He was a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker for about 25 years. In his last interview the actor, rodeo rider and tough Hollywood stunt man said, “caught up with me. I’ve spent the last month of my life in an incubator and I’m telling you, it’s not worth it.”
He appeared before a meeting of stockholders of Phillip Morris Inc., maker of Marlboro, and asked them to limit their advertising. He made public appearances to warn about the dangers of smoking.
Wayne McLaren was 51 years old, a pack-and-a-half-a-day smoker for about 25 years.
You know him as the "Marlboro Man".
Chemotherapy and the removal of one of his lungs could not stop the cancer spreading to his brain, killing him two years after the initial diagnosis.
McLaren died on Wednesday, July 22, 1992, at Hoag Hospital in Newport Beach.
The New York Times and the Associated Press, today compiled a story on findings published in the journal Science, that smokers with brain injuries were able to instantly and completely stop the addictive urge to smoke.
The findings suggest focus might be made on a small area of the brain inside the cerebral cortex that might explain why smoking is such a hard habit to break. The study did not examine dependence on alcohol or other drug substances.
A 38-year-old smoker who had been smoking since he was 14 inspired the study.
His last puff was just before his stroke.
His wife and family were surprised that while in the hospital he never once asked for a cigarette. He told doctors nonchalantly, “My body forgot the urge to smoke.”
Other experts cautioned not to extrapolate too much based on brain injuries.
For me, well, neither a medical expert nor practitioner, but I think maybe there’s a lot to extrapolate from the story. It's tantalizing to think that a psychological craving for addictive drugs, including alcohol, might be a matter as simple as turning off a neurological switch.
New York Times and AP report was published in the Sacramento Bee, Friday, January 26, 2007
Every 6 Seconds Someone Dies From Tobacco Use (World Health Organization)
