New type of technology stimulates specific energy
Natalia Van Stralen, Assistant Features Editor
Issue date: 9/13/07 Section: Science & Technology
Media Credit: Glenn Connelly / Photo Editor
Low-level laser therapy uses low levels of laser lights in an acupuncture-like practice, which allows the smoker to release endorphins and become relaxed.
The Nicorette gum flavor doesn't ever seem to last long enough and you've been trying to find a decent place to put your NicoDerm CQ patch. According to the American Cancer Society, some 46 million Americans have quit smoking for good - all having used different methods to stop their addiction.
If you are like most smokers who, aside from being concerned about weight gain and stress after quitting are frustrated with failed options, you may have neglected to explore a new technique to quit smoking - laser therapy.
The American Cancer Society describes low-level laser therapy, or cold-laser therapy, as "the use of low-intensity or low levels of laser light." The technique uses cold lasers in an acupuncture-like practice where the beams of the laser are supposed to stimulate certain acupoints on the body. When these acupoints are stimulated, the smoker allegedly releases endorphins and becomes relaxed. The release of the endorphins acts to simulate the effect nicotine typically has on the brain and relieve addiction traits.
The treatment is recommended to patients who want the results that acupuncture has on the body's acupoints without the pain of needles.
One Web site, www.waystostopsmoking.org provides information on alternative therapies to help smokers quit. It describes procedures such as acupuncture, hypnosis and laser therapy. The Web site says the newest treatment in America to help smokers quit is laser therapy and "some clinics offering this procedure are reporting a success rate of 64 percent."
Locally the Matrix Laser Centers offer a laser therapy treatment for smokers. Located at 4295 Gesner St. Suite 3A in San Diego, the center has been featured on numerous media outlets including San Diego's Channel 10 and Channel 8.
It's San Diego's first and only cessation clinic that uses low-level laser therapy. The laser therapy is used not only to help people attempting to quit smoking but also for those who want to manage their weight and control stress.Aside from having a trained, professional team, all staff at the Matrix are ex-smokers who, according to the Web site www.matrixlasercenters.com "fully realize the tremendous power nicotine has over our lives."
Technicians at the Matrix clinic who administer laser therapy have all been trained in the United Kingdom, Canada or the United States to perform treatment.
The treatment itself is a "Multi-Phasic approach" that aims to eliminate the desire for the drug, deal with the psychological factors of the addiction and support the body through proper nutrition. The laser used is a soft laser that the Web site says stimulates specific energy points in the ear, face and hands, all of which are related to the addiction. The endorphins released in the treatment make it easier for patients "to cope with the addiction, withdrawal symptoms and cravings that arise from giving up nicotine," the Web site said.
Matrix also has therapists on staff who offer education and counseling during treatment, with a focus on withdrawal, cravings, current habits and nutrition. The combination of laser treatment and therapy has the Matrix center claiming to "help the body become nicotine-free within seven days."
Treatment at the Matrix Laser Center lasts approximately one hour and costs $399. If within the first six weeks a patient has not taken nicotine and is still having problems quitting, the center offers a booster treatment free of charge. Booster treatments are about $180 each after the first complimentary one.
While Web sites and running practices of laser therapy claim high success rates, the American Cancer Society advises there is no scientific evidence yet that has established these therapy options as an effective method to help smokers quit.
But if the gum doesn't satisfy your taste buds and the patch isn't worth the effort, maybe it's time to consider zapping those addictive acupoints.For a list of local physician acupuncturists, visit the American Academy of Medical Acupuncture at www.medicalacupuncture.org
Easy Quit Smoking with Hypnosis
Saturday, 15 September 2007
Rhyl centre 'looking like an ashtray'
By Terry Canty
A COUNCILLOR has claimed Rhyl is becoming an "absolute ashtray" following the introduction of anti-smoking legislation.
Cllr Diana Hannam told a recent meeting of Rhyl Town Council: “The town centre is becoming an absolute ashtray. I can’t see how they are fulfilling the law with smokers standing in the doorway of a public house.“We haven’t had the cold weather either yet – let’s see what happens then.”
In a letter to Rhyl Town Council former police sergent Roly Schwarz, now community safety manger with Denbighshie Community Safety Partnership claims the Licensing Act of 2003 and its four main objectives of Prevention of Crime and DIsorder, Prevention of Public Nuisance, Public Safety and Protection of Children from Harm were not being followed.“Allowing people
to block the pavement, drop cigarette butts on the floor, drink alcohol in the street, and be outside generally does not promote the objectives. New applications or variations to the existing terms and condition of licence will require the applicants to fully explain their policy and procedure for those who wish to smoke.
Clearly expecting customers or staff to stand on the pavement outside premises is not acceptable.”Mr Schwarz said North Wales Police and Rhyl Neighbourhood policing team were determined to deal “robustly” with those who liter, including cigareet butts.Denbighshire County Council have provided Police Community Support Officers with fixed penalty notices to tackle the problem and CCTV was to be used to gather
evidence.Cllr Joan Butterfield said she wanted applications for smoking areas not to come in the form of the variety of gazebos and awnings gracing pubs.
A COUNCILLOR has claimed Rhyl is becoming an "absolute ashtray" following the introduction of anti-smoking legislation.
