Would-Be Quitters Get Help Winning Against Nicotine
Smokeless tobacco. Even with all the new tools, it may turn out that not everyone can break the addiction. "I don't think I will ever get past nicotine," says Faye Moody, a 48-year-old clinic coordinator for the dental-hygiene program at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. Moody says she tried to quit "about 15 times" from 1981 to 1994, using patches, hypnosis, motivational tapes, and classes. Finally, she gave up and turned to smokeless tobacco. "I went from smoking to chew, and I didn't feel deprived," she says.
"Nicotine maintenance," as proponent Brad Rodu calls it, may be a safer alternative to smoking for people like Moody. "Nicotine is addictive, but it isn't the agent that causes disease," says Rodu, professor of pathology at the University of Alabama-Birmingham School of Medicine. Hughes agrees, provided quitters use patches or gums and not smokeless tobacco, which has risks of its own, including cancer of the mouth. "People who chew nicotine gum for long periods of time have no more heart attacks or ulcers than those who don't," Hughes says.
Ultimately, quitting still takes determination. Hellenbrand recalls a recent night out. "I had a couple of drinks, and the friends I was with were smoking," she says. "I was really hankering for a cigarette." Instead, she chewed straws. Lots of them. "You should have seen the mess on the table," she says, laughing. After surviving that bout in the lion's den, Hellenbrand proudly says, she knows she is free.
WHERE TO FIND IT Support. www.quitsmokingsupport.com offers chat rooms, bulletin boards, and information on how to quit. Clinical trials. Go to www.centerwatch.com; click first on "Listing of Clinical Trials" and then on "Cardiology/Vascular Diseases." Trials of experimental drugs and strategies for smoking cessation are listed by state. Clinics. The American Cancer Society sponsors smoking-cessation clinics called FreshStart around the country. Call (800) 227-2345.
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