Pathways to Wellness sets sights on Pepsi's $25K

South End holistic medical center plans to help chronically ill patients quit smoking with acupuncture.

A local holistic medical center is in the running to receive $25,000 that will fund the opening of a new smoking cessation clinic that will serve Pathways to Wellness patients suffering from chronic disease, including HIV/AIDS.

The Pepsi Refresh Project offers grants of all sizes (from $5,000 to $250,000) each month to the ten "ideas" -- or proposals, 1,000 of which are submitted to the Pepsi Refresh website (refresheverything.com) monthly -- that receive the most public votes. The Project is designed to fund non-profits, organizations, and individuals who plan to bring positive change to their communities.

"Smoking is, obviously, for someone with a chronic disease, a high risk factor," Demie Stathoplos, Executive Director of Pathways to Wellness, said. "It's a high risk factor for everybody."

According to Stathoplos, regular acupuncture over a period of four weeks can "reduce the cravings that make it difficult for people to quit" by helping to reduce their stress. The procedures are done primarily on patients' ears, making visits quick and easy. "Over the course of four weeks, we find that many people are able to stop smoking without experiencing that sense of loss or craving that makes it so difficult," Stathoplos said.

In addition to acupuncture, the new clinic also plans to provide tools and information to its clients, including smokeless cigarette props that mimic the behavior of smoking with a diminished risk to the patient. "It's a prop that someone can use to put in their mouth if they need to suck. They look like little cigarette filters, and if [patients] suck on that, they get menthol or some kind of satisfaction from the actual physical release," Stathoplos said. "We provide [patients] with a number of tools, with some learning materials, education materials, as well as the acupuncture treatment."

Quitting smoking is especially important for those living with chronic illnesses like HIV/AIDS. "Anything that reduces your oxygen intake is going to throw your whole system down," Stathoplos said. Pathways to Wellness serves more than 250 individuals living with HIV/AIDS, 20 of whom are homebound as a result of their illness.

A 2001 study from San Francisco General Hospital revealed that people with HIV/AIDS who smoke have a poorer health-related quality of life than those who do not. For those living with HIV/AIDS, smoking is associated with decreased physical functioning, increased pain, decreased energy, and decreased cognitive functioning.

The survey, entitled "Adverse impact of cigarette smoking on dimensions of health-related quality of life in persons with HIV infection," included responses from more than 580 individuals with HIV/AIDS.

Quitting can also lower the risk facing HIV/AIDS patients of developing certain life-threatening conditions like pneumonia. Acupuncture in particular, Stathoplos said, can "improve their quality of life so they have [fewer] risks for lung disease."

The holistic treatment, which may date back to 1600-1100 BCE, can be especially attractive for Pathways to Wellness patients who, because of their illness, already take several different medications and are loathe to add another to their regimen. "For some of our clients who are already receiving multiple medications for their chronic illness, trying to [quit smoking] with a medication or a nicotine substitute isn't all that appealing," Stathoplos said. "You can do the patch, you can do the pills, and so forth, but nicotine in and of itself is a stimulant, and not everybody wants to maintain that chemical in their body."

Stathoplos said an important key to successfully quitting smoking is the reduction of anxiety and stress levels -- which for many people means the reduction of nicotine cravings. Quitting can also improve the body's natural ability to heal itself -- an important factor for anyone living with a chronic illness. "The stressors that people [who] smoke experience mean that their body's not having a chance to do the self-healing it would normally do, so it makes it easier for things to break down," she said. "It's sort of like not doing home maintenance for a long time. If something goes wrong, it's likely to go wrong kind of big."

Stathoplos thinks that the Pathways to Wellness pitch stands out from others in Pepsi's Refresh Everything program because "there's not a lot going on about smoking" -- an absence she believes needs to be filled. "Smoking is the number one health risk factor in the United States that if people changed [their behavior], their health would be better," Stathoplos said. "I believe in low-hanging fruit. If you can do something to improve people's health that concretely that makes that big a difference, then you should do it."