May 292010

The advantages of giving up tobacco are rather obvious but if you really think about  it,  jot it down and analyze your record, it may be important in helping you to finally stop using tobacco. It is possible to locate tons of facts on the net regarding medical study into cigarette smoking and the effects it has on the body’s system. 

The price to pay, not simply against your body but the persons near you is worth considering. And you can talk and talk but at the end of the day when you think back on the tobacco you smoked,  you realize it’s not genuinely that straightforward to put them down.

Nearly all people who smoke develop a bodily dependence on cigarettes and an emotional dependency. This mean that combined with nicotine amounts making you desire to smoke a lot more, you will discover additional factors such as depending on tobacco in social conditions, to regulate bodyweight, and so on. Over time more and more nicotine will be needed by the body to maintain the high that was experienced when the nicotine levels were first introduced.  

And as we all know the more smoking that’s experienced over a prolonged time period will begin to wear and tear on the body’s ability to fight off disease.  There’s also the matter of your clothing and living places often smelling of cigarette, of course everybody is aware except the smokers. Not only do you usually have discolored teeth, also the act of climbing stairs becomes nearly unbearable.  

And then there’s the challenge from the non smokers in your life, not just is it impolite, the anti smoking laws in a lot of states is to the point that it’s genuinely not worth the trouble.  It is significant to record  all of the rewards of quitting smoking. You’ll immediately see it really is much longer than the list on the benefits of using tobacco.

There’s several ways to quit smoking but the easiest way is to make up your mind and get a little help.  Some people enjoy listening to mp3 files on quitting smoking.  Just listen once or twice a day and it will help you stay motivated to finally stop smoking.  Here’s a website that also has a free mp3 on hypnosis for people to get started.

 

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Posted by Smokes at 12:01 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
May 132010

It is estimated that 90% of people who seek to quit smoking fail on their first attempt to quit.  Have you tried all the different ways to stop smoking, but you seem to just keep coming up short ?  The patch didn’t work, the gum didn’t work, the self help book or group didn’t work.  Does it seem like all your efforts have failed to get you to quit smoking?  If this description fits you , I may have the perfect solution for you. 

There is a brand new product out called the electronic cigarette which could very likely help you quit smoking tobacco cigarettes.  The problem with most of the other methods of quitting smoking tobacco cigarettes is that for all of them, you are not actually holding a cigarette and puffing away .  Smoking is both an addiction and a habit .  Often, habits can be even harder to break than addictions .  People become so used to dragging on a cigarette , it sometimes becomes almost second nature , not to mention the satisfaction they get from the nicotine. 

With the electronic cigarette, you can do something you cannot do with the other methods of stopping smoking.  You can 1) continue to smoke with the same frequency while decreasing your nicotine intake and 2) break your addiction to smoking and then work on breaking your habit of smoking.

This is possible due to the way the electronic cigarette (E-cig) works.  The E-cig contains cartridges which hold the nicotine.  These cartridges come in different nicotine strengths .  There is a high-nicotine cartridge, medium-nicotine, low-nicotine, and zero-nicotine cartridge.  To quit your addiