The true and lawful goal of the sciences is none other than
this: that human life be endowed with new discoveries and
powers.
—Francis Bacon, Nocum Organum (1620)
Whether you are a hard-core smoker or simply live or work with smokers—which can be equivalent to smoking several cigarettes per day. You can reduce the health risks of tobacco by using the proper nutrients,
available at health food stores. Or you can use any of a number of simple techniques to smoke less without reducing your pleasure—and without getting fat! You can even eliminate most of the bad odors of cigarette smoke that cling to your home’s rugs, draperies, and walls, while at the same time
making it a cleaner and healthier place to live—whether you give up smoking or not. Through scientific research, we now know why people smoke, what real psychological and behavioral benefits smoking provides, what the major molecular mechanisms are which make smoking hazardous, and, finally, how to reduce the hazards of smoking without reducing those benefits of smoking. pleasure (if that is your idea of pleasure).
If you are a smoker, you are probably used to reading and hearing preachy messages from friends and strangers about how you should quit smoking. From the point of view of optimal health, it is, of course, sound advice. But most committed smokers, who have quit smoking repeatedly, will doubtless be happy to know that there is another solution to their dilemma. There are a number of ways to make it safer for you to smoke—not as safe as not smoking, but considerably safer than it is now. Many of these ways of reducing smoking risks involve the use of nutrient supplements that
you can purchase in any health food store.
Let’s consider why people continue to smoke. They don’t quit because smoking gives them certain benefits. Many campaigners for the elimination of cigarette smoking have not realized that people would lose these benefits, as well as the health risks. Tobacco has significant effects on behavior and psychological state. Recent research has shown that cigarette
smokers (and others who use tobacco) find that tobacco use makes it easier to cope with overstimulation like city noise and overcrowding. That’s because the nicotine in cigarette smoke is a stimulus barrier, a substance that makes it easier for a person to function in an overstimulating environment.
Human brain-wave activity can be measured by putting electroencephalograph electrodes on a person’s head. When a
subject is subjected to a sudden unexpected stimulus (like a loud noise), you find out how much the brain responds to these stimuli, The brain of a person who has used nicotine responds less to these distracting stimuli than the brain of someone who doesn’t smoke. In this way, the nicotine makes it
possible for some people to cope with the overstimulation found in most cities by reducing their brain’s reactions to the extraneous stimulation. In one laboratory experiment, for example, rats given nicotine showed less response to painful heat stimuli than rats that did not receive nicotine.
When people quit smoking all of a sudden (cold turkey), they suffer
from withdrawal symptoms which include an increase in their brain’s response to outside stimuli. The rebound effect of no longer using the stimulus barrier of nicotine results in an unpleasant reversal of the nicotine effects, so that the outside stimuli cause a greater response by the brain than if the person had never used the stimulus barrier (nicotine) at all. This
makes it difficult for would-be nonsmokers to concentrate. No wonder that quitting smoking is so hard for many people.
Tobacco, and its major psychoactive alkaloid nicotine, is used widely throughout the world. One fascinating aspect of tobacco use, of which few smokers in this country are aware, is that it is used to produce a “trip” (psychedelic experience) in some countries. In Surinam and French Guiana, for example, tobacco is used in combination with the alkaline ash of
the bark of slereulia trees, to intensify and accelerate the action of the nicotine. The tobacco is prepared by placing tobacco leaves in a small tin, sprinkling ash under and between the Jeaves, adding water, and pressing the mix to produce a dark-brown liquid, This is taken as a liquid snuff by inhaling it into the nostrils. It is used during the course of daily activities rather than as part of a special ritual. The drug experience of a user unaccustomed to tobacco was reported as follow immediately after inhalation there is an overwhelming feeling of ecstasy, accompanied by a not-unpleasant sweet taste at the back of the mouth. The light-headedness lasts only a few minutes and then gives way to feelings of disorientation,
a strong urge to vomit and finally a cold sweat. All effects subside after 20-30 minutes.” Needless to say, this type of tobacco use is far different from that of most tobacco users in the West. This form of usage does not involve the smoking of tobacco and hence avoids many of the health hazards associ-
ated with smoking.
