Avoid any "100 guarantee" product or service to stop smoking

Several services send me daily updates on news items, blogs and other postings on anything to do with tobacco issues. I'm always amazed at the amount of misinformation available and the products that guarantee a smoker will quit. That 100% guarantee should be the tip off that it's just a 100% guarantee that they want your money. Every method will work for some individuals but no method will work for everyone. Many products “work” because of a placebo effect or the belief or positive expectation that it will work. Trying some of these products or services can be harmless but others can have devastating effects. Here are some products and services that have not been shown to be effective:

  

• Acupuncture: No evidence to support efficacy as a cessation method in research studies.
• E-cigarettes: A battery operated devise, not regulated by the FDA that vaporizes nicotine and propylene glycol. No independent safety studies. Mainly produced in China with no safety standards for manufacturing. A small study by the FDA showed some harmful chemicals and inconsistent levels of nicotine. Cannot be advertised as a cessation devise.
• Hypnosis: Anecdotal stories as to efficacy but insufficient evidence to support hypnosis as a cessation method.
• Lobedia: Also known as Indian tobacco, a substance chemically similar to nicotine that used in tablets, gum and vitamins pills. Marketed as a substance to help with nicotine withdrawal. Controlled studies have not shown it to be effective. Banned by the FDA in 1993 as a cessation medication.
• Silver Acetate: A crystalline substance often an ingredient in chewing gum that is claimed to produce a repulsive taste when combined with cigarette smoke. No beneficial effects for cessation have been shown in randomized clinical studies.
• Smokeless tobacco or snus: Tobacco products that held in the mouth. Different products have varying levels of harmful components. Linked to cancers of the mouth, tongue, gums, lips, and cheeks. Causes cavities, tooth loss, stained teeth, gum disease. Swallowing spit can cause heartburn, ulcers and cancers of the voicebox, esophagus, and parts of the throat and stomach. Increases blood pressure and heart rate. May contain more nicotine than cigarettes.
• Welplex: An injection consisting of a combination of atropine, scopolamine and chlorpromazine (thorazine). This combination may cause a temporary mental break including hallucinations, heart palpitations, paranoia and possible coma. Not approved by the FDA for smoking cessation. Atropine is used to dilate the eyes. Scopolamine is used for motion sickness. Chlorpromazine is used for psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia.

Myths about Snus and smokeless tobacco

The new tactic of the tobacco companies is to promote smokeless tobacco and snus as a way to quit smoking but those forms of tobacco are dangerous too. Here are some myths taken from: http://oralcancernews.org/wp/

Debunking the myths
Myth: Smokeless tobacco products are a safe alternative to tobacco smoking.
Fact: Here is the bottom line–smokeless is not harmless. The list of serious illnesses connected to any form of smokeless tobacco is almost too long to print, but includes mouth cancer, cancer of the pancreas, tooth loss, and bone loss around the roots of teeth.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco contains less nicotine than cigarettes.
Fact: The amount of nicotine absorbed from a can of spit tobacco is equal to the amount delivered by three to four packs of cigarettes. Nicotine is absorbed more slowly from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes, but more nicotine per dose is absorbed from smokeless tobacco than from cigarettes. Also, the nicotine stays in the bloodstream longer.

Myth: Nicotine and all the other poisons disappear when you spit out the tobacco.
Fact: When chewers place snuff or smokeless tobacco in their mouth, cheek, or lip, they give nicotine a free pass to do its nasty thing. A high dose of nicotine enters the bloodstream and is then carried throughout the body. It takes its toll on many parts of the body, including the heart and blood vessels, hormones, metabolism, and brain.

Myth: A little dip or chew won’t hurt–it’s a harmless habit!
Fact: Even a little smokeless tobacco has enough nicotine in it to get a user hooked, if he keeps using it. Smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, the same drug that makes cigarettes addictive. Holding an average size dip or chew in the mouth for 30 minutes delivers as much nicotine as about three cigarettes. Some smokeless tobacco users sleep with it in their mouths so they keep getting nicotine through the night. That’s an addiction, not a habit.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco use will improve your social and romantic life.
Fact: Just the opposite! Chewing and dipping carry a heavy social price, especially when it comes to dating. Bad breath, ugly gum disease, and stained teeth are universally unappealing. The bulging cheeks, gunk stuck in the mouth, and spitting required by most smokeless tobacco is hardly date-bait. Surgery for oral cancer can result in removal of parts of the face, tongue, cheek or lip, a difficult scenario for a great love connection.

Myth: Americans are getting the message that smokeless does not equal harmless.
Fact: If grades were given for this sort of thing, the Nation’s spit tobacco grade would be a barely passing grade of “D.” Rates of spit tobacco use by high school males are high. Nationally, about one in seven high school males currently use spit or smokeless tobacco products, and in some states that number is one out of four.

For the total Department of Defense male population, the rate of smokeless tobacco use is 21.6 percent, significantly exceeding the rate in the general population.

Myth: If you spit for five years or less you won’t get cancer or heart disease.
Fact: Research reported at the Mayo Clinic and other well-respected organizations indicates that any amount of smokeless tobacco use is dangerous, regardless of whether it’s used for a few years or a decade. Smokeless tobacco users have a greater risk for oral cancer than non-users. Oral cancer can form in as little as five years of regular use.

Myth: Smokeless tobacco is easy to give up–you can quit any time you want to.
Fact: Since smokeless tobacco contains nicotine, it’s as addictive as a cigarette, and users will experience the same withdrawal symptoms. These are usually strongest the first week after quitting. The worst is over after two weeks.

Snus-The Alternative to Quitting Smoking?

Snus is a small pouch of nicotine that is placed in the mouth between the lower jaw and cheek. The product was first introduced in Sweden and is now being imported to the United States as an alternative to smoking. It is being taunted as way to stop smoking. One tobacco company is advertising heavily to the youth market and sending out coupons for free tins of snus. Just another ploy to increase the number of nicotine addicts. The tobacco companies are in business to make money and don't really care what the health consequences are, as long as they continue making a profit. Snus is not a good alternative to smoking but just another deceptive practice that is another nicotine delivery system that is designed to addicted the user to it's product.

Is Harm Reduction the New Way to Quit Smoking?

Some health care professionals are encouraging smokers to switch to smokeless tobacco or snus as a way to quit smoking because smokeless is less harmful than the combustion and inhalation of smoke. I consider harm reduction the same as wearing a seatbelt--how often do you need to wear one?? Most would say everyday but really you only need a seatbelt when you get into an accident. If you don't get into an accident, then you don't need a seatbelt. The problem is that we don't know when that accident is ging to happen so we prepare for the worse by wearing seatbelts everytime we drive. Same with the use of any tobacco products--Wouldn't it be nice if we knew what our genetic weak link is, so that we could avoid those substances and environmental hazards that will increase our personal risk. What it boils down to is what is the risk an individual is willing to take. By switching to smokeless, there may be a reduction in some types of cancers but there is an increased risk for oral cancers. Regardless of the form, tobacco is a dangerous product. As a 20 year cancer thrivor (I did much more than just survive), I choose to eliminate as many known risks as I am able. The use of addictive substances usually is to satisfy an emotional or spiritual need. I advocate addressing the emotional or spiritual need rather than the use of addictive substances. The tobacco companies used this same philosophy when they came out with low tar and nicotine cigarettes but we found out that they didn't reduce the health risks at all but millions of smokers switched instead of quitting altogether and they health suffered for it. So instead of switching to smokeless, the best thing for you health is to embrace a tobacco free life and enjoy your better health.