Celebs go 'mad' to stop smoking

By Rachel Evans-Biermann, Spotlight Health
With medical adviser Jonathan M. Sackier, M.D.

By Bill Perry, GNS Billy Joel: Ex-smoker now a believer in the power of the 'Mad Russian.'

More on smoking cessation Richard Marx hits smoking's low notes Christy Turlington kicks ugly habit American Lung Association Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

When it comes to kicking the habit, smokers can go cold turkey, wear a nicotine patch, or undergo hypnosis. But there is another alternative: They can go "mad."

For a mere $65 and a quick jaunt to Brookline, Mass., Yefim "The Mad Russian" Shubentsov will erase a lifetime of deeply rooted bad habits, phobias, and cravings in a matter of seconds.

"All it takes is a wave of his hand, what sounds like a whoosh and bang-o! That's it," says former patient Jeffrey Buccacio.

Yefim's unusual practice has drawn worldwide attention, including some big names in the entertainment world.

Musician Billy Joel credits Yefim for ending his 27-year smoking habit. Joel, who had tried to give up smoking for years, read about Yefim in the paper. "He is intense and convincing," says Joel, who says he has not picked up a cigarette since leaving Yefim's office.

Actress Drew Barrymore also credits Yefim with ending her smoking habit. "It's so cool. I've gone three months now. I went to the Mad Russian and whatever it is that he does — it works."

Friends star Courtney Cox-Arquette and husband David Arquette also made the pilgrimage to Boston.

"They never tried to quit before, because Courtney really liked to smoke, but knew it was bad for her," says Whitney Smith, Arquette's assistant. "They knew they'd both have to do it together because it is hard for one person in a relationship to quit. So whatever it is this guy did it worked, because to date they are two years smoke-free."

Hollywood confidential

Yefim thinks celebrities are drawn to him because of his success rate, as he has helped over a hundred thousand people to date, and because he keeps their clandestine visits hush-hush.

"I keep their secret and don't talk about my patients, famous or not. They feel comfortable and trust me," says Yefim, who authored Cure Your Cravings: The Revolutionary Program Used by Thousands to Conquer Compulsions. "For instance, when Billy Joel came to me. I did not know who the hell he was. I did not talk about him ever, until I got his permission."

When a celebrity does wish to keep a low profile, Yefim will offer a private session. While Billy Joel and the Arquettes participated in his group session, Barrymore opted not to.

"She didn't want to be in a group because she was embarrassed," says Yefim, who did not accept payment from Barrymore. "She is a nice actress and I got pleasure watching her movies, so why not? I can afford it."

But Yefim's apparent magic extends far beyond the glamour of Hollywood.

Buccacio, 54, from Massachusetts, had 20% of his lungs removed as a result of suffering from severe emphysema. Unable to control his three-pack a day smoking habit, he visited Yefim. Seven years later he has yet to touch a cigarette.

"I'd been to 10 or 12 different places trying to quit," declares Buccacio. "All were unsuccessful until I met this grouchy little Russian guy named Yefim, and he cured me. I'm still not sure how, but all I can say is that he saved my life and you can take that to the bank."

But what is Yefim's secret?

"It's purely a physical process," claims the 61 year-old Moscow native. "Normally you are not supposed to have pain and inflammation and we are not born with a desire to smoke, overeat or crave chocolate. The desire is formed after we try it. The energy I give corrects the body to go back to the way it was intended to be originally."

The energy Yefim speaks of is a para-science called bioenergetics, a healing life force that circulates within all living things. While this may sound like a science fiction fantasy, Yefim emphasizes there's nothing mystical about his methods.

According to Yefim, we all have this power within us; we just don't know how to use it. Without actually touching you, he says he's able to physically manipulate this invisible energy field that surrounds every person's body. He says he transforms the energy in the brain back to its original form, the way it existed before a person began their given addiction.

Even an addiction as powerful as smoking.

Captive audience

According to the American Lung Association, an estimated 157,400 Americans will die in 2001 from lung cancer, accounting for 28% of all cancer deaths. The disease kills more people than AIDS, breast, colon, and prostate cancer combined. Over 420,000 people in the U.S. will die of smoking-related diseases this year.

Yefim, who holds no medical degree, has a hard time describing how using this energy makes him feel. "I feel something," he says. "You can't easily explain love or hate either, but it is a real sensation, like static electricity."

Insurance broker Stan Keizer is equally at a loss to describe the experience. "I don't know what he did, or the power he has, but for me it worked," says Keizer. "I had been smoking for 36 years. When I told my doctor I was going to him, he laughed. Well, he's not laughing anymore."

But many doctors remain suspicious of Yefim's methods and claims.

Dr. Arthur Brody, director of the primary care smoking cessation therapy program at the VA healthcare system, believes that if you want to quit smoking, it's always best to begin with a method proven by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as smoking has a very high relapse rate.

According to Brody, the most effective ways of quitting smoking are counseling and medication. The most proven methods are nicotine replacement therapy, using a nicotine patch or gum, and anti-depressant medication like bupropion, also known as Zyban. Nicotine withdrawal is often associated with depression and anxiety.

"The success rate of people that use this particular combination is about 50%, and that's very good," says Brody, who is also an assistant clinical professor of psychiatrics and bio-behavioral sciences at UCLA. "People quitting on their own with no help has an extremely low success rate of 2-5%."

Dr. David Malin, professor of philosophy from the University of Houston-Clear Water, who has been researching a nicotine vaccine, concurs with Brody about the best methods of quitting.

"The nicotine vaccine is still in the early testing phase, and we are about five years away from presenting it to the FDA," reports Malin. "However, unlike other vaccines, this will be a supplement to medications and therapy. It's intended to help increase the rate of people who quit."

Brody, while somewhat skeptical of Yefim's highly unorthodox techniques, does commend Yefim for educating his patients about the risks of smoking. "It's part of what we do here, too. Our group counseling always involves an education component. Practical counseling is very important."

And how did The Mad Russian, whose smoking cessation seminars are completely booked through August, acquire this moniker?

"Once, in my office, came this lady with a balloon of oxygen connected with her nose and she said, 'I have one lung. The other was removed because of cancer. My remaining lung has emphysema and I smoke 2 ½ packs of cigarettes a day and if I don't have a cigarette at least every three hours I feel I'd lose my mind. What do you think about that?'"

"I said to her, 'My dear, you cannot lose what you do not have.' She screamed, 'You are mad!' But she quit and is still alive. She still doesn't like me. She told everyone that I'm the Mad Russian."

Ask his celebrity admirers, and they'll tell you there's a method to Yefim's madness.