The electromagnetic helmet developed by Israeli experts has proved to be very helpful in quitting smoking. Photo: Courtesy Nature
Tel Aviv: A revolutionary helmet that sends electromagnetic waves deep into the brain has made a breakthrough in helping people quit smoking. After consumption, 44% of heavy smokers gave up cigarettes altogether.
By increasing electrical activity in the brain for just a few weeks, many people quit smoking, with a third of them not smoking a single cigarette for the next six months.
This research was done by Dr. Abraham Zinjan of Ben-Gurion University and his colleagues. They included heavy smokers in the study who were not quitting tobacco.
Interestingly, it is now being tested by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) before its approval and its full details have been published in the Journal of Biological Psychiatry.
The machine is financed by Brainsway, an Israeli company. A total of 115 people who were smoking 20 cigarettes per day participated in this study. 77 of them completed their entire studies. Some people spent several days a week in a refrigerator-like machine with a helmet attached. Electric shocks were emitting from this helmet. All 77 people used the machine for several weeks.
Copper wires inside the helmet generate electromagnetic waves and activate the part of the brain that creates the urge for an addiction. In medical parlance, these areas are called the prefrontal and insular cortex.
Forty-four percent of people in the study quit smoking completely and stuck to their commitment six months later. This is an extraordinary achievement. However, most people resumed smoking a few weeks later, but this time the number of cigarettes was reduced due to reduced demand.
In the next phase, it will be tested in 20 more centers around the world and if successful, the machine will be widely available after a few years.
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