of the ways they kicked the habit..
As President Obama prepares for the political battles that lie ahead he is also waging a personal battle – to quit smoking.
The new world leader – now officially non-smoking – has publicly admitted falling off the wagon during the race for the presidency.
Often spotted chewing nicorette gum, he claims to have made himself “much healthier” but has struggled to kick the habit for good.
And the President is far from alone. There’s an army of high-profile smokers who can’t or don’t want to kick the habit.
Party girls Kate Moss, Britney Spears and Sienna Miller are always being snapped fag in hand.
But for every celeb puffing away on a ciggie there’s another who has successfully quit. Here we reveal how a few famous faces have beaten the urge for a nicotine fix – and how you can follow in their footsteps.
Charlotte Church Songbird Charlotte ditched the fags on New Year’s Day 2006, soon after getting together with partner Gavin Henson.
The squeaky-clean rugby star, a strict non-smoker, enrolled as an ambassador for helping people in Wales to give up cigarettes after the introduction of the smoking ban.
With her man’s encouragement, and feeling motivated by her first pregnancy, the opera singer-turned pop star was able to give fags the boot.
And despite falling off the wagon last year after Wales triumphed in the Six Nations, she has stuck to her promise – urging others to do the same by - saying smoking “looks
disgusting”. “I smoked about 20 or 25 a day and I’d tried to give up a couple of times before but only lasted half a day,” says Charlotte. “The first two weeks were tough and the first month I still really missed it, but I feel so much healthier now and can really feel the difference in my voice.”
Quit tips: Most women stop smoking when they discover they’re pregnant – the trick is sticking to it after the baby is born. The first few months after childbirth are stressful and it’s crucial you get support from family, friends and even your GP, to help you stick to your resolution.
Dr Andy McEwen, Cancer Research UK deputy director of tobacco studies, says: “Up to 60 per cent of women who stop smoking at some point during pregnancy relapse within six months of the birth, while up to 80 per cent return to smoking within 12 months.
“Partner support is very important. This needs to be maintained to ensure you don’t return to smoking.”
Gwyneth Paltrow Super-healthy Gwyneth stubbed out her last ciggie when she was 24, and now she will only light up for her movie roles.
She is among just 10 per cent of quitters who succeed through will-power alone.
And while Gwyneth admits to still wanting the odd fag, she says she takes pleasure from knowing she can control her cravings.
If you’re planning to use Gwynnie’s iron-will method, the trick is to really want to give up – otherwise you’ll soon be back on the ciggies.
Quit tips A good trick is to make an effort to change your routine to avoid the times you usually light up.
This might be when you’re waiting for the bus, out with friends, or like Gwyneth, relaxing after work.
By finding other things to do at these times, you’ll make it easier to resist the urge to smoke.
Dr McEwen said: “Motivation to stop smoking is crucial in any quit attempt, but on its own it is often not enough.
“At times when people are feeling weak they can find it very difficult to resist the urge to smoke.
“There is medicine and help available that significantly increase your chances of giving up, so if willpower alone isn’t working, talk to your GP.”
Charlize Theron Oscar-winner Charlize was a three-packets-a-day girl until she jacked it in favour of more healthy habits such as yoga and pilates.
The glamorous star, who admits she was once a “bad, bad smoker”, used regular exercise to beat the stress that often causes ex-smokers to relapse.
This method works because the natural high after working out combats any anxiety felt by smokers worried about missing their fix. Research has shown that most smokers don’t crave cigarettes after exercise, and so are less likely to fall off the wagon.
Quit tips: Combined with a change in routine to avoid smoking danger points, exercise is a real winner for smokers struggling to quit.
Dr McEwen says: “Short bursts of moderate physical activity can help reduce urges to smoke.
“So if you’re taking brisk walks at lunch time or walking up some stairs every time you want to have a cigarette, then this will definitely help.
“Again, this should be in addition to getting professional support or using effective medications.
Ashton Kutcher Chain-smoker Ashton used to puff on an incredible 40 cigarettes a day, but was pushed to quit by health-conscious wife Demi Moore.
The Hollywood actor managed to kick his addiction by reading self-help books examining why people smoke. A favourite was The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, by Allen Carr.
After quitting, Ashton told a magazine: “I read the book. It gives you guidance and lets you smoke as you read – and on the final page it says ‘And now, quit’, and I closed the book, and I did!”
Quit tips: Self-help books suit those who are worried about asking for help or therapy costs. Research authors first online to check their credentials. Hypnosis DVDs and CDs can also be effective and will help you relax, too.
It’s not big and it’s not clever Here are a few of the die-hard smokers who just can’t resist another puff..
Kate Moss Supermodel Kate is famous for her four-pack-a-day habit, which some would say is taking its toll on her skin.
Lily Allen Often dubbed fag-ash Lil, serial puffer Lily quit in 2008 after hypnosis, but soon fell back into her old ways.
Colin Farrell The Irish actor makes no bones about his fondness for chain-smoking. And while the self-confessed bad boy seems to have calmed down, this is one habit he can’t kick.
Sienna Miller Man-eater Sienna loves a drag on a fag. Despite the efforts of old flame Jude Law to get her to quit, her nicotine habit has never wavered.
Britney Spears Not known for her self-restraint, Britney’s smoking habit has won her the nickname Puff Mama in the US.
She sparked outrage last year when photos were leaked of her two-year-old son playing with her Marlboro Lights.
MIAMI (Reuters) - A Florida jury ruled on Thursday that a smoker’s death was caused by his addiction to cigarettes, a legal setback for cigarette giant Philip Morris in the first of potentially thousands of cases to go to trial.
