Relax - it's the new way to quit smoking

BUDDHIST meditation is more effective in reducing smokers' cravings than nicotine gum, according to new research carried out at St George's , University of London .

In trials carried out by Dr Michael Ussher, Senior Lecturer in Psychology, 30 smokers on their first day of quitting listened to a 10-minute relaxation tape, while a control group heard a speech on natural history.

Volunteers reported an immediate drop in nicotine cravings after the meditation. Previous studies have shown nicotine gum doesn't reduce cravings for at least 10 to 15 minutes after users start chewing.

The tape uses a Buddhist technique called body scanning, which directs listeners to focus on their breathing, then on different parts of their body. Those listening to it also became instantly less irritable, tense and restless — all symptoms of tobacco withdrawal.

Volunteers, who had all smoked for more than three years, were asked to score their cravings on a chart from one to seven before and after listening to a recording. The meditation group recorded an average drop in cravings of 1.5 points, while the control group's cravings fell by just half a point.

Dr Ussher said: “The success rate for the relaxation group was as strong or stronger than nicotine replacement therapy. And the great thing about this technique is that every time you have a cigarette craving, you can just pop on your MP3 player — and no one even knows what you are doing.”

First-year medical student at St George's Chris Callue was a 15-a-day smoker when he volunteered to take part in the trial. He said: “You could feel the effects of the meditation for about half an hour afterwards. After the trial I decided to give up completely, and haven't had a cigarette since.”

Fellow medical student Tamara North, 22, who took part in the trial, plans to use the tapes to quit in the future. She said: “They were incredibly relaxing and enjoyable to use. A craving lasts for such a short period but the tapes allowed me to focus instantly on what I was feeling and, because you're so relaxed, you can deal with it more easily.”

Even Dr Ussher experienced the technique's calming effect. “I found lying down and listening to the tapes quite relaxing — it was often hard to get back to work because I was a bit spaced out. I just wanted to go and sit in the park.

“It's an attractive way to quit, as many of us walk around with headphones on a lot of the time anyway — and it could have the added bonus of making the daily commute less stressful,” added Dr Ussher.

NHS Stop Smoking Clinics have approached Dr Ussher with a view to adopting the technique to help smokers quit.

The study findings were published in the June 2007 edition of the journal Addiction.

Dr Ussher is leading a further, larger scale study into body scanning's effect on the desire to smoke and the results will be released later this year.

The steroid that can help you quit smoking overnight

Another of Dr Ussher's studies aims to find if a steroid given to asthma sufferers could help smokers quit. Levels of the body's ‘stress-buster' hormone, cortisol, drop dramatically during the first 24 hours of quitting, so Dr Ussher's team will give smokers an artificial replacement — hydrocortisone — to help them cope with the pain of giving up.

Dr Ussher said: “The idea is to boost smokers' cortisol levels during those crucial first 24 hours while the body's adjusting. Without normal levels of cortisol, smokers can't cope with the stress of giving up — so they reach for a cigarette.

“There's no harmful side-effects of having a day's worth of hydrocortisone and it's very cheap — it only costs a few pence. If our trial shows that it works, the implications could be huge.”

In a clinical trial due to start later this year, 50 men and women smokers will be monitored over the first 15 hours of quitting, with two groups given either 20 or 40 milligrams of hydrocortisone, and a third group a placebo. It is being funded by Cancer Research UK.