In order to reduce the risks of tobacco smoking without giving up its benefits, we must first understand how the harm is caused. Only then can we do something sensible to counteract it. We know of several important ways that smoking tobacco diminishes health. The most serious risks are those of increased rates of cancer and cardiovascular disease. The
“tars” of tobacco smoke contain a class of chemicals that are believed by many scientists to cause between 40 and 80 per-cent of all internal human cancers—the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons. These substances can cause mutations in the DNA blueprint material of your cells. Such mutations can result in cancer and can also lead to the formation of atherosclerotic plaques. In their role as mutagens, these polynuclear
aromatic hydrocarbons first bind to the DNA molecule and then chemically damage it. There are several nutrients able to interfere with this process and, thereby, reduce the risks of getting cancer and atherosclerosis from cigarette smoking.
These include vitamins A, E, and C, and the minerals selenium and zinc. Selenium has recently been found to be a powerful inhibitor of cancer formation. In animal experiments, selenium has been used to suppress the formation of cancers caused by exposure to toxic chemicals. People who live in cities where the drinking water is high in selenium have lower cancer rates than people in cities where the drinking water contains low levels of selenium, The National Cancer Institute is now recommending that people take about 200 micro- grams of selenium every day as a prophylactic against cancer.
They are trying to get the Food and Drug Administration to recommend this in their Recommended Daily Allowances. Such a recommendation would require that the FDA abandon its dogmatic position that all nutrients normally needed or desirable are provided by well-balanced meals, so the delay is likely to be extended. If people took this much selenium every day, cancer rales might eventually decrease by about 70 percent, based on several human and domestic animal epidemology studies both here and abroad, and also based on several animal and tissue culture experiments as well, as reported by Dr. Johan Bjorksten and Dr. Ray Shamberger.
We currently prefer to take our selenium in the form of sodium selenite, the form subject to most research to date. Although selenocystine and selenomethionine increase blood levels of selenium more rapidly, these seleno amino acids are less effective than sodium selenite in elevating serum glutathione peroxidase levels. Mammals and birds do not seem to
be capable of distinguishing between seleno and sulfur amino acids. Sodium selenite was also superior in inhibiting Ehrlich ascites tumor cell growth in mice. (One type of selenium containing yeast has recently shown good glutathione peroxidase elevation.
Another hazardous chemical contained in cigarette smoke is acetaldehyde (and closely related formaldehyde), which is also found in smog and in the bloodstream of alcohol drinkers (the acetaldehyde is made from alcohol principally by the liver}. This toxic chemical is known as a cross-linker be-
cause it makes undesirable chemical bonds via free radical reactions between molecules in the body, such as proteins and nucleic acids.
Although a certain amount of controlled crosslinking is necessary, there are also uncontrolled cross-links in the wrong places, When undesired links form between such molecules, they no longer function normally. Examples of cross-linked proteins are wrinkled, inelastic skin and inelastic, hardened arteries, Emphysema is caused to a substantial extent by cross-linking of lung tissues. The emphysema and lung fibrosis found in victims of previous U.S. paraquat treatment of cannabis programs is caused by the fact that paraquat is a powerful free radical initiator which results in extensive
lung cross-linking. The use of paraquat on cannabis (grass or hash) greatly increases its health hazards.
Since free radicals are often mutagens and carcinogens, smoking paraquat-contaminated cannabis may also cause lung cancer, Vitamin B-3 has reduced paraquat toxicity in experiments on ruts.) The hardening of rubber windshield wipers is also a cross-linking process. Fortunately, a very effective nutrient combination against undesirable cross-linking is vitamin B-1, vitamin C, and the amino acid cysteine (found in eggs and sold as the
pure material in some health food stores). When Dr. Herbert Sprince gave large doses of acetaldehyde to rats, 90 percent of them died, but when he gave another group of ruts the same dose of acetaldehyde after fortifying them with B-1, C, and cysteine, none of the rats died.
Nicotine, although not as much of a health problem as the polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons or aldehydes, has risks of its own. Nicotine causes blood vessels to constrict (become smaller in diameter), thus increasing blood pressure. Also, nicotine causes an increase in blood fats, such as cholesterol. But these effects can be largely countered with nicotinic acid. You can see from the name that nicotinic acid is closely related to
nicotine. The drawings below, showing the structures of nicotine and nicotinic acid (vitamin B-3, which is also called niacin), reveal the similarity. Unlike nicotine, however, the vitamin niacin causes dilation (widening) of the blood vessels and a reduction in blood fats like cholesterol. In one human study, a dose of 3 grams of niacin per day reduced the cholesterol level in the bloodstream by 26 percent after only two weeks. Other studies have found that these desirable results continue as long as people take the niacin.
