Those of you who know me, or have read some of the older posts in my blog, know that I am somewhat of a skeptic. I am also a recovering smoker. I still struggle with occassionally having a cigarette from time to time, but it has been almost almost 3 years since I have been a full time smoker.
In quiting I tried everything. Nocotine gum, patches, anti-anxiety medication, counseling, etc... The only thing that ever took the edge off for me, was the gum. The problem is that it's just trading one source for another, and hence, I still chew Nicorrette to this day. I can't seem to actualy cut back on both. It's one or the other.
The problem is that while my lungs feel better, Nicorrette is more expensive than cigarettes, and who knows what it will do to my mouth and gums over the long run!
So when I ran accross this advertisement in a local mailer, the title understandably puiqed my curiosity.
Quit Smoking! with ZeroSmoke.
The All-Natural Treatment System for Smoking Dependence Using Magnetic Therapy.
Hold up. Magnetic therapy? For smoking? I've heard of all sorts of crazy ideas with magnetic therapy, but this is the first I've heard of using it to assist in quiting smoking. I'm tempted to immediately dismiss it, but something draws me to continue reading, looking for an explanation to how this could possibly work.
You can do it! You can quite smoking in as little as 30 days with ZeroSmoke, the revolutionary natural treatment that uses two biomagnets to exert a magnetic field that helps reduce and inhibit the desire to smoke. Just place the pressure applying biomagnets on either side of the ear to activate the body's neurotransmitters and produce endorphins. It's that easy. There are no pills, no gums, no patches. Non-allergenic. One kit lasts a lifetime.
Only $39.95
Wow! That sure sounds impressive! But wait. What is a biomagnet? Is that any different than a regular magnet? It says that it exerts a magnetic field, but so do refrigerator magnets. Shouldn't a biomagnet exert a biomagnetic field? And just how does a magnetic field help you stop smoking? Oh yeah, it activates the body's neurotransmitters to produce endorphins.
Ok, so if we break it down, there are 4 basic premises that we are asked to accept here.
- These biomagnets are special and worth $39.95.
- Magnetic fields activate neurotransmitters. Or is it the pressure applied by the biomagnets? The do leave that possibility open. Perhaps this isn't magnetic therapy at all, but accupressure? Is it the pressure applied to the ear that activates the neurotransmitters, or the magnetic field, or is it a combination of the two?
- Activated neurotransmitters produce endorphins.
- Our body's endorphins help reduce dependency on smoking. - It doesn't exactly state this, but it must be surmised, because that is the end result of the biomagnets, and if the endorphins didn't help to reduce dependency on smoking, what would be the point?
Working backwards, let's examine each of these, because if the end result isn't sound, we can dismiss all claims leading up to it.
4. Our body's endorphins help to reduce smoking dependency.
Scientifically speaking endorphins are opiods, meaning they produce a morphine-like effect, to kill pain or induce a feeling of euphoria. In fact, this is the same process that occurs when you smoke. Smoking increases your brains release of endorphins, which is what causes the euphoric feeling a smoker gets when smoking for the first time, or after a long break from smoking.
So, I suppose I can accept the premise that if you can replace the endorphins released by smoking with endorphins released by some other activity or source, this would reduce cravings. As a matter of fact, there are many ways to release endorphins into your brain. Long distance running, sprinting, high risk activities, certain foods, even sex.
The problem is that an endorphin high is short lived and is in itself addictive. Smokers may be familiar with the post -meal smoke, the post-coital smoke, and having a smoke after a thrilling activity. This is simply to draw out the length of that endorphin high, just to make it last a little bit longer.
The bottom line, is that by replacing one endorphin promoting substance with another, you are not stopping the addiction, you are simply replacing one source with another. But the claim is that endorphins can reduce dependency on smoking, and while I cannot say that this is absolutely true, I will call the claim reasonable.
3. Activated neurotransmitters produce endorphins.
To evaluate this claim, it is important to understand exactly what a neurotransmitter is. A neurotransmitter is a chemical located and released in the brain that allows signals (impulses) to pass from one nerve cell to another. These impulses are passed from one neuron to the next by way of an Axon, which is a thin cellular structure acting almost as a wire to connect the two. At the end of this wire is the Axon Terminal which branches into several Synaptic Knobs, but the synaptic knobs don't actually connect to the neighboring neuron, so to pass the impulse on, it must do so chemically, by releasing the chemical neurotransmitters into the Synaptic Cleft (the space between the Synaptic Knob and the Synapse), which are picked up by receptors on the Synapses of the recieving nueron.
