Quit smoking with laser therapy

New Delhi: Laser therapy is a new method to help smokers kick the habit, but it's not without some controversy.

Anne Penman, a former smoker and pub-owner from Scotland with no medical training, says the treatment worked for her, so she marketed it. She opened her first clinic in Glasgow in 1992.

Joeann Singer has been smoking a pack a day for 43 years. She's tried to quit four or five times. "I've tried to use the patch or be hypnotized but it didn't work," Singer said.

"It’s a cold noninvasive laser and we use it on 27 energy points on the body — ears, hands, nose, wrists. These are specifically chosen energy points to help stimulate the endorphin level," Penman said.

Endorphins relax the human nervous system. Penman says this can curb a smoker's nicotine cravings when they are strongest, like the days after quitting.

The therapy costs $350 for three sessions and is performed by technicians, not doctors.

Penman says she has tracked the success rate of people who have undergone the therapy, and the average success rate is over 50 per cent.

The therapy is promising, but remains unproven, says the American Cancer Society's top expert in smoking, Thomas Glyn.

"My concern with going directly to laser therapy is that you may squander an opportunity to use a method that we have data on," Glyn said.

"I would say laser therapy is something that's an absolute last resort after smokers made good solid attempts to quit using proven methods," Glyn added.

Penman says a clinical trial of laser therapy is set to begin early next year. But Singer is already a believer.

"I'm looking forward to never having another cigarette again. I really feel hopeful that this is going to be the aide I needed to get me to quit smoking for good," Singer said.