Results [Return to Contents]
In order to prove scientifically the efficacy of the Chiapi method for giving up smoking, research was carried out on 1353 smokers by Dr Yves Réquéna, Dr Claude Pernice and Dr Daniel Michel in a Marseilles hospital (Therapeutic effect of acupuncture in stopping smoking). This, then in 1975-1976, was the first large scale study on giving up smoking in the world. After one month and in conjunction with one or two acupuncture sessions carried out at a seven-day interval, 70% (68.12% to be precise) had not smoked ; 60% (exactly 59.59%) still had not smoked again after three months.
Efficacy of the method on the need to smoke
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Out of 1142 subjects covered by the study ; the need to smoke was declared as being the cause of relapse by 120 subjects (10.50%). This means that 89.50% did not feel a need to smoke, whether they did smoke again or not.
Need was said to be the reason for relapse, especially during the first month :
Only 0.17% mentioned need as the cause of relapse during the second and third months. The smoker should therefore consider the benefit of a second or third session, whenever the motivation wavers, in order to increase one’s chances of success.
Men find it easier to give up smoking than women
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When faced with giving up smoking, men and women are not equal. After 3 months, 59.99% of those studied did not smoke anymore but :
Arrêt complet
|
Cases treated |
Completely stopped |
% |
|
| Women |
238 |
116 |
48,74 |
|
| Men |
904 |
568 |
62,83 |
|
This table shows that 568 men out of a total of 904 men treated gave up completely, in other words, some 62.83% men stopped smoking. But out of 238 women treated, only 48.74%, a total of 116 women, stopped completely. This difference is quite sufficient to lead us to conclude that women using this method find it more difficult to stop smoking than men. Not surprisingly, identical results were found by all the other methods for giving up smoking and confirmed our results.
Typical female problems
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Several hypotheses have been put forward to explain why women have difficulty in stopping smoking
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Women are less motivated to give up smoking, except when pregnant. Unlike men, women are usually less intoxicated and do not feel the first detrimental effects of smoking on the body (coughing, being short of breath, etc... ).
-
In
general, women inhale less frequently than men do, and when they do inhale, they inhale less. So the gesture and the intellectual satisfaction, more so than a real physical need for the drug, are likely to be the cause of women’s addiction. This could explain why acupuncture, which removes the need, has less effect on female
smokers.
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Women, being of a very different psychological and emotional nature, may find it far more difficult to give up "the company of cigarettes" than
men.
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This is changing though, as women smoke more and more - and even younger women, too - and they are smoking more than men. What’s more, women inhale smoke just like men do.
The 35-45 age group is the most successful at giving up smoking
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The age of a smoker is a prime factor when it comes to giving up smoking.
Completely stopped smoking
-
Age 0 to 25 (47,34%)
-
Age 26 to 35 (59,42%)
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Age 36 to 45 (71,23%)
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Age 46 to 55 (68,93%)
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Age 56 and over (46,51%)
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Total 698
As can be seen in the table above, 203 (71.23%) out of the 285 subjects in the 36 to 45 age group stopped smoking completely. Likewise, 142 (68.93%) subjects out of a total of 206 aged 46 to 55 years old gave up completely.
In the 36-45 age-group, average reaches or exceeds 70%. The observation is even clearer if we include the 26-35 age-group, with 59,42% - which is not far from the general average of 59.89%.
In conclusion, all averages included, 66.52% of the smokers who stop smoking are between 26 and 56 years old. Thus with the Chiapi method, 2 smokers out of 3 aged 26 to 56 years old do not smoke after 3 months.
The general score at 3 months was adversely affected by two age groups who do not give up smoking so easily: those under 25 (47.34%) and those above 56 (46.51%). Social and psychological factors can probably account for these low results.
The age of reason: 36 to 55 years old ?
In this age bracket, the subject is old enough to feel the bad effects of tobacco (coughing, breathlessness) and yet, young enough to hope to live many more years in good health. These facts can explain their motivation for giving it up.
The amount of tobacco smoked has no influence on the efficacy of the method
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Quite legitimately, one would think that anybody smoking a lot is more intoxicated and drug dependent, so that giving up smoking would be more difficult...
Completely stopped smoking:
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0 - 15g/d (grams per day) ( 63.20%)
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16 - 35g/d (60.85%)
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36 - 55g/d (58.26%)
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more than 55g/d (61.11%)
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Total : 692
Reminder : 1 cigarette = 1 gram of tobacco
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As shown in the analysis of the results, the amount of tobacco smoked has no statistically significant influence on the efficacy of the Chiapi method. This experiment is in accordance with the theory claiming that acupuncture does eliminate the need to smoke, even though the amount smoked may be very important, validating the all-or-nothing mode of action.
The efficacy of the Chiapi method whatever the type of tobacco smoked
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It’s worth looking at the type of tobacco smoked and check if it has any incidence on giving up smoking. Only 633 answers could be
studied.
Completely stopped :
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Black tobacco cigarettes without filters ( 54.15%)
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Black tobacco cigarettes with filters ( 58.82%)
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Virginia tobacco cigarettes (59%)
According to this study the Chiapi method is equally efficient whatever the type of tobacco: black, Virginia or menthols, with or without filters. But what about light cigarettes though? One is no less dependent when smoking light cigarettes because they contain less nicotine; As a matter of fact, these cigarettes contain less nicotine, but in order to get their required dose of nicotine, smokers do inhale the smoke in greater depth or smoke their cigarette to the very end. So they do not make any difference.
The number of years of smoking has little influence on the chance of success in giving up smoking
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The study tested each case in terms of ‘cigarette-years’ - so that the age of the subject would not interfere with the results – in order to assess whether the number of years spent smoking does influence the chance of giving up with success or not.
| Cigarette
Years |
Completely stopped
(%) |
|
| 1
à 5 |
49,63 |
|
| 6
à 10 |
60 |
|
| 11
à 20 |
64,67 |
|
| 21
à 30 |
67,45 |
|
| 31
à 40 |
57,46 |
|
| 41
à 50 |
51,16 |
|
| +
de 50 |
53,92 |
|
|
|
|
Looking at the results, it is not possible to come up with a satisfying conclusion. It would appear that people who smoked less than 5 cigarette-years are still in the ‘Blue phase‘. So it is in a sense logical that they should not give up so
easily.
Cigarette-years
This expression is used to measure the degree of intoxication, combining the amount of smoke OU BIEN the amount of cigarettes smoked, with the number of years spent smoking. Thus smoking one packet a day (20 grams of tobacco per day) for a whole year amounts to 1 cigarette-year. On that basis, smoking 40 grams a day (2 packets per day) for a year is like smoking 20 grams per day for two years, and so is equivalent to 2 cigarette-years.
Inhaling makes giving up cigarettes more difficult
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Inhaling but stopped completely :
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YES 631 (59.42%)
-
NO 53 (66.25%)
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TOTAL : 684
It is more difficult to give up smoking when inhaling, since nicotine addiction is greater. In this study, those who did not inhale smoke gave up more easily than those who did.
Though there is a difference with the Chiapi method too, it is so small that it is not statistically significant. Therefore, it can be concluded that the efficacy of the Chiapi method is not affected whether one inhales or not.
Measuring the degree of intoxication
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Whether tobacco intoxication is ‘passive’ or ‘active‘, it can be determined with an instrument measuring the amount of carbon monoxide expelled when breathing out. This gas resulting from tobacco combustion is found in great quantities in inhaled smoke. The measure indicates the danger level of addiction as well as the degree of the smoker’s dependency since the more one draws on a cigarette, the greater the CO level increases, and so the more addicted one is.
Smoking before breakfast is a sign of greater addiction
Results of the study confirm that smoking before breakfast is an indication of major addiction to nicotine which makes it stopping with the Chiapi method more difficult.
Smoking before breakfast is a sign of major addiction
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Smoking before breakfast - Stopped completely :
-
YES 249 (52.53%)
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NO 435 (65.12%)
Tobacco and dependency
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Tobacco generates dependency, that’s why it is addictive. Actually, there are three types of dependency which are complementary and intimately linked : a psychological dependency because of the pleasure in smoking, a behavioural dependency due to the habit and gestures that go with it, and a physical dependency produced by nicotine.
After drawing on a cigarette, nicotine reaches the brain within 7 to 10 seconds. This ‘shoot’ (or rapid absorption) causes the heart rate to speed up and blood pressure to increase. The nicotine fixes itself on some receptor cells of the brain which are the source of pleasure; this occurs only after smoking for several months and holds true for one or two cigarettes maximum a day. The nicotine is then eliminated from the body in about two hours. Withdrawal symptoms appear then if one does not smoke within that period.
Successful stopping is not linked to motivation
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Complete stop due to motivation :
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Major medical reason : 94 or 53.72%
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Other illnesses and unpleasant symptoms : 155 or 58.05%
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Feeling slave to the cigarette, fear of illness, without motivation 435 or 62.14%
The results of the study show no predictive value of motivation on the chances of success in giving up smoking. Smokers suffering from a severe disease do not give up smoking more easily than those who quit without any medical reasons.
The motivation :
In reply to the questionnaire presented to smokers during the study, three types of motivation were given :
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A serious disease : heart attack, asthma, emphysema, obliterating arteriopathy
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Unpleasant but not serious problems : breathlessness, fatigue, colitis, sinusitis, lack of appetite, early morning cough ...
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Not wanting to be a slave to nicotine, fearing a future illness, or no specific motivation: to try and see, to do as friends do.
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