Due to their addiction to nicotine, cigarette smokers are running the risk of getting lung cancer, heart disease and emphysema. This is not only in regular smokers, but in those who are breathing in second hand smoke for even brief periods of time. It doesn't seem to make sense that people see this and do not even try to quit.
Tobacco smokers often get lung cancer and rarely the cancer is killed off with treatment, but often just comes back again later. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease) has become quite common, with about 16 million people in the U.S. suffering from the disease. Wheezing and being out of breath are common symptoms. Some don't even know they have the disease. This is not really what we want our golden years to be.
E-cigarettes offer the smoker a new and different way of getting their nicotine fix. Though it increases blood pressure and speeds up your heart beat (like smoking standard cigarettes), it doesn't deliver the harmful chemicals or tar that regular cigarettes do. This is a step in the right direction. Smokers can cut down on nicotine by using if they choose to work on quiting this way. This does mean that the smoker is still getting the addictive drug, nicotine.
The American Cancer Society says that there is no proof that the e-cigarettes are more healthful or that they provide much help to those trying to stop smoking completely. The ACS also stands by the fact that there is no safe cigarette product. Alternative nicotine products are not yet taxed or regulated.
Nicotine gum and patches are an option, but they don't seem to give the smoker the actual smoking ritual. So these often cause the smoker to fail in their attempts to quit. And this is one reason a lot of smokers are going to the electronic cigarette.
The World Health Organization and The Centers for Disease and Control both feel that tobacco is the most preventable risk to human life in most of the developed countries. Many programs have been created to put the word out on the harm that cigarette smoking will do. It is up to each individual to chose to have a healthy life, or one full of chronic and potentially fatal health disorders.
I used to be a smoker, and I mainly quit by reminding myself constantly of all the advantages of being a non-smoker. I am convinced that this mental technique can work for many other struggling would-be ex-smokers too, in addition to some other psychological adaptations . Here are some tips that can really help, if they are followed scrupulously:
1) Write down a list of reasons why you want to quit smoking. Read this list whenever you feel like lighting up.
2) Decide on a date for stopping smoking, and then make sure you stop (even if you occasionally backslide after that!)
3) Tell everyone you know that you are giving up. You should find that friends and family will be only too happy to support you.
4) Organise a team effort if you can.. Find other friends/family who want to quit too, and do it together.
5) Mark off the days you have not smoked on a calendar. Look at it whenever you feel the urge to smoke.
6) Get rid of all smoking paraphernalia, i.e. not just cigarettes, but also lighters, ashtrays, etc.
7) Be ready and prepared to suffer nicotine withdrawal symptoms. They peak after one or two days, and fade over two to four weeks.
8) Tell people you don't know that you don't smoke.
9) Be prepared for wanting to eat more, but fight the urge.
10) Attend a “stopping smoking “ clinic to get support and help in stopping (your GP should be able to refer you or advise you about one of these).
Many people have used all or some of the above techniques successfully in their quitting battle, so good luck!
Hope you got something from this blog, and I appreciate your votes and comments.
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I’ve got a little gray card laying on my table titled “My most important reasons to quit smoking.” It’s been laying there awhile now, and even though I have seriously reigned in my addiction, I haven’t “committed” to it yet. Well, maybe I have. It has been a few days. Oh, maybe I haven’t. It is Friday… This back and forth has gone on for quite some time. Years.
I know that listing my reasons is an important step in my commitment, but I couldn't think of any. Oh, sure, I am excited about not stinking, about nicer skin and hair, about breathing deeply. But there's more to it than that. "Better health" didn't really encompass all the wonderful gifts that would come into my life the less I smoke.
While I was brushing my teeth the other morning, mentally congratulating myself on the fact that I hadn’t smoked a cigarette in a few days, and feeling mighty fine about it, on every level, my Most Important Reason came to me. It’s a little… ah, shall we say ‘non-traditional?’ but it will work for me because it means something to me.
My most important reason to quit smoking is because it clouds up my ‘magic’.
I personally think we all have a little magic in us, and I don’t mean the Harry Potter kind. I mean our sense of self, our intuition, our belief in what our bodies and minds are capable of and the manifestation of that belief in our daily lives. I get to live a little magic each day. When I come to an intersection and I don’t have to stop my bicycle because the traffic seems to “magically” part like the Red Sea, and I can pedal safely to the other side, that’s magic, for me. When I do my meditation in the morning and I get a clear message, that’s magic. Or when I ask for a clear sign or message about a big decision and I get one, that’s magic. Or when I ask for a windfall of money, and I get it a few days later, that’s magic. All these little instances of the “higher” self within me impacting my real life, are my magic. And when I smoke, they get cloudy. They don’t happen as often, or as easily. I feel more negative about everything, so it’s harder for me to create and enjoy the beautiful, positive things happening in my life.
Smoking robs me of my magic. Just a few days quit and I can already feel myself getting lighter, stronger, more joyful, finding more magic. And I can’t wait to see what I can do when I’ve been clear and bright for months. Or years. Now THAT really will be magic.
Most women want to do what's best for their baby during pregnancy. However, sometimes the rules seem a little stringent. No drinking? No smoking? Not even a little? There's a good reason for these rules however.
First, if you have ever tried to cut back on smoking, you know that it's nearly impossible. It's so tough to limit yourself that you would be better off putting that energy into quitting. In addition, smoking can have very adverse effects on your little one.
Prematurity has been linked to smoking during pregnancy. A baby that is born even a few weeks early can suffer from a number of health issues. Babies need the full 40 weeks in utero to fully develop, though a baby born after 37 weeks is considered full term. Any earlier than this and your infant could suffer from immature lungs and many other problems. A preemie will also have to stay in the hospital for several weeks or even months. It's very difficult
In Belgium, a smoking ban was enforced and saw a drop in premature births. While the connection between preemies and their mothers smoking, the ban helped prove this.
Other issues faced by some pregnant women who smoke include babies being born below birthweight, babies with cleft palates or lips, placenta problems (placenta previa and placenta abruption) or even stillbirths. Women who smoke are more likely to have ectopic pregnancies, as well, where the embryo implants outside the uterus.
One of the biggest issues is that your baby is exposed to nicotine and all the other goodies in cigarettes. While the placenta is designed to act as a filter, it doesn't stop everything from getting through. Many of the chemicals in your cigarettes will pass through to your baby and be in his bloodstream.
Ideally, you'll be able to quit before getting pregnant. However, this isn't always the way things work. If you find yourself pregnant while you are still smoking, you can all but eliminate the effects on your baby by quitting as soon as possible. It isn't easy, but you'll know that you're doing the best for your child.
Where is your support group? Is it an organization, where you have to become a member, pay a fee to sit in a class, have a buddy-buddy system that assist you on your journey? Well… Yes and no. Your support group isn’t only them.
An important part of your support group can be a notebook that you express yourself in. Your support system can include new activities you’ve gotten involved with to take your mind off of smoking, the alarm clock that gets you up at a specific hour in the day that you feel you may be most productive, your electronic cigarette, nicotine patch, or gum that you tend to seek out when you need a drag.
YOUR TOOLS FOR A BREAKTHROUGH ARE YOUR SUPPORT GROUP
If you invest the time and energy to focus on using your tools, you and your ambition will become habitual partners. Where you will lose the habit/urge to smoke, you’ll refocus your habits and urges on these tools.
Your support group is you’re self-talk. At first try to talk yourself out of it smoking a quick drag, and then talk to your significant other about why you’d like to smoke. It's important to xpress the need. Speaking on what you feel in the moment will allow your brain to collect alternative treatments, or will allow the person you are speaking with to help you decide on what else will "fix" you in a more productive or healthy way. The people around you are your support group, and if not, bring people around you that will support you or simply observe healthy strangers and feel inspired to quick smoking. A nice walk in the park can do the trick. Perhaps it's scenes like elderly couples feeding birds, mothers chasing their children, or witnessing these strangers enjoy life with energy that you won’t have if you smoke your lungs out. Believe it or not, this will provide you with the support you need. Support groups are every day things and everyday events, and they really are with you everywhere you go. Let the world be your buddy system.
Smoking is not the only way to get COPD. There are other ways to get the disease.
