Breathing Happy Author

The Yellow Peril

As we all know, smoking is a most unattractive habit. It makes people less attractive in many ways, including the smell. Not to mention, the drying-out and premature wrinkling of the skin, and bad breath. Smokers often have ash on their clothes.  In addition to all that, one of the unpleasant outward tell-tale signs of smoking is the yellow/brown nicotine stains on hands and nails. Although in actual fact they are caused not from the nicotine (which is a clear substance) but from the tar in cigarettes, it is a residue from this sticky brown chemical. Apparently tar is one of the chemicals in cigarettes which is the most dangerous to health. It is certainly not a pretty sight, is it?

Yellow or brownish fingers are not just cosmetically unsightly, but they may also indicate a fungal infection. Smokers are far more likely to get these types of infections, as smoking affects the circulation to the extremities, like fingers and toes. Even worse than that, yellowed fingers can also be an indicator of lung disease, which is known medically as "yellow nail syndrome." This can arise as a result of a genetic disorder, or due to the lungs being adversely affected by smoking.

In my previous life as a smoker, I never got stains on my fingers as I never smoked that heavily. But I have known quite a lot of people with that those tell-tale yellow marks. They are hard to remove, but people say you can get them off by scrubbing with salt and lemon juice (or better still, giving up smoking!)

There is also another way to remove these stains, and it will probably gross you out, so brace yourselves! A friend told me about this the other day (and I confirmed it by doing an Internet search). My friend said her Dad used to be a heavy smoker. He also used to make nice apple pies, and said once:

 "Making pastry is great for getting the nicotine stains off my fingers!"

 Ewwww! I wouldn't have wanted to eat any of his apple pies! This is what I also found out via the Internet. Someone else said that making bread is a good way of removing these stains. It really makes me wish that all bakers and chefs were non-smokers!

 

 

 

 

Hope you got something from this blog, and I appreciate your votes and comments.

Picture courtesy of www.puff.com

The E-Cigarette Industry and Why Regulation Will be Good

You know that a fad is becoming a full-fledged industry when:

  • Mashable is writing about it
  • When doctors, medical associations and governments are now scrambling to regulate it.
  • When Silicon Valley big names like Sean Parker and Peter Thiel start investing millions in another industry.
  •  When celebrities like Bruno Mars start endorsing it openly.
  • Oh, and finally, when its industry earnings now run in the billions of dollars.

So yes, as a smoker, I really want to see if e-cigarettes can help me stop smoking or not. I genuinely want to try them and yes, I am disclosing that I am writing for this website to earn (partially to see if this post makes it to the front page), but more importantly, to find a solution for my smoking. That does not, however, impair my judgment on whether I would like to try e-cigarettes or not. The Phillipine government just made that decision easier for me by indicating that they want to regulate the product.

"The Philippine Medical Association (PMA) has called on government regulators to put a temporarily halt to the sale of electronic cigarettes to the public pending a proper study and testing of their safety." (Philippine Daily Inquirer: June 24, 2013) I'm all for this, so that when they put e-cigarettes in the clear, we will know which ones are legitimate and which ones are not. For context though, in the US, there are studies underway that are seeking to determine if there are carcinogens in such products, and whether there are other substances that could be harmful. That's also good. Then we'll know the good ones from the bad.

Personally, I think it's high time that the industry is regulated, because there are just so many brands that it's difficult to really know.  Here's what I don't like about e-cigarettes  (while having not yet tried them): I have three qualms specificially, regardless of what other people, including celebrities, medical associations, and governments, have to say about it.

1. Price. Here in the Philippines you can buy cigarettes for 3 Pesos ($0.07 USD) a stick. So far, the cheapest e-cigarettes I've seen at the grocery costs 1,700 Pesos ($39 USD).

2. There are too many brands. Every conventional smoker has his or her own brand. The same thing will happen for e-cigarettes. Online, there are hundreds (if not thousand)s of e-cigarette brands available in different parts of the globe. This has to be controlled and regulated. The industry will have to go through its own birth pangs.

3. Tobacco Industry sometimes linked with e-cigarettes. There are some e-cigarettes which are made by the same tobacco industry that sell us products their clasic products that cause cancer. If they didn't care about it then, they likely wouldn't not care cancer now. These folks just want to capitalize on the currently evolving industry. I don't want to make the guys who poison us even richer.

 

Creative Commons Image via Flickr:

 

 

 

Two New Cigarette Products Being Okayed by the FDA

During a news conference June, 25, 2013 FDA commissioner Dr. Margaret Hanburg said that new tobacco products under FDA’s authority cannot come on the market without the FDA’s reviewing them first. Using this new authority the FDA has let two new cigarette brands be put on the market. Read more

COPD and the BODE system

Emphysema is a type of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. It has to do with damage to the smallest breathing tubes in the lungs and the air sacs.

12 million Americans are diagnosed with COPD annually. This is a life threatening lung disease.

