Internationally Recognized Expert Joins St. Helena Center for Health Tobacco-Dependence Treatment Program

St. Helena, (PRWEB) May 28, 2005

A Stanford trained physician, Dr. Sachs is an Adjunct Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Pulmonary & Critical Care Medicine, at his alma mater. He is also the Director of the Palo Alto Center for Pulmonary Disease Prevention, an independent, non-profit, medical research and educational organization he founded in 1985. Dr. Sachs has published over 100 scientific articles in the field of pulmonary medicine, including the diagnosis and treatment of tobacco dependence. Additionally, for the last 25 years, he has pioneered developing and implementing new, scientifically sound and innovative treatments to more effectively manage tobacco dependence.

“I am excited about joining program co-medical director Dr. John Hodgkin and the St. Helena team,” says Dr. Sachs. “This professional, interdisciplinary staff, combined with the residential aspects of the program, creates a uniquely comprehensive treatment environment to help individuals gain control over tobacco use. The expertise brought by Dr. Hodgkin and myself will create a dynamic program that will grow, develop, and improve as new ideas and data become available. Our goal is to create the finest, most effective tobacco-dependence treatment program available anywhere in the world.”

“The addition of Dr. Sachs is a natural partnership because of his unique expertise in individualizing and optimizing treatment that can effectively eliminate nicotine withdrawal symptoms and substantially improve treatment results. Also, the St. Helena program will benefit from the experience, skills and innovative treatment ideas that Bonnie L. Sachs, RN, MS, who has been involved with Dr. Sachs’s clinical research trials over the past 25 years, will bring to the program,” says Dr. Hodgkin.

“Smokers need to understand that nicotine, per se, is not harmful to their health. Rather, it is the tobacco smoke that causes the adverse health consequences and premature death from such diseases as cancer, heart attack, stroke and emphysema,” says Dr. Sachs.

“Nobody should be going through the pain of nicotine withdrawal as they quit smoking. We can give them the tools to control that. Pharmacotherapy should be considered for all patients who are attempting to stop smoking or using tobacco in any form. The probability of success one year after treatment is two to three times greater if just one medication is used, and those chances increase by another fifty to one hundred percent if two or more medications are used.”

In its 36th year of operation, St. Helena’s tobacco-dependence treatment program is one of only two residential stop-smoking programs in the country; the other one is located at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN.

The St. Helena program’s approach is unique in recognizing that a balanced life is essential to stopping smoking, and is one of the key factors of its success. Medical professionals from numerous disciplines collaborate to provide education and guidance in lifestyle management and behavioral change to help smokers focus on the underlying issues of addiction.

“Because smoking is not merely a physical problem, we use a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach that involves pharmacotherapy, behavior modification, stress management, exercise training, nutrition, spirituality and relapse prevention.” says Nancy Pieraccini, executive director for the Center for Health.

For more information on the St. Helena Center for Health’s tobacco-dependence treatment program or to register for an upcoming session, call 1-800-358-9195 or visit the website at www.smokefreelife.com.

St. Helena Hospital is part of Adventist Health, a not-for-profit health system operating in California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington. Founded on the Seventh-day Adventist legacy of Christian health care, Adventist Health is comprised of 20 hospitals with more than 3,100 beds, 18,300 employees, numerous clinics and outpatient facilities, 16 home care agencies and three joint-venture retirement centers. For more information, visit www.sthelenahospital.org or www.adventisthealth.org.

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