What is COPD? It is an acronym – C meaning chronic or doesn’t go away, O or obstructive- not getting enough air out or the airways, you can get it in buy getting it out is the problem. THen P or pulmonary which means the lung area and then D stands for disease. Read more
Hachis parmentier is a culinary delight; deli sandwiches are mouthwatering; nicotiana tabacum is prized worldwide; All three commodities derive their name from the individuals who made them known to the world: Hachis parmentier from Frenchman Antoine-Augustin Parmentier; the sandwich is named after the 4th Earl of Sandwich; finally nicotine is coined after Jean Nicot de Villemain
But the buck stops here. This naming business is the only thing that nicotine has in common with the other two products because hachis parmentier and sandwiches are nutritious and will not kill you, but nicotine will destroy you.
So what was Jean Nicot thinking when he took the tobacco plant from Brazil and introduced it into France? this was a gift offered to King Henry II in the form of seeds; at the time Jean Nicot was the French ambassador to Portugal. In those days (1560), diplomats wore many hats: they were navigators, traders and explorers; in addition to signing treaties and annexing lands.they introduced foreign specimens to their countries in the form of plants, animals (how do you think our zoos were born? ) and human beings (but they preferred to call them slaves or captives). In return, Africa and New world countries were given diseases or new governors.
Global thinking comes with the territory of the Internet (nothing new), so when we, in the developed world want something such as lucrative cash crops, we give no thought to the repercussions on other countries, nor on the poor and disadvantaged workers within our own industrialized nations; the same can be said of the European nobility and aristocracy in the 17th century who enjoyed tobacco, ( as well as tea, coffee and chocolate) and used it for every little ailment it could fancy: – from ointment for sores to snuffing powder for headaches; the truth of the matter is in all ages, one group has selfishly reaped sensory or material benefits from the sweat of others (slaves, indentured servants, farmers, sharecroppers or plant workers). This pattern repeats itself over and over from 1560 all the way to 2013.
So think about it: nothing good has come out nicotiana tabacum; today it is still associated with exploitation of cheap labor, cash crop plantations (which is fertile land that should really be used for food crops); moreover plenty of diseases and poverty are associated with this crop. Right here in the United States, African American tobacco farmers have died or wasted away because of tobacco cultivation: journalist Rebecca Skloot describes their unhealthy and impoverished lives in the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Yet it is a $ 27 billion industry (fujiub.com);
Right from the start, Nicotiana Tabacum was a part of every pre-colonial and colonial enterprise and today it prides itself as being the mark of the 21st century. Jean Nicot de Villemain really earned the last part of his name: in French "vile main" translates as "foul hand" in English. How ironic is that? Nicot joins the ranks of History makers along with Christopher Columbus who was equally attracted to those fragrant tobacco leaves offered innocently by the natives (1492); and the rest is history…
When I was smoking, hardly a day went by that I didn't seriously consider quitting. Your own personal mileage may vary, but I would imagine that as a fellow smoker, you have had similar feelings. The expense of the habit always loomed large, and this was before all of the serious hikes in taxation occurred. The madness of having to pay some $8.00 a pack puts a serious dent in anyone's walking around money. This article is filed under the heading "Benefits of Quitting". However, I would like to refer to these benefits, as blessings. It is truly a blessing not to feel like lighting up immediately after a meal. Sneaking around to smoke when it is looked upon unfavorably by those around you, is then no longer an activity that consumes your time.
Think about the day when you are free of the withdrawal symptoms, and the shakiness and irritability that comes between fixes of your favorite drug, nicotine. Imagine a day when you can walk up stairs without feeling winded, when you can get out of bed without coughing your head off. These are all blessings. Not the least of which, is throwing down those sticks and knowing that you will no longer smell like an nasty ashtray. Nor will your clothing reek and sometimes sustain burn holes. You will have more money in your pocket. It will be money which you can use to truly treat yourself.
Your sharpened sense of smell will enhance your everyday experience. When you are no longer a slave to the habit, you can enjoy these blessings of freedom. You no longer need to plan how to keep the habit fed, and you can remove those seeds of doubt that constantly nag at you. Will I have to carry around an oxygen bottle or be confined to a hospital bed from emphysema or COPD or cancer? To be released from worrying about those scenarios is indeed not just a benefit, but truly a blessing. Perhaps the most meaningful benefit is that you can again be a role model to a youngster, and that would be the greatest blessing of all.