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When quitting smoking feels like losing a best friend, this Penn Medicine program can help

The Philadelphia Inquirer

When Frank Leone first became a pulmonologist, he’d diagnose patients with a severe or deadly lung disease. Many reacted with stoic calm. Then came news his patients took much harder: They’d have to quit smoking cigarettes.

Leone said one of the first things he tells patients is “it’s not your fault.” He blames chemical engineers who designed an efficient nicotine-delivery product and savvy marketing aimed at adolescents. A person’s struggle to quit smoking is neither a character flaw nor a lack of motivation. Rather, smoking becomes ingrained in the brain as a survival instinct, Leone said.

“Their brain has been changed — functionally, biologically,” Leone said. “A lot of new connections have formed and old connections have diminished to the point where the brain, following exposure to nicotine, knows how to be a smoker and does it very, very well. The idea of becoming a nonsmoker is akin to learning a new set of skills.”

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