As mentioned previously the vitamin niacin has, for some people, annoying—but harmless and transitory—side effects of flushing and itching (due to the dilation of blood vessels and also the release of histamine). To minimize the effects, start with niacin at a low dose (perhaps 100 milligrams), taken on a full stomach. Work your way up to one gram after each meal. Usually, you’ll find the side effects diminish, often disappearing completely when you use the niacin regularly. Since niacin is acidic, it is wise to neutralize it with an antacid if you use large doses of more than a gram per day.
Cigarette smoke also contains heavy metals, particularly lead, radioactive polonium, and arsenic. These heavy metals all poison certain enzyme reactions in your body, particularly those with sulfhydryl groups, which are often protective antioxidants. Vitamin C provides considerable protection
against these heavy metals by helping to keep them in solution so that they can be eliminated from the body in the urine. Vitamin C can also block the formation of cancer-causing nitrosamines, made from nitrates and nitrites in cigarette smoke and amines such as nicotine and other amines found in
your daily food. Vitamin C can even help prevent that scourge of all smokers, the smoker’s cough. (It works for sore throat too.) Add a teaspoon of vitamin C crystals (available at many health food stores) to a glass of cold water or fruit juice and sip this drink while smoking. (The vitamin C is acidic, so you may want to add 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda to neutralize
it. Don’t use baking soda if you are on a low-sodium diet or have essential hypertension; in the latter case, try powdered limestone or calcium carbonate instead.) Don’t save what you don’t drink, because vitamin C is destroyed by autoxidation in water within only a few hours.
Smoker’s cough can also be prevented or ameliorated with Hydergine®. Simply hold on or two l-milligram sublingual tablets under your tongue
while smoking. Hydergine®, a powerful antioxidant, can provide protection from the major damaging agents in smoker’s cough, free radicals.
BASIC VITAMINS AND MINERALS FOR SMOKERS
Dose per day
| Selenium, trace element | 250 micrograms |
| Vitamin A | 10,000 to 20,000 international units |
| Vitamin E | 1,000 to 2,000 international units |
| Zinc (gluconate or other chelated form) | 50 milligrams |
| Vitamin B-1 | 1/2 to 1 gram |
| Vitamin B-2 | 100 to 200 milligrams |
| Vitamin C | 3 to 10 grams |
| Cysteine (not cystine) | 1 to 3 grams (at least three times as much vitamin C as cysteine) |
| Vitamin B-3 (niacin, not niacinamide) | 300 milligrams to 3 grams (00 milligrams to 1 gram taken 3 times a day on a full stomach), starting at 100 milligrams |
| Vitamin B-5 (pantothenate) | 250 to 1000 milligrams |
| Vitamin B-6 | 250 to 500 milligrams |
| Choline | 1 to 3 grams |
| PABA (a B vitamin) | 500 milligrams to 1 gram |
| Beta Carotene | 20,000 to 60,000 international units |
246 Part If: Improving the Quality of Life
Cigarette smoke also contains carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides. These dangerous gases can be found in smog in small quantities, but they are a major problem in cigarette smoke. Carbon monoxide destroys the ability of your blood to carry oxygen. Nitrogen oxides damage your throat, lungs,
DNA (cell blueprints), and abnormally oxidize your body’s fatsvia a free radical mechanism, turning them into cancer-causing substances.
Fortunately, the antioxidant vitamins, which block abnormal, uncontrolled oxidation reactions (including vitamins A, C, E, B-1, calcium pantothenate or pantothenic acid, B-6, and PABA), provide very effective protection from
nitrogen oxides.
Some additional advice for smokers on their vitamin/ mineral formulation:
CAUTION: Do not start out taking these high doses. Do not start to take this formula on an empty stomach, either. Start at about ‘/ of these amounts per day and slowly increase your doses. Be sure to divide the total daily dose into three parts and take it with meals to slow its absorption and to minimize the gastric effects of acidic vitamins such as C and niacin. This allows your body time to adjust to all these extra nutrients. If you take too much initially, annoying (but not hazardous) side effects may occur, such as upset stomach, diarrhea, and brief skin flushing and itching. It is a good idea to consult your doctor before you start to take these substances.
CAUTION: Persons with diabetes mellitus (sugar insulin diabetes) should use large doses of vitamins C, B-1, and the amino acid cysteine with caution and only under the supervision of their physician. This nutrient combination is capable of inactivating insulin by reducing some disulfide bonds, including one or more of the three disulfide bonds that determine insulin’s tertiary structure (three dimensional shape).