Where this disease is concerned there is no normal care. Each one differs dramatically. Most patients do not seek the help of a physician until they are experiencing shortness of breath and are unable to do their normal daily activities.It is so important to seek medical care on the first onslaught of breathing problems or fatigue after regular activity. Early detection is important in avoiding worsening lung function.

The BODE system comes into play as a tool to measure the amount of lung impairment the patient may have. This will tell the medical provider and the patient how the impairment affects the body as a whole. And this will give the patient an idea as to life expectancy.

There will be a six minute walk test that will show exercise tolerance. THe major part of the test measures the amount of airway obstruction or forced expiratory volume in one second or FEV1.

The two major ways to slow lung function decline are to quit smoking and to avoid second hand smoke.

Dreaming of a Heavenly Rehabilitation Center for Smokers

The waves roar as they crash the sharp jagged rocks below the cliff. As you stand on a bright Sunday morning in a porch facing the ocean, you listen as the seagulls squawk away. You think about what they're saying and imagine them having a conversation.

Breathe freely,

We are full of glee, 

We live life.

So should you. Time to go and see–

Breathe happy

Squawk, squawk!

You smile and wave at them as if they were your flying feathery friends greeting you good morning. They squawk more in reply. 

You sit down, and all is at peace. There are no problems, no qualms, nobody to trigger those smoking inducing scenarios. The nearest cigarettes would be 50 kilometers away. Most of all, you can stay as long as you like.  

To me, the ideal cigarette/smoking rehabilitation center would look like heaven. It would be a nice white house on a cliff, spacious accommodations, plenty of room to roam, with a nice and pleasant staff, good food, hearty and relaxing music, plenty of fresh air from the ocean, and a ton of relaxing activities that take your mind off the rigors of life. 

I'm not entirely sure if such a place exists, so do indulge me as I fantasize that I could be able to go in a place as such as this. In the mornings, I'd have a bevy of green tea to choose from. The server would smile as she sets the table placements in front. I would smile and say, 

"Hey good morning Casey, how are your kids doing?" 

She would then smile and say quite joyfully "They're having a great time. Junior's practicing his swing and Julie's getting ready for her piano recital."  

"That's wonderful! Wow! I look forward to it. Will she be performing here?"

"Yes she will, she told me that she's going to play the classics." and with that she pours some lemonade on a tall clear glass. "Alright, I'll be back with your breakfast." She smiles again. 

While waiting, I see two fellow cigarette patients, an elderly gentleman and a woman in her forties. They approach my table and I stand to greet them. "Hey, how are you two? Do join me! Do join me! Yesterday's exercises were awesome weren't they? Jason is a really good motivator." 

Matching my genuine joy in seeing them, we regale the previous night's rehabilitation and motivational activities with a true zest for living.

Breakfast arrives and I excuse myself for my boorish manners, "Umm, bacon, with perfectly toasted bread, sunny side up egg, butter, some cream cheese and an option to choose orange marmalade." The winds momentarily raise the sheet of white cloth as we all smile at the notion of the wind taking our breakfasts away. 

The lady, whose name is Rachel, then queries quite seriously, "Dan, how was the glass room?" 

The elderly gent beside, then shifts a bit at the serious question. I reply in a nonchalant and matter of fact way, "Well, it was full of glass walls. The bed was a little bit stiff though." 

The Glass Room

Designed by a well-known psychiatrist and architect, the glass room is the heavenly equivalent of solitary confinement. Though not a room in the truest sense of the word, it is a large space in the middle of the house, on the second floor, with no ceiling or roof above it. A Zen garden decorates the inside with a single white bed placed in the center. On the Northern side, you could find the lavatory and shower room covered with bamboo fencing and routinely maintained by one of the facility stewards. The Southern side is where you can eat and replenish yourself while inside. It is a place of reflection, tranquility, openness, transparency, hope and ultimately, control. 

Patients in the facility schedule their stays in the glass room. The longest that anybody has stayed inside is a full week. 

Designed in such a way to prevent the most serious of nicotine-induced urges, it is for all intents and purposes, an extremely glorified jail cell for those who can no longer control their smoking habits. Once you schedule your stay, you can only go out when you have attained that sense of normalcy and control. That schedule, of course, is co-created by your facility guide. You can only go out once the schedule has expired. 

"It was okay. I was able to finish reading Book 1 of the Game of Thrones." I replied. "A bit cold at night, but the fresh air helped me a lot. It still needs a lot of improvements, but I imagine that I'll probably build one for my own house when I check out."

Rachel nods then smiles. She hasn't tried it yet since she was a newcomer, having only stayed for a week in the facility. 

The gentleman then stands up and excuses himself, "Well, I'm off to do some hoops, care to join me Danny?" 

"That'd be great." I say enthusiastically, "Nothing better to keep the blood agile." 

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Creative Commons Image via Wikimedia Commons