Drug comany Glaxo has been quick to try to take advantage of their comeptitor Pfizer's problems.
With the recent announcement by the Federal Aviation Authority banning the use of Pfizer's Chantix among commercial pilots and air traffic controllers due to concern over its' safety, Glaxo marketers have generously offered pilots and air traffic controllers 48 free nicotine lozenges.
However they are not publicising two things: firstly that a full programme of lozenges comprises over 900 lozenges and that the program will cost the pilots an additional $500 to complete, and secondly, that according to research published by industry consultants, the success rate of the lozenge is around 7%.
So, if you're a pilot wanting to quit, you can spend $500 on a product with a 7% success rate or you can visit us www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Friday, May 23, 2008
Chantix - more bad news...
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has banned the use of Chantix among America's pilots and air traffic controllers. The move comes as a response to research released by the Institute for Safe Medication Practices. The research details 988 'serious' incidents involving Chantix in the fourth quarter of 2007.
This follows hot on the heels of the FDA's February's public health advisory about Chantix, which warned users of the elevated risk of 'serious psychiatric symptoms' and even that some users had committed suicide.
For a natural, safe, effective, drug-free approach to quitting smoking, please visit us at http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/
This follows hot on the heels of the FDA's February's public health advisory about Chantix, which warned users of the elevated risk of 'serious psychiatric symptoms' and even that some users had committed suicide.
For a natural, safe, effective, drug-free approach to quitting smoking, please visit us at http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com/
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Quit smoking objective: tobacco-free or nicotine-free?
I have just received in my inbox a wonderful self-congratulatory press release from a major smoking cessation service provider. In it they pat themselves on the back for achieving their highest ever success rate in the first quarter of 2008. The problem is that they are defining 'success' as being tobacco-free rather than nicotine-free.
When we dig deeper we find that a significant number of the 'successes' are continuing to use the nicotine patch or gum. Research shows that of the 6-8% of gum users who successfully quit smoking, more than half become addicted to the gum. Further research shows that many people who remain addicted to nicotine ultimately relapse back to smoking.
I also note from their research that they were only able to follow-up with the 51% of their customers who completed the survey. What about the rest?
So, of the 14,428 people surveyed, the 'success rate' is based on the responses from just 7,300, and some of the people counted as successes are still using nicotine. In this kind of research it is usually the protocol to count non-respondents as still smoking. In this case their much-trumpeted 'success rate' of 44.5% (tobacco-free, not nicotine-free remember) at six months falls to 22.7%. As those still addicted to nicotine drift back to smoking, this figure would be expected to drop further...
Compare this to the 12-month, nicotine-free success rate of 53.3% for attending Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking seminar.
To get the facts, not the spin, please visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
When we dig deeper we find that a significant number of the 'successes' are continuing to use the nicotine patch or gum. Research shows that of the 6-8% of gum users who successfully quit smoking, more than half become addicted to the gum. Further research shows that many people who remain addicted to nicotine ultimately relapse back to smoking.
I also note from their research that they were only able to follow-up with the 51% of their customers who completed the survey. What about the rest?
So, of the 14,428 people surveyed, the 'success rate' is based on the responses from just 7,300, and some of the people counted as successes are still using nicotine. In this kind of research it is usually the protocol to count non-respondents as still smoking. In this case their much-trumpeted 'success rate' of 44.5% (tobacco-free, not nicotine-free remember) at six months falls to 22.7%. As those still addicted to nicotine drift back to smoking, this figure would be expected to drop further...
Compare this to the 12-month, nicotine-free success rate of 53.3% for attending Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking seminar.
To get the facts, not the spin, please visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Light and mild? Deadly and deceitful
Are light and mild cigarettes 'milder' or 'lighter' (by that what we really mean is 'safer' or 'less dangerous') than so-called full-flavor cigarettes?
To answer this question, we must first understand what a light or mild cigarette is. A light cigarette is identical to the full-flavor version with the exception of two things: first, the filter is longer. This gives the smoke more time to cool down before entering the airways and this reduction in temperature gives the illusion of a milder 'taste'. (This is why most smokers can't smoker non-flitered cigarettes: the smoke is too hot for them and they find the 'flavor' too harsh). Second, many manufacturers also put microscopic ventilations in the filter. Again, this allows the smoke to cool down giving the illusion of a milder taste. Also some side-stream smoke escapes through the ventilations, which gives these cigarettes lower tar and nicotine levels when the cigarette is tested by the FTC's smoking machines.
However, we do not smoke like a machine smokes. We cover the ventilations with our lips or fingers. We rip the filter off, or tape it up. We drag deeper, smoke further down the butt or smoke more cigarettes to compensate for the loss of this side-stream smoke.
Because we smoke light and mild cigarettes differently, we actually end up getting very similar amounts of nicotine (and therefore tar, carbon monoxide etc.) from ultra-light cigarettes as we do from full-flavor brands, it's just that the smoke is cooler giving the illusion of mildness.
In Canada this scam has been blown wide open and tobacco companies and now no longer allowed to use the deceitful descriptors 'light' and 'mild'.
As with so many other walks of life, in quitting smoking knowledge is power. To get more knowledge and power, visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
To answer this question, we must first understand what a light or mild cigarette is. A light cigarette is identical to the full-flavor version with the exception of two things: first, the filter is longer. This gives the smoke more time to cool down before entering the airways and this reduction in temperature gives the illusion of a milder 'taste'. (This is why most smokers can't smoker non-flitered cigarettes: the smoke is too hot for them and they find the 'flavor' too harsh). Second, many manufacturers also put microscopic ventilations in the filter. Again, this allows the smoke to cool down giving the illusion of a milder taste. Also some side-stream smoke escapes through the ventilations, which gives these cigarettes lower tar and nicotine levels when the cigarette is tested by the FTC's smoking machines.