We have clinical laboratory serum glucose determinations (use the hexokinase method only) on about two dozen nondiabetic adults using these nutrients, and al) serum glucose levels have been normal, and all urine samples have been sugar free. However, we have not seen test results showing its effects on diabetics.
Vitamins B-1, B-2, B-3 (niacin), B-5 (also known as pantothenate), B-6, PABA, and C, and the amino acid cysteine, should be taken in three or four divided portions (which add up to the daily dose). This is because these vitamins are rapidly eliminated via the urine and must be replaced several times a day to maintain high levels in the bloodstream. You can demonstrate this for yourself by taking a 50-milligram vitamin B-2 tablet, which will color the urine a bright yellow a half hour or so after taking it. In about three or four hours, the urine will have become pule again, indicating how quickly the
B-2 (and other water-soluble vitamins) is eliminated, The other supplements (choline, selenium, vitamins E and A, and the chelated zinc) do not have to be taken in divided doses throughout the day, but may be if desired. Otherwise once a day is adequate for these.
It is important that at least three times as much vitamin C be used as cysteine. In people who do not take adequate quantities of water-soluble antioxidant nutrients such as vitamin C, it is possible for cysteine to be converted to cystine (the oxidized form of cysteine). Cystine can form damaging stones in the kidneys or urinary bladder, but cysteine can’t.
Some people experience dizziness or headache when first using niacin. This is caused by the widening of blood vessels in the brain, particularly when they have been chronically narrowed by nicotine. The dizziness and headache usually disappear with regular niacin use. When niacin is not taken on a full stomach, flushing and itching are more likely to occur. These symptoms may be alarming but are not harmful.
CAUTION: The acidity of niacin should be neutralized when large doses are used and particularly if it is taken on an empty stomach.
Vitamin C in the form of crystals or powder is preferred. Sodium ascorbate (nonacidic vitamin C) is best unless you are on a low-sodium diet. Vitamin C, which can provide partial protection against most of the hazards of smoking, is markedly lowered in concentration in the serum of smokers.
Vitamin B-5 (pantothenic acid or calcium pantothenate) is an antioxidant which will provide noticeable and rapid improvement in the appearance of your skin. The cross-linking pollutants in cigarette smoke cause premature skin wrinkling.
Vitamin B-6 levels of smokers are known to be lower than those of nonsmokers. Since vilamin B-6 can help prevent undesirable oxidation reactions in the body (like the ones that turn fats in your body into cancer- and atherosclerosis-causing substances), vitamin B-6 supplementation is especially important for anyone who smokes.
Vitamin A, an antioxidant and a specific regulator of epithelial tissue growth, such as skin and cells lining the lung, throat, and gastrointestinal tract, is markedly reduced in the serum of smokers.
Vitamin B-5 (pantothenic acid or calcium pantothenate) is an antioxidant which will provide noticeable and rapid improvement in the appearance of your skin. The cross-linking pollutants in cigarette smoke cause premature skin wrinkling.
Vitamin B-6 levels of smokers are known to be lower than those of nonsmokers. Since vilamin B-6 can help prevent undesirable oxidation reactions in the body (like the ones that turn fats in your body into cancer- and atherosclerosis-causing substances), vitamin B-6 supplementation is especially important for anyone who smokes.
Vitamin A, an antioxidant and a specific regulator of epithelial tissue growth, such as skin and cells lining the lung, throat, and gastrointestinal tract, is markedly reduced in the serum of smokers.
The B vitamin PABA provides protection against ozone damage to the lungs. Ozone is found in smog, cigarette smoke, and the smoke of almost anything that burns. PABA should not be used at the same time as you are taking a sulfa drug because the PABA can prevent the sulfa drug from being effective. (Sulfa drugs work by resembling PABA and fooling bacteria into substituting them for real PABA, thereby giving the bacteria a vitamin deficiency because the sulfa drugs don’t do the jobs done by PABA.)
Vitamin B-2 is required for the protective enzyme glutathione reductase. The added cysteine makes more glutathione, which in its reduced form is an antioxidant. Glutathione reductase reduces oxidized glutathione, thereby recycling it for reuse.