Cllr Diana Hannam told a recent meeting of Rhyl Town Council: “The town centre is becoming an absolute ashtray. I can’t see how they are fulfilling the law with smokers standing in the doorway of a public house.“We haven’t had the cold weather either yet – let’s see what happens then.”
In a letter to Rhyl Town Council former police sergent Roly Schwarz, now community safety manger with Denbighshie Community Safety Partnership claims the Licensing Act of 2003 and its four main objectives of Prevention of Crime and DIsorder, Prevention of Public Nuisance, Public Safety and Protection of Children from Harm were not being followed.“Allowing people
to block the pavement, drop cigarette butts on the floor, drink alcohol in the street, and be outside generally does not promote the objectives. New applications or variations to the existing terms and condition of licence will require the applicants to fully explain their policy and procedure for those who wish to smoke.
Clearly expecting customers or staff to stand on the pavement outside premises is not acceptable.”Mr Schwarz said North Wales Police and Rhyl Neighbourhood policing team were determined to deal “robustly” with those who liter, including cigareet butts.Denbighshire County Council have provided Police Community Support Officers with fixed penalty notices to tackle the problem and CCTV was to be used to gather
evidence.Cllr Joan Butterfield said she wanted applications for smoking areas not to come in the form of the variety of gazebos and awnings gracing pubs.
Doctors refuse to fix builder's broken ankle unless he quits smoking!
By CHRIS BROOKE - More by this author »
A man with a broken ankle is facing a lifetime of pain because a Health Service hospital has refused to treat him unless he gives up smoking.
John Nuttall, 57, needs surgery to set the ankle which he broke in three places two years ago because it did not mend naturally with a plaster cast.
Doctors at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have refused to operate because they say his heavy smoking would reduce the chance of healing, and there is a risk of complications which could lead to amputation.
They have told him they will treat him only if he gives up smoking. But the former builder has been unable to break his habit and is now resigned to coping with the injury as he cannot afford private treatment.
He is in constant pain from the grating of the broken bones against each other and has been prescribed daily doses of morphine.
Mr Nuttall, of Newlyn, Cornwall, broke the ankle in a fall in 2005. Initially he refused surgery because he had caught MRSA at a different hospital four years earlier, and was terrified of history repeating itself.
He hoped the fractured bones would knit together with a standard plaster cast to immobilise his ankle. But six months and three plaster casts later, it became clear that an operation to pin the bones was the only solution.
However, the hospital told Mr Nuttall, who no longer works because of smoking-related chest problems, that he would have to give up smoking before an operation could be carried out.
Mr Nuttall said: '"I am in agony. I have begged them to operate but they won't. I have tried my hardestto give up smoking but I can't. I got down to ten a week at one point but they said that was not good enough.
"I spent 12 months trying to give up and used patches and everything, but nothing works.
"I have smoked for over 40 years and it's not going to happen.
"We were brought up at a time when cigarette advertisements were everywhere and there were no warnings.
"I want to warn other smokers that they could be denied medical treatment and there is nothing we can do about it.
"I have paid my dues as a taxpayer-and now the NHS won't treat me."
Mr Nuttall, who is single, uses a walking stick to get around and fears his bones will now be so 'calcified' that an operation would not work even if he were allowed to have it.
"It is very painful," he said. "If I walk more than a few steps I can feel it grinding."
A spokesman for the hospital trust said: "Smoking has a very big influence on the outcome of this type of surgery, and the healing process would be hindered significantly."
A man with a broken ankle is facing a lifetime of pain because a Health Service hospital has refused to treat him unless he gives up smoking.
John Nuttall, 57, needs surgery to set the ankle which he broke in three places two years ago because it did not mend naturally with a plaster cast.
Doctors at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro have refused to operate because they say his heavy smoking would reduce the chance of healing, and there is a risk of complications which could lead to amputation.
They have told him they will treat him only if he gives up smoking. But the former builder has been unable to break his habit and is now resigned to coping with the injury as he cannot afford private treatment.
He is in constant pain from the grating of the broken bones against each other and has been prescribed daily doses of morphine.
Mr Nuttall, of Newlyn, Cornwall, broke the ankle in a fall in 2005. Initially he refused surgery because he had caught MRSA at a different hospital four years earlier, and was terrified of history repeating itself.
He hoped the fractured bones would knit together with a standard plaster cast to immobilise his ankle. But six months and three plaster casts later, it became clear that an operation to pin the bones was the only solution.
However, the hospital told Mr Nuttall, who no longer works because of smoking-related chest problems, that he would have to give up smoking before an operation could be carried out.
Mr Nuttall said: '"I am in agony. I have begged them to operate but they won't. I have tried my hardestto give up smoking but I can't. I got down to ten a week at one point but they said that was not good enough.
"I spent 12 months trying to give up and used patches and everything, but nothing works.
"I have smoked for over 40 years and it's not going to happen.
"We were brought up at a time when cigarette advertisements were everywhere and there were no warnings.
"I want to warn other smokers that they could be denied medical treatment and there is nothing we can do about it.
"I have paid my dues as a taxpayer-and now the NHS won't treat me."
Mr Nuttall, who is single, uses a walking stick to get around and fears his bones will now be so 'calcified' that an operation would not work even if he were allowed to have it.
"It is very painful," he said. "If I walk more than a few steps I can feel it grinding."
A spokesman for the hospital trust said: "Smoking has a very big influence on the outcome of this type of surgery, and the healing process would be hindered significantly."
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