So in essence, a neurotransmitter is simply a chemical carrying information from one neuron to another.
A few neurotransmitters you may have heard of are seratonin, dopamine, and norpinepherine, but perhaps you didn't realize that endorphin is in itself a neurotransmitter.
So if endorphins are neurotransmitters what does it mean for a neurotransmitter to produce endorphins? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. It's a meaningless sentence constructed to sound scientific while containing absolutely no meaning whatsoever. This kind of language is commonplace in the world of psuedo-science and in itself makes this product suspect of scammery.
But let's move on ...
2. Magnetic fields activate neurotransmitters
This claim wasn't as clear as the others, so I'll try to be as fair as possible. Since the advertisement didn't directly state that it was the magnetic field that activated the neurotransmitters, and left it open to the possibility that it was the pressure created by the magnets, I'll cover both cases.
a. The effect of magnetism on the human brain is something that has been studied extensively, exhaustively, thouroughly. While it has yet to be determined if there is a level of magnetism that could effect the brain in any way, it is quite obvious that even high levels of magnetism have virtually NO effect. Consider an MRI machine. The magnetic field created by an MRI machine is intense. If any magnetic field could release endorphins in the brain, it would be the field created by an MRI. Yet there seems to be a definitely lack of people addicted to MRI. There is no research anywhere to suggest that magnetic fields have any influence on brain chemistry at all, much less the magnetic field output by such a tiny magnet as pictured in the advertisement. I think this can be safely dismissed.
b. But what about pressure? The advertisement implies that there is pressure caused by placing two magnets, one on either side of the ear. There are many similar products that have in the past made suggestions that acupressure point on the ear can help with weight loss and quiting smoking. One such product was the Acu-Stop 2000 which in 1995 was shut down by the FTC for making unsubstantiated claims and had to pay out $50,000 in refunds. The simple fact of the matter is that there is NO effect of acupressure on the ear to reduce any sort of cravings, whether they be appetite, or addiction.
So again it seems as if they are using scientific sounding terms that in reality mean nothing. The magnets aren't going to activate endorphin neurotransmitters, and the accupressure is highly suspect as well.
However, in keeping with the theme of releasing endorphins, there is one scenario in which I can imagine this product would work. If the pressure created by magnets was sufficiently strong to cause pain, it could quite possibly release endorphins.
But is that realy what you want? Why not carry around a thumbtack and poke yourself everytime you're craving a ciggarette?
1. These biomagnets are special and worth $39.95.
Lastly we tackle the implication that these magnets are any different from a refrigerator magnet. Of course they don't actually make that claim, but they use the term "biomagnet". If you are interested in what exactly a "biomagnet" is, you could refer to the Foundation for Magnetic Science which, I must warn you, while it contains the word "Science" in it's name, is nothing of the sort. This site is full of some of the most outrageous claims for magnetic therapy I have ever seen in my life. You really should read the disclaimer that they place at the bottom of the page. Sorry, I'm getting off topic here.
By definition biomgnetism is the magnetic field given off by all living beings. The field is small, very, very small, but it is there, and can be measured. So in essence, you are a biomagnet, I am a biomagnet, my dog is a bio magnet. But a magnet made of even rare-earth metals, is NOT a biomagnet.
In fact, many of these products claim to be "Rare-earth" biomagnets, giving them that sound of something special. This in fact simply refers to the magnets being made of Neodymium, a "rare earth metal" that dipite the name is not rare at all. It is present in microphones, speakers, headphones, guitars and computer hard drives, and yes even some refrigerator magnets. You can purchase these magnets from a science surplus store for about $2.95 each.
The bottom line is that this is just another one of those magnetic therapy products that is cashing in on the ignorance of the public. The use of scientific sounding words used in a definitively non-scientific context has been successfully employed against the public for centuries to sell any variety of snake oil.
Please, if you see a product that you think might help you with a particular ailment. Research it. If the cure contains a magnet and little else, you should be immediately skeptical.