Santa Barbara, CA (PRWEB) December 10, 2003--Smokers planning to kick the habit as one of their New Year’s resolutions this holiday season now have a new and promising aid to help them make it stick this time. SmokeSignals, a smart and user friendly electronic cigarette case designed to put the latest stop-smoking technology right in the palm of the user, was released to market this month, just in time for consumers to begin the New Year smoke free.
While most smoking cessation treatments focus solely on the addictive nature of nicotine and ignore the habits that keep smokers hooked, SmokeSignals electronically delivers personalized quit plans that are based on clinically tested behavior modification principles. Combining a smart cigarette case, a personalized Quit Plan based on the user's individual smoking patterns, and an online progress page, the SmokeSignals program is designed to 'coach' the smoker though the process of quitting. Clinical trials found that by focusing on disrupting the triggers associated with lighting up, smokers can more effectively taper off their use of nicotine over a 4 to 8 week period.
Participants in three clinical trials report that SmokeSignals provides a ‘simple, effortless' approach that physicians say may appeal to many of the 50-million American smokers who have tried the patch, gum, pill,
and counseling without success. Instead of requiring the smoker to tough it out through 'cold turkey' or nicotine replacement drugs, the SmokeSignals program is a less demanding but highly effective gradual reduction approach to quitting. In a recent short-term clinical trial, 45% of smokers quit using the device alone. By comparison, comparable studies show the nicotine patch and gum at 19% and 16% success rates.
The SmokeSignals program was developed over a four-year period with funding from the National Institutes of Health to provide researchers with a more efficient method of capturing the unique behavior patterns of smokers. Each time a cigarette is removed from the handheld cigarette case, the lid opening is time-stamped into memory. When plugged into a standard telephone line, the device automatically dials the company's toll free number to upload the data. There, the smoker's patterns are analyzed and a tapering schedule unique to the individual's profile is calculated -- all within the span of 30 seconds. From that point forward, the device cues the user when to smoke, gradually reducing allotments to zero over 4 to 6 weeks. Users can access their personalized progress reports and helpful advice at the website, www.StopSmart.com.
"We based the SmokeSignals StopSmart program on scientific principles of changing habits and developing long term coping skills," said Vesta Brue, product inventor and company president. "Quitting smoking is a difficult, often overwhelming challenge because of deeply ingrained habits and behaviors, developed over many years. If nicotine addiction were the only issue, quit attempts would be more successful than the 2% annual success rate American smokers have now," she added.
The $149 device includes two months of web-based progress feedback and expert advice at the stopsmart.com website. The product is being sold primarily through corporate wellness programs, because employers bear most of the costs associated with smoking, Brue added. "The Center for Disease Control indicates that a smoker annually costs society $3,391 more than a non-smoker."
In addition, the SmokeSignals program will be made available to dentists and health professionals to retail devices in their clinics and refer patients to the website. Health services providers can contact SmokeSignals personnel for further information at 1-866-965-9200.
For further information, please contact: Vesta Brues, President, SmokeSignals(TM), a division of LIFETECHniques, Inc., 805-965-9200, e-mail protected from spam bots
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Copyright and trademark notice: SmokeSignals(TM), Personal Health Assistant (PHA) and LIFETECHniques are trademarks and copyrighted brand names of LIFETECHniques, Inc. of Santa Barbara, CA. World rights reserved (C) 1998-2003.
