Athletics coaches, little old ladies and some others knew instinctively and by experience that cigarettes were “coffin nails” many years ago. Yet it was only in January 1964 that Dr Luther Terry, then Surgeon General of the United States, announced that smoking was dangerous to health. Today we know that one out of every six deaths in the United States is related to smoking. The American population has taken the message to heart. In 1965,

40 per cent of the population smoked cigarettes. By 1987 that number had dropped to 29 per cent. Two years later it was down to 27 per cent, and the trend continues downward. Half of all smokers who once smoked, that’s a whopping 40 million Americans, have now quit.

The percentage of smokers today is greatest among blacks, blue-collar workers and the less educated segments of our population, and advertisers know it, targeting those individuals with their messages. It’s sad to think that such persons, beset with enormous social and financial problems, are hunted down by the jackals in the tobacco industry.

When you and I began to smoke it was the “in” thing to do. If you didn’t smoke, you were somehow different from the fun-loving young people of the day. The pressure to smoke was tremendous, coming from peers, advertisers and out heroes in the movies. Today the tables are turned, and smokers are fast becoming social pariahs. It’s “in” not to smoke. In fact, in many instances it can be detrimental to one’s career. Some employers refuse to hire smokers. And restaurants, airlines and public places can make the smoker feel like a leper.

Despite their protests and their demands for their “rights”, most smokers actually want to stop. Most have tried to do so a number of times and have failed. It’s a rare individual, indeed, who wouldn’t opt to quit if he or she could do so painlessly—could wake up one morning a non-smoker with no desire to light up.

Well, no “magic pill” has been invented yet, but the prognosis for your successful quitting is really better than ever before. Consider the following markers for success in your own case:

All those who want to quit eventually do so. Study after study has shown that, while difficult for most and seemingly impossible for others, it can be done.

Older smokers are more successful than younger puffers.

Those who have failed in the past are more likely to succeed than those who never gave it a try. Seems that we learn from past failures.

More help is at your disposal than ever before. We have nicotine gum, drug patches, hypnosis, acupuncture, aversion therapy and group counselling at our disposal. We’ll discuss those options, and you can decide if one is right for you.

This is historically the best possible time to quit. You’ll have support from everyone around you, encouraging your efforts.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol

CASE HISTORIES AND COMMENT-TOWARDS HOMEOSTASIS

The re-establishing of homeostasis after treatment is an attainable ideal, noted by cardiac experts such as Professor Vincent who also sees its reverse more often in operation in sick patients: ‘In medicine the idea of vicious circles is true. You take heart failure. If the heart fails to pump blood well enough in one beat then a bit of blood accumulates. Next time it’s a bit overfilled so a bit less efficient. In heart failure there’s a spiralling down which requires a lot of therapy until you get back up to a particular point and then it can be held. Tucked back in there is a mechanism which you push back into balance of operation and then it’s maintained in spite of the fact that the treatment is no longer there.’

This is what seems to happen to the patients who have chelation therapy. They no longer need their drugs, props, and restricted lifestyles: their fear of overdoing things abates and they are

re-empowered to take charge of their health instead of their sickness taking charge of them.

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Cardio & Blood/ Cholesterol