Smoking a cigarette with smoke around and a blurred background
Quitting smoking is certainly not easy, but doing it can save your health in a number of ways. The addiction is associated with heart disease, high cholesterol high blood pressure, inflammation, and more.
Now new research out of France is suggesting that a form of brain stimulation may help some smokers quit.
The study found that smokers who received non-invasive brain stimulation, using low-intensity electric or magnetic pulses, were twice as likely to go without cigarettes over three to six months than those who received a sham stimulation.
There are plenty of options available to help smokers quit, including nicotine patches, counselling, hypnosis an addiction medicines. Because of individual responses, sometimes none of them can offer a permanent fix.
Some suggest this type of brain stimulation may be best reserved for people with the strongest need to stop. The group may include those who have had a heart attack or stroke and are smoking a couple of packs per day and is having a difficult time quitting.
More wok examining the zap treatments, however, is required.
For example, it remains unclear is the results are long-lasting and guard against relapses. What often makes smoking so hard to quit is that it can be an intense craving to an emotional or environmental response.
Part of what makes smoking such a challenge to quit is that cigarettes are easily accessible and smoking can be done virtually anywhere.
In any event, because of the massive health risks associated with heart health, this is an interesting discovery and there is likely more to follow.
Quitting smoking can offer massive health benefits. If you’re a smoker and struggling to quit, it’s a good idea to talk to your doctor about the various methods that exist to help you stop.