CAUTION: Keep in mind that vitamins B-3 {niacin} and C (most widely available as ascorbic acid) are acids, so if you take megadoses, it is advisable to take an antacid, such as baking soda (bicarbonate of soda), to avoid irritating the stomach or, under rare conditions, even causing an ulcer. You can test the pH (acidity or alkalinity) of your urine (to be sure it is
properly neutralized or somewhat basic) with pI] paper or litmus papers available at any drugstore. ‘The pH of normal urine is 4.8 to 8.0, Neutral pH is 7.0; lower pH numbers indicate an acid, while higher pH numbers are basic (alkaline). When your urine makes pink litmus paper dipped in it turn
pale blue, the urine is basic.
Psychologist Stanley Schacter found that people who had an acidic urine smoked more than people with an alkaline urine. In his investigation of this phenomenon, he gave one group of smokers 4 grams of antacid baking soda per day (we suggest 1 gram between meals and a gram before bedtime),
which reduced their craving for smoking, In the fifth week of the study, this baking soda group of smokers were using only 0.14 cigarettes per person each day, whereas 7.8 cigarettes per person were smoked per day by another group taking vitamin C (which increased acidity) and by a third control group receiving a nonactive placcbo. Scientists know the reason for these findings. The nicotine is eliminated through the urine. When the urine is acid, more of the nicotine is climinated than when the urine is alkaline. Since one of the main reasons smokers smoke is for the stimulus-barrier effect of the nicotine, they smoked more often when the urine was acid, to keep their blood and brain levels of nicotine up. In the group taking the baking soda, the nicotine was not eliminated as fast, so the smokers did not need to smoke as often. If you have essential hypertension or are on a low-sodium diet, use powdered limestone (calcium carbonate), dolomite, or some other low-sodium antacid recommended by your physician instead of baking soda, which is sodium bicarbonate.
One of the most serious problems confronting smokers who are able to quit smoking is that of weight gain. It is not a very good bargain to quit smoking in exchange for becoming obese. It is well known that obese persons have higher rates of cancer and cardiovascular diseases, as well as many other dangerous conditions, than people of normal weight. In fact, the risks are much higher (much more than additive) for people who are both fat and smokers. One of the major reasons for these problems of the obese is the abnormal, uncontrolled oxidation of fats in their bodies. Fats in the body can be converted into poisonous oxidized fats by oxygen in the tissues and by other free radical oxidation initiators or oxidizers like acetaldehyde, nitrogen oxides, and ozone (found in almost any kind of smoke and smog). These oxidized fats have several negative effects on health: they are carcinogens (cancer-causing agents) and they can damage DNA (the cell’s
blueprints), leading to abnormal cell function. Damage to DNA is believed to be a major factor in aging, as well as the usual cause of cancer.
The oxidized fats inhibit certain white blood cells (macrophages) which normally attack and eat bacteria, viruses, cancer cells, and other undesirables in the body. But in fat people, who are full of oxidized fats, white blood cells are deterred from attacking these enemies. The result is that fat people get sick more often than people of normal weight.
Many antioxidant nutrients provide protection against these abnormal, uncontrolled oxidations (that’s why these nutrients are called antioxidants), including vitamins A, C, E, B-1, B-5, B-6, and PABA, the amino acid cysteine, and the minerals zine and selenium. Even with protection, though, it is better not to be obese.
One possible reason for the obesity problem that plagues people who quit smoking is that eating may replace nicoline as a stimulus barrier. There are ways of circumventing this problem. Nicotine is a cholinergic substance, meaning that it stimulates that part of the brain where nerve cells communicate with one another using the brain chemical acetylcholine.
People who smoke may require a high level of cholinergic stimulation. It may be possible to substitute choline, a vitamin. and cholinergic substance, for the nicotine. Choline is used by the brain to make acetylcholine
Acetylcholine is used by the brain’s system that controls how much outside stimulation gets into the brain. Without enough acetylcholine, outside stimuli come pouring in. Choline may be able to provide the same type of stimulus barrier effect as nicotine without the risks associated with the use of nicotine (which are especially large in smoked tobacco). Regular use of
choline has several benefits, including stabilization of membranes (like those in your joints and lungs) and increase of human intelligence and memory (in MIT students taking 3 grams per day and involving the learning of lists of words)
Furthermore, choline has been found to increase the life span.
of experimental animals.
