Can lasers help you stop smoking? Check the data

Could one hour be all you need to quit smoking, without cravings or side effects?

That's what Innovative Laser Therapy, a New Haven, Connecticut-based company, advertises on its website. The clinic uses low-level lasers - similar to those sometimes used to treat arthritis-related pain - to target specific acupuncture points on the body related to addiction, metabolism and stress, and claims that most patients can quit smoking after one session.

In that session, the laser is pointed at spots on the face, hands and wrist, with the aim of relieving withdrawal symptoms and preventing cravings.

"When you smoke a cigarette, you artificially tell your brain to release endorphins," Frank Pinto, the owner of Innovative Laser Therapy, told Reuters Health. Therefore, quitting leads to a quick drop in endorphin levels, he said.

"The laser basically stimulates the nerve endings to tell the brain to release a flood of endorphins" to boost a patient over that initial 3-5 day hump of withdrawal symptoms, he said.

The treatment also targets other points that are thought to suppress appetite - to prevent the weight gain that often comes with quitting smoking - and promote relaxation, according to Innovative Laser Therapy.

But does it work?

'NOT ENOUGH EVIDENCE' IN SCIENTIFIC TERMS

There's limited research showing that laser therapy might help some smokers quit. Innovative Laser Therapy cites one study, a 2008 paper published in the Journal of Chinese Medicine, available on their site at http://link.reuters.com/pus95p. A UK-based team found that smokers that had four laser treatments over two weeks were more likely to quit than smokers that had three treatments. Those in the three treatment group, in turn, had better success rates than a control group that was given fake laser treatments.

After 6 months, 55 percent of the four-treatment group was smoke-free, compared to 19 percent of the three-treatment group and 6 percent of those who were treated with fake lasers.

The authors weren't able to follow most of the 340 participants for more than 6 months after treatment, so they don't know if those who stopped smoking started up again, or if they really quit for good. And the journal's site - which offers lasers and other treatments for sale - does not say whether it is peer-reviewed.

In contrast, a 2000 Singapore study of 330 adolescents found no difference in 3-month quitting rates for participants treated with real or fake laser therapy.

"In scientific terms, this one (UK) study is not enough evidence to recommend (the) laser for smoking cessation," Dr. Adrian White told Reuters Health by email. Dr. White is a research fellow at Peninsula Medical School in the UK who co-authored a review of laser therapy and similar smoking cessation methods for the Cochrane Collaboration, an international organization that evaluates medical research. "The results conflict with the other study, and they seem 'too good to be true.'"