However, we do not smoke like a machine smokes. We cover the ventilations with our lips or fingers. We rip the filter off, or tape it up. We drag deeper, smoke further down the butt or smoke more cigarettes to compensate for the loss of this side-stream smoke.
Because we smoke light and mild cigarettes differently, we actually end up getting very similar amounts of nicotine (and therefore tar, carbon monoxide etc.) from ultra-light cigarettes as we do from full-flavor brands, it's just that the smoke is cooler giving the illusion of mildness.
In Canada this scam has been blown wide open and tobacco companies and now no longer allowed to use the deceitful descriptors 'light' and 'mild'.
As with so many other walks of life, in quitting smoking knowledge is power. To get more knowledge and power, visit us at www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Stop Smoking online with Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking webcast
We are delighted to announce the launch of our Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking webcast service.
This service has been launched to service the US and Canadian smokers who do not have easy access to an Allen Carr seminar center (currently NY, LA, Dallas, Denver, Toronto and Vancouver).
The webcast is split into six segments and lasts four hours. As with the live seminars, smokers are invited to continue to smoke throughout the program, right up until the ritual final cigarette.
The webcast is delivered by one of the most experienced facilitators in the Allen Carr network, who has personally helped thousands of smokers - including many members of LA and NY's A-list.
We are getting tremendous feedback from webcast users. One user - a doctor who works in the field of addictions said: "So far, so good. I am amazed at how effectively your program has completely removed my desire to smoke. It really is easy..."
For more information about the webcast, please click here. If you are a smoker, or if there is a smoker in your life, we urge you to take a look...
This service has been launched to service the US and Canadian smokers who do not have easy access to an Allen Carr seminar center (currently NY, LA, Dallas, Denver, Toronto and Vancouver).
The webcast is split into six segments and lasts four hours. As with the live seminars, smokers are invited to continue to smoke throughout the program, right up until the ritual final cigarette.
The webcast is delivered by one of the most experienced facilitators in the Allen Carr network, who has personally helped thousands of smokers - including many members of LA and NY's A-list.
We are getting tremendous feedback from webcast users. One user - a doctor who works in the field of addictions said: "So far, so good. I am amazed at how effectively your program has completely removed my desire to smoke. It really is easy..."
For more information about the webcast, please click here. If you are a smoker, or if there is a smoker in your life, we urge you to take a look...
Friday, May 9, 2008
Another bad day for American smokers...
Yesterday the 2008 update to the US Guidelines for Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence was announced by Dr. Michael Fiore, Chairman of the review panel.
As expected, the update says that, apart from where contra-indicated: "Clinicicans should encourage (pharmaceutical quitting products) use by ALL patients attempting to quit smoking." But is this good advice or just another opportunity for drug companies to line their pockets still further? For example, Dr. Fiore's own financial ties to companies with pharmaceutical manufacturers are well-known, having been the subject of a front-page story in the Wall St. Journal (Feb 7, 2007).
The types of products that Dr. Fiore's team believe should be used by 'all patients' trying to quit include the nicotine patch and gum (which according to manufacturer Glaxo's own research have six-month success rates of 7%) and Chantix, which (without ongoing counselling and support) has a success rate of around 9% at 12 months and has been the subject of an FDA safety bulletin.
What's more, the recommendations specifically exclude counselling and education - well-known from clinical trials to be the most effective cessation tools - unless they are used in conjunction with medication. (As an aside here, I still can't get my head around calling a nicotine patch 'medication'. How can it be that the nicotine in a cigarette is an addictive poison, but the nicotine from a patch is 'medicine'? Go figure.)
The Allen Carr's Easyway method - a simple, single five-hour seminar - has been shown in independent clinical evaluations published in highly respected medical journals to have a six-month success rate approximately 10 times higher than nicotine replacement products, yet not only is this method not recommended by the panel, it is not even discussed.
It is tragic that smokers are continually told that they need a drug to stop doing a drug, when such wonderful, natural and effective alternatives are available. If you want to stop using nicotine without taking nicotine or other drugs, please visit us at http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
As expected, the update says that, apart from where contra-indicated: "Clinicicans should encourage (pharmaceutical quitting products) use by ALL patients attempting to quit smoking." But is this good advice or just another opportunity for drug companies to line their pockets still further? For example, Dr. Fiore's own financial ties to companies with pharmaceutical manufacturers are well-known, having been the subject of a front-page story in the Wall St. Journal (Feb 7, 2007).
The types of products that Dr. Fiore's team believe should be used by 'all patients' trying to quit include the nicotine patch and gum (which according to manufacturer Glaxo's own research have six-month success rates of 7%) and Chantix, which (without ongoing counselling and support) has a success rate of around 9% at 12 months and has been the subject of an FDA safety bulletin.
What's more, the recommendations specifically exclude counselling and education - well-known from clinical trials to be the most effective cessation tools - unless they are used in conjunction with medication. (As an aside here, I still can't get my head around calling a nicotine patch 'medication'. How can it be that the nicotine in a cigarette is an addictive poison, but the nicotine from a patch is 'medicine'? Go figure.)
The Allen Carr's Easyway method - a simple, single five-hour seminar - has been shown in independent clinical evaluations published in highly respected medical journals to have a six-month success rate approximately 10 times higher than nicotine replacement products, yet not only is this method not recommended by the panel, it is not even discussed.
It is tragic that smokers are continually told that they need a drug to stop doing a drug, when such wonderful, natural and effective alternatives are available. If you want to stop using nicotine without taking nicotine or other drugs, please visit us at http://www.theeasywaytostopsmoking.com
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