Lasers to quit smoking?
By TYLER KULA, The Observer
Posted 4 minutes ago
Forget lighting up, this laser is designed to help smokers butt out.
Smoking cessation therapy using “cold” lasers at the Petrolia Foot Clinic and Laser Centre has a success rate of 75% to 82%, according to chiropodist Dr. Sherrill Martin.
That’s out of about 40 patients since the program began in March.
“It’s not a miracle,” she said. “You have to really want to quit. The patient has to be able to determine between craving and habit.”
Smokers sign up for three treatment sessions over four days at $300.
Bob Stevenson, the centre’s laser technician, uses a low-intensity laser on fingers, wrists, ears and noses, to release endorphins and shorten the typically 30-day nicotine detoxification period to four days, Martin said.
For an extra $50, the laser can be used to treat appetite suppression points — for those concerned about gaining weight.
The process, developed in the 1970s, Stevenson said, has been in Canada for years and is similar to acupuncture — releasing endorphins to help curb nicotine addiction.
It’s unclear though exactly how the endorphins are released other than through “LED light energy,” Martin said.
After the sessions, patients are given a grab bag of suckers, candies and cigarette-length cut straws, to help sate any behaviour patterns that could lead to cravings.
Marie Chaves, a health promoter with Lambton County’s Community Health Services Department, said smoking cessation therapy with lasers is not scientifically proven to work.
“It isn’t one of the methods we would recommend because there’s no research to back it up,” she said.
Nicotine patches are the most effective treatment for nicotine replacement therapy, she said, noting there are also effective prescriptions.
The health unit has a number of quit smoking programs, including a Jan. 9 nicotine patch workshop in Grand Bend with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. For more information, call 519-238-1556.
In Petrolia, carbon monoxide is checked before each laser treatment session to make sure a patient hasn’t smoked, and success rates are based on calls 30 days after treatment, Martin said.
The laser is also used to treat injuries — decreasing inflammation and pain, and stimulating healing, Martin said.
Laser therapy was initially introduced at the nearly 12-year-old centre in 2009.
Martin said many of her patients were smokers and the response has been positive.
“A lot of phone calls, a lot of questions.”
This article is just full of Woo Woo. Light, laser Light or LED light does not make you stop smoking or effect your hunger. He also compares the treatment to acupuncture which is also Woo Woo and does nothing as well!
This treatment only makes the wallets of those fools that think it does anything, lighter by $300 plus $50 for weight! It is all in their heads!
Good work Tyler for promoting Woo and keeping the reputation of the Sarnia Woo Woo Observer newspaper going strong.
The article got one thing right: “You have to really want to quit" in order to quit smoking.
ReplyDeleteI really wish we had a respectable news paper in Sarnia.
ReplyDeleteI've been conversing on email with the author of this article, Tyler Kula. He is obviously a believer in religion and defends his article as a business article. Well, it shouldn't be posted under local news then. But then it should be a paid advertisement to promote their woo business.
ReplyDeleteYup, there isn't a good paper in this small town unless you buy it on a roll.
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