Another way to avoid obesity is to tuke the appetite-reducing amino acid phenylalanine, discussed in several prevous chapters, including the chapter on weight control, but worth repeating here. This amino acid is found in such foods as meats, cheeses, and milk. In fact, you probably get about
2.8 grams a day in your diet (about Yio ounce). The best way to use phenylalanine is as the pure amino acid, available at a few health food stores. Take between 100 and 500 milligrams in the evening on an empty stomach just before bed. Once you have reduced your weight, it may be a good idea to also reduce your intake of phenylalanine, or even eliminate it al- together, if you can maintain your weight without it. (It is better to use the pure amino acid rather than foods containing the phenylalanine because the phenylalanine has to compete with other amino acids to get into the brain. Foods contain a lot of these other amino acids, so only a little phenylalanine can get into the brain this way. And only the material that
reaches the brain can help reduce appetite.) Phenylalanine should be distinguished from phenylpropanolamine, an appetite depressant used in many over-the-counter diet pills. The brain uses phenylalanine to make norepinephrine (NE), a chemical needed for communication between certain nerve cells that are involved in appetite regulation. Phenylpropan-
olamine cannot be used by the brain to make more NE, but it does cause the brain to use its supplies of NF, eventually depleting them. When the supply of NF. runs low, after a couple of weeks or so of using phenylpropanolamine, you suffer a Ietdown and will probably go on a rebound eating binge. This does not happen with phenylalanine, since it is the natural nutrient used in your brain to make more NE.
CAUTION: It is important to stress, as we have earlier, that in large doses
at more than the amounts mentioned here) phenylalanine can inerease blood pressure. People with high blood pressure should begin at a very low dose (perhaps 100 milligrams) and have frequent blood pressure readings to make sure it isn’t rising. If you become irritable or aggressive, or have headaches or insomnia, you should reduce your dose of phenylalanine, or perhaps take it midway between breakfast and lunch. Continuous use of high doses of phenylalanine on an empty stomach, to increase its availability to the brain, has not been tested for chronic toxicities. Such use must be considered experimental. In the brains of newborns who have ex-
tremely high circulating levels of phenylalanine, due to a serious genetic defect (phenylketonuria, an absence of an enzyme in the brain), this amino acid and its breakdown products lead to destruction of brain tissue and mental retardation.
SELF-DEFENSE FOR NONSMOKERS.
Many of you reading this are likely nonsmokers wondering how you can protect yourself, your family, and your loved ones from cigarette smoke produced by smoking relatives, co-workers, friends, and strangers. In a study of middle-aged subjects, Drs. James R. White and Herman F. Froeb found recently that nonsmokers who inhaled tobacco smoke in their
workplace had a significant reduction in the small-airways function of their lungs compared to nonsmokers not so exposed. This reduction in lung capacity was similar to that seen in light smokers and smokers who did not inhale but was not as severe as that seen in heavy smokers. The same nutrients that provide protection to smokers will also help protect non-
smokers. Particularly effective are vitamins C, K, B-1, A, and PABA, the amino acid cysteine, and the minerals zinc and selenium. Remember that sidestream smoke (the smoke that enters the air directly from the burning tobacco) contains far more of the carcinogenic tars and smoke particles than inhaled smoke, which has been fillered through a mat of tobacco. A recent EPA study conducted by Drs. Repace and Lowrey has quantified the effects of this sidestream smoke on innocent bystanders. A typical nonsmoker who either lives or works with a smoker is involuntarily exposed to particulates and carcinogens, equivalent to smoking 4 to 20 cigarettes per day! Simply being in the same room with a smoker forces you
to become a smoker. A recent study conducted in Japan compared the incidence of lung cancer in nonsmoking women who lived with nonsmoking husbands to that of “nonsmoking” women who lived with husbands who smoked. The “nonsmoking” women whose husbands smoked had about twice the incidence of lung cancer of the nonsmoking women
with nonsmoking husbands. Involuntary exposure to tobacco smoke in public places is, in our opinion, a far more serious public health hazard than smog, automotive or industrial pollution, or low level radiation.
The proper type of room air purifier can provide complete protection from the hazards of tobacco-smoke-laden air and from the sticky film of carcinogenic tar that tends to coat everything in a smoker’s room, and almost complete protection from the unpleasant odor of stale smoke. There are two basic types of air cleaners that are suitable for this purpose:
the HEPA filter type and the electronic precipitator type.
The HEPA (high efficiency particle absolute) filter was originally developed to remove tiny radioactive plutonium particles from the air of nuclear weapons factories. They are so effective that they remove not only all smoke and tars from the air but also all pollen and bacteria, as well as most viruses. The HFPA filter air cleaner requires little maintenance: every six to twelve months you replace a prefilter (cost about $2), and every few years you replace the HEPA filter (cost about $60).
