Stopping smoking must be one of the most popular New Year?s Resolutions of all time, but how many smokers make it to Valentine?s Day? How many even last a week?

When a group of reporters from took a smoking cessation workshop earlier this year, some of them didn?t last three days without a cigarette. In one group of 12, not a single person is still nicotine free.

Their bump from the wagon wasn?t necessarily a sign of weak character or poor will-power, but a demonstration of the voracity of nicotine addiction.

Although cigarette advertisers would like people to think that nicotine only induces a minor addiction, just the opposite is true. Nicotine has been compared to heroin in addiction intensity, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recently classified nicotine addiction as a disease.

Luckily, there is one more programme for local smokers to try called ?Simply Stop Smoking?.

The new programme that kicks off the week of January 12 is being run by two nurses at the Allergy Clinic of Bermuda, Tracy Nash and Jutta Harvey.

What?s different about this programme? Rather than attempting to lecture, hypnotise, or shame the smoker out of their addiction, their approach is multiple counselling sessions and medication.

Their programme also keeps on hand a host of professionals including a physician, a psychologist and a dietician to help the smoker deal with issues arising from quitting.

?The Centres for Disease Control in the United States have done studies to see what is the most effective method to stop smoking,? said Mrs. Harvey, who is nurse manager at the Allergy Clinic. ?What they have come up with is a combination of one-on-one counselling and medication, some of which is nicotine replacement therapy.?

Mrs. Harvey and her colleague, Mrs. Nash, are both registered nurses with specialised diplomas in asthma and allergies.

?We do a lot of asthma education as well as allergy testing,? said Mrs. Harvey. ?This has promoted a natural progression and a special interest ? especially in Tracy?s case, in smoking cessation programmes.?

Mrs. Nash is currently pursuing a degree in respiratory care and smoking cessation tied in neatly with it. She also brings to the programme the perspective of a former smoker.

?I used to smoke but I stopped 14 years ago,? Mrs. Nash said. ?I smoked about a pack a day. I wanted to quit for health reasons. I did not want to be a smoker; I wanted to be a fit healthy person. I stopped on New Year?s Eve.?

Mrs. Harvey said she was lucky, because as a teenager she tried cigarettes but they made her sick.

?I never got to the enjoyment phase,? she said.

However, she has watched her husband go through the experience of giving up cigarettes.

?I was able to stop smoking without outside assistance, however, many people do need help,? said Mrs. Nash. ?It has been shown that by providing counselling, assessment and nicotine replacement therapy, if necessary, people?s chances of quitting are improved.?

Studies have found that as much as 70 percent of smokers want to quit, but can?t or don?t. People want to stop smoking for a variety of reasons including health and also economics. Some smokers spend as much as $50 a week on cigarettes, that?s $2,600 a year.

?People also want to stop because the current climate in the world has turned unfriendly toward smokers,? said Mrs. Nash. ?Many states and countries either have instituted smoking bans in public places or are considering it. It makes it more difficult for people to smoke and I think when more people are aware of that they wish to stop.?

The Allergy Clinic is currently petitioning local insurance companies to cover the cost of the counselling sessions, because it is preventative medicine.

?There are the additional costs for people who will inevitably develop heart disease, strokes, and emphysema from smoking,? said Mrs. Harvey. ?COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) is a big category of respiratory problems associated with smoking.?

COPD is the fourth leading cause of death in the United States and symptoms include chronic cough, shortness of breath, a greater effort to breathe, increased mucus production, and frequent clearing of the throat.

According to the American Lung Association more than half of all smokers experience at least one symptom of COPD at least once a week, but only about a third of smokers are actually concerned about COPD.

?These problems have a whole other ballooning effect on health care costs,? said Mrs. Harvey. ?We have made an application to the insurance company to provide coverage for this programme, but they haven?t responded yet. Some of them review these things once a year, and some review the information as it comes in. The point is that it would save them money if they provided some coverage up front for preventative health measures.?

So what about the heavy smoker who lived to be 105 years old? Mrs. Nash said although you will occasionally get the odd smoker who lives a long life, there are many more people who actually succumb to smoking related illnesses such as lung cancer.

?Smoking is actually the largest preventable cause of premature death and disability,? she said. ?It certainly does have an impact. While some people manage to smoke long term, many more people will have effects from it including heart disease, cancer.?

During counselling sessions at the Allergy Clinic, clients will learns not only the health dangers, but also actually what a cigarette is, its different components and how it is effecting them. They will discuss coping strategies.

?There are withdrawal symptoms that people have to endure,? said Mrs. Nash. ?It is not easy to quit smoking, as many people know. It is estimated that as much as seventy percent of smokers would like to quit.?

Mrs. Nash said the follow-up visits and counselling sessions were especially important during the first phase of smoking cessation.

?It is a difficult process and there is a difficult phase to get through,? she said. ?The first few months are very difficult and you may have to change your behaviours. That may mean you do something different socially, initially. Once you have got through that phase you can then get back into your previous life.?

Mrs. Harvey said it is not only the client?s degree of commitment that determines success or failure, but also choosing the right programme.

?There are ways to get through it, and we would like to offer one method,? she said. ?Different things work for different people. Some people have tried hypnosis. Some people would rather talk to someone on the phone. Other people would rather go to a group revivalist ?I?ll never smoke again? type deal. This is another option.?

She said repeated follow-ups are necessary because many people fail with their first attempt to quit smoking.

?The more we can communicate with them during those difficult times then the more likely they are to carry on with their efforts,? she said. ?Each client has an individual management plan.

?When they come in we do a respiratory lung assessment. We test the levels of carbon monoxide in their system to assess how well they are doing. We do this by getting them to blow into a device. We also look at their needs in terms of literature and resources so they can get a complete understanding of nicotine addiction and its effects.?

One of the unwanted effects of quitting smoking can be weight gain, because the metabolic rate can drop once the nicotine is gone. A registered dietician will help the client to deal with any weight gain.

?A dietician is available to give them an individual plan,? she said. ?When you get the nicotine out of your body your actual sense of taste and smell improves, and it would be easy to overeat because people enjoy their food so much more. Unfortunately that can result in weight gain.

?The metabolic rate is also lowered when you stop smoking. Generally, people stop smoking first and then deal with the additional weight issue. It is difficult to deal with both at the same time.?

The cost of the counselling sessions is comparable to the cost of asthma education. Charges are $100 for the initial visit and around $60 for follow-up visits.

Telephone 295-9067 for more information or e-mail allergytbinet.bm .