The jury in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, decided in favor of Elaine Hess, the widow of longtime smoker Stuart Hess, who died of lung cancer in 1997 at age 55. He had smoked for 40 years.
The Hess trial was the first of about 8,000 cases filed following the Florida Supreme Court’s landmark decision in 2006 to throw out a $145 billion jury award in a class-action lawsuit filed in the early 1990s by Miami Beach pediatrician Howard Engle on behalf of thousands of sick smokers.
“The message here is that justice is slow sometimes, but it comes,” said Alex Alvarez, an attorney for Elaine Hess.
The ruling came in the first phase of what could be a three-phase trial. Lawyers for Hess were initially required to show that Hess’ death was caused by addiction to cigarettes.
“We showed that. The next phase is to decide (compensatory) damages and our entitlement to punitive damages,” Alvarez said, adding that the jury can assign a percentage of liability to the tobacco company and to the smoker.
Lawyers for Elaine Hess argued that Stuart Hess tried but failed to quit smoking because he was addicted to nicotine. Philip Morris lawyers argued that he could have quit.
“The Hess trial is not over,” Philip Morris USA, a unit of Altria Group, said in a statement. “The jury has decided only the threshold question of whether the plaintiff can proceed in this case as a former member of the Engle class.”
BOSTON (Reuters) - Not only does it pay to stop smoking because your health improves, you’re more likely to quit if you get paid well to do it.
A study of 878 General Electric workers at 85 different facilities around the United States found that people were three times more likely to stay off cigarettes for at least six months if they were rewarded with up to $750.
Earlier studies had suggested that cash incentives did not work, but those tests had been smaller and the rewards had been as little as $10, said Dr. Kevin Volpp of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, who led the research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
“Incentive programs work if they’re well designed and adequately funded. If you do a low-budget incentive program, it may have little effect,” Volpp said in a telephone interview.
Although 70 percent of smokers in the United States say they want to quit, smoking-cessation programs do not have a high success rate. “Only about two or three percent per year actually do quit,” said Volpp.
Tobacco kills about 438,000 Americans annually.
“Our study shows that if you’re able to get people smoke-free and keep them smoke-free for six months or more, there’s a fighting chance they can stay smoke-free on their own,” he said.
But a key question is how much an insurance company or employer should be willing to pay to get someone off cigarettes. A 2002 estimate said that having a worker quit is worth $3,400 in increased productivity and reduced illness. But those savings are not always obvious on a case-by-case basis.
In addition, the study was done with highly educated white volunteers. It is not known if the findings would apply to other groups, or whether the size of the payment would affect the success rate.
All of the workers in the study received information about smoking-cessation programs. Half were paid $100 for completing one, $250 for actually quitting smoking, and $400 for staying off cigarettes for at least six months, as measured by a saliva or urine test.
Because of the promise of money, three times as many people participated in a stop-smoking program as did those who were just told about the program.
Among those who initially quit, 14.7 percent who got the cash were still off cigarettes six months later, compared to 5 percent who got no reward.
As a hospital teaching-physician I hear lots of medical histories of children admitted for breathing problems like asthma, pneumonia and bronchitis. When the question of whether either of the parents smoke comes up, many respond defensively, “Yes, but I only smoke outside.”
Parental smoking is a serious health problem for millions of children, regardless of where it’s done. Each year more than 126 million people are exposed to secondhand smoke and 50,000 people lose their lives from it. The fact is that there is no safe level of tobacco smoke exposure. As a result, smoking bans in many public places have been put into effect, much to the dismay of many smokers.
Anyone with an intact sense of smell knows when someone else has smoked in an enclosed space. It’s one reason some hotel rooms are designated as non-smoking, and some rental cars reek of cigarette smoke long after anyone lit up inside them. It’s just as easy to tell when a person has been smoking, as they carry the telltale odor on their person after they leave the designated smoking area.
Although cigarette smoke may appear to be only a gas, in reality it’s also composed of millions of pieces of fine particulate matter. In other words, it’s more like dust. And these tiny smoke particles eventually come to rest on surfaces within whatever area they’re blown into (not to mention your lungs). This could be a car, sofa, floor, dinner table, or bed. It also includes hair, shoes, skin, and clothing. Just smoking for one day leaves those toxins deposited there well into the future. These particles don’t simply evaporate or blow away.
The term coined for this toxic blanket is “thirdhand” smoke. Many smokers and nonsmokers have presumed it is relatively harmless, but that’s not so. In fact, its danger has been proven well. There are 250 poisonous gases, chemicals, and heavy metals within tobacco smoke. Eleven of these smoke toxins are designated group 1 carcinogens, the highest cancer causing potential known. Also, some recent data in rats suggests that tobacco toxins are the leading cause of sudden infant death syndrome and act by suppressing the respiratory drive.
Just take a closer look at a few of these poisons: carbon monoxide (like in car exhaust), cyanide (like in chemical weapons), toluene (found in paint thinners), cadmium (used to make batteries), chromium (used to make steel), lead (which can cause brain damage), ammonia (found in household cleaners) and even polonium-210 (a highly radioactive carcinogen).
Thirdhand smoke is more dangerous to infants and small children. Children take in twice the amount of dust that adults do because they breathe faster and they’re usually closer to dusty surfaces. When the difference in body size between adults and children is factored in, children get about 20 times the tobacco toxin exposure of adults. Just holding or hugging an infant or child after smoking outside will expose the child to these substances. My point is that any smoking threatens the health (and maybe the very life) of your children, no matter where you do it. Stop smoking for their sake, and your own.