The electronic precipitator type has a prefilter like the HEPA unit. The small-particle filter is an electronic collector cell that pulls tiny particles frorn the air the same way that static electricity on a comb or record attracts dust. As the collector cell must be washed with warm water containing dishwashing detergent every few months, the electronic precipitator is a bit less convenient than the HEPA unit, though both are equally effective if properly maintained. Power consumption and sometimes noise tend to be lower in the electronic type.
Activated charcoal filters are available as an option on both the HEPA and the electronic precipator units. Activated charcoal is a universal odor grabber; whether your problem is stale smoke, fried onions, or a wet dog, it will suck it right up. The activated charcoal has to be replaced one to four times per year, so get a unit which holds granular activated charcoal in a refillable basket or frame. When the odors come back, simply dump out the old charcoal granules and pour in the new (available from any air conditioning contractor).
In addition to giving you a safer and more pleasant place in which to live or work, these air cleaners (the HEPA filter and the electronic precipitator} can pay for themselves by greatly reducing the need to repaint, clean draperies, furniture, and rugs, and even dust and vacuum clean! Do not confuse these air cleaners with “negative-ion air fresheners,” which are far less effective for this purpose.
Furthermore, the negative-ion generators produce a free radical, superoxide, from atmospheric oxvgen and water.
You don’t have to have a doctor’s prescription to purchase an air cleaner—but if you do get a doctor’s prescription for an air cleaner you can deduct it from your taxes as a medical expense. Common medical indications for an air cleaner prescription are airborne allergies, asthma, and emphysema.
A very simple way to reduce smoking risks is to use those cigarettes which are highest in nicotine compared to tars. The lowest-tar cigarettes are not always safer than higher-tar ones. Research has shown that smokers tend to smoke on the basis of nicotine content. If a cigarette is low in nicotine, a smoker will smoke more of them to get a satisfactory level of nicotine.
With high-nicotine cigarettes, smokers tend to smoke fewer of them. You may be able to reduce your cigarette consumption by smoking cigarettes that have the highest ratio of nicotine to tars (nicotine content divided by tar content). Some comparisons for several popular brands are:
| BRAND | NICOTINE* (milligrams) | TAR* (milligrams) | NICOTINE/TAR RATIO (milligrams) |
| Triumph Filter | 04 | 3 | .13 |
| Kool Super Lights | 07 | 7 | .10 |
| Carlton Soft Pack | 0.1 | 1 | .10 |
| Viceroy Rich Lights | 0.8 | 9 | .089 |
| Virginia Slims Light | 0.8 | 9 | .089 |
| Tareyton Lights | 0.4 | 5 | .080 |
| Salem Lights | 0.8 | 10 | .080 |
| True | 0.4 | 5 | .080 |
| Winston Lights 100s | 1.0 | 13 | .077 |
| Merit Kings | 0.6 | 8 | .075 |
| Marlboro Lights | 0.8 | 12 | .067 |
| Merit 100s | 0.7 | 11 | .064 |
| Benson & Hedges Lights (menthol) | 0.7 | 11 | .064 |
In a perfect world, cigarettes should be fortified with nicotine to greatly increase the nicotine-to-tar ratio and, thereby, reduce the number of cigarettes smoked. This would reduce the health risks associated with smoking. Under current rules of the FDA and the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Alcohol and Tobacco Tax, adding nicotine to cigarettes is not allowed, and tobacco companies, even if they were permitted to do this, would not be allowed to claim any health benefits for the nicotine-fortified cigarettes, even though these cigarettes would be healthier to use than those with a lower nicotine-to-tar ratio. The added nicotine would cost less than 1/100th of a cent per pack, and people would be smoking less and enjoying it more than ever before.
You can avoid most of the health risks of smoking while still getting the stimulus-barrier benefits of nicotine by using snuff, chewing tobacco or Nicitine gum. Although these forms of tobacco are much safer than cigarettes, they are not completely safe and certainly are rather messy to use. Few houses and offices have spittoons nowadays.
Each stick of Nicorette gum contains either 2 or 4 milligrams of nicotine. A pack of fifteen sticks is intended to replace a pack of twenty cigarettes. The gum has done well in clinical trials with 3,000 volunteers. Minor side effects of use can include a taste some people don’t like, throat irritation, excessive salivation, and hiccups. The side effects will not include lung cancer or emphysema.
Using some of these simple methods, it is possible for smokers to suffer less from their smoking while getting all the benefits. The stimulus-barrier effects of nicotine can be obtained by using nonsmoked forms of tobacco, such as snuff, nicotine chewing gum, and chewing tobacco, or possibly by
substituting choline for nicotine. The cancer-causing polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons and acetaldehyde can also be avoided by using nonsmoked tobacco. Or you can use high- nicotine-to-low-tar cigarettes. Or you can use nutrients which protect you from the hazards of smoking. Yet another way is to make your urine alkaline to help keep the nicotine in your brain. Whatever you decide to do, you have the opportunity to choose your own habits at your own desired risk level.
Besides the nutrients, there are two prescription drugs, mentioned earlier, that are helpful to a smoker, but your docor may not be aware of this use for these drugs because of the FDA’s rules preventing drug companies from telling doc tors about new (FDA unapproved) uses for their products.
The first is the remarkable drug Hydergine® (Sandoz), which has appeared often in previous chapters. It can not only help prevent damage to health when you smoke, it can even undo some of the damage that has already been done. Hydergine® is a very safe drug. The only contraindications for its use (that is, medical conditions that make it undesirable to use Hyder-
gine®) are sensitivity to the drug (we do not know anyone who experienced this) and acute or chronic psychosis. The dose recommended in this country (as set by FDA) is 3 milligrams a day. In Europe, the dose typically used is 9 milligrams a day.
What does Hydergine® do? We originally came to study Hydergine® as part of our research into aging processes because of its potential for life extending effects. Hvdergine®, which has been shown to be a very powerful antioxidant, slows aging in the brain caused by several different aging mechanisms. Hydergine® can maintain the normal brain energics of an animal (as measured by EEG) for forty-five minutes, even when the animal’s oxygen supply has been reduced to a dangerously low level (without Hydergine®, we would see brain damage within fifteen minutes), Hvdergine® is routinely used in many European countries for emergencies such as stroke, heart attack, drowning, electrocution, ete., and can often be useful in the revival of apparently dead patients if given soon enough. What can Hydergine® do for smokers? It protects the brain and the heart from the oxygen-depleting effects of the carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke, from the blood-vessel-constricting effects of nicotine, and from the abnormal oxidizing effects of the aldehydes and nitrogen oxides
in cigarette smoke. Sublingual Hydergine® promptly combats smoker’s cough, too.
The second prescription drug of interest to smokers, called diphenylhydantoin, has been used successfully to allow smokers to quit without withdrawal symptoms. Mentioned earlier, this drug has been used safely in humans for decades; in experimental animals it was found to improve their learning ability under certain conditions, and even to increase their life span. Diphenylhydantoin has been used for many years by epilepties to control their epileptic seizures. Many epileptics use diphenylhydantoin every day of their lives, often starting in childhood. Diphenylhydantoin is also a stimulus barrier (like nicotine) which has been used successfully in smoking-withdrawal trials with human subjects. It works very well. The reason this treatment is not being widely used is because the drug is approved only as a treatment for epilepsy not for smoking. In fact, since smoking is not considered a disease, the FDA may never approve any treatment, no matter how safe, specifically for the purpose of stopping smoking. (Considering how many people are killed by smoking each year, this FDA policy is difficult to understand.) If all else has
failed and you would like to try to cut down on your smoking with the help of diphenylhydantoin, you can chew a 50-milligram children’s tablet when you crave a smoke. It is wise to begin using only two tablets a day and work up to as many as six a day, if necessary, starting out slowly to get used to the
drug’s sedative effects. If you use over 100 milligrams a day and want to stop taking it, you should taper off the drug slowly. Otherwise you may experience some withdrawal symptoms. Smokers report that it is much easier to withdraw from diphenylhydantoin than from cigarettes. Once you have stopped smoking, slowly reduce and finally discontinue the
diphenylhydantoin. Prolonged use has some undesirable effects, such as occasional overgrowth of the gums (particularly in people with poor dental hygiene), and it may produce sedation during the day when you do not want such an effect.
CAUTION: If you consider using the vitamin and other drug suggestions in this chapter, you should remember that chronic smokers may have stomach or duodenal ulcers. These can be aggravated if acidic vitamins are taken on an empty stomach. Therefore, consult with your doctor first, before taking any medication.
IMPORTANT LAST MINUTE ADDITION: A recent study indicates that beta carotene provides substantial protection to smokers against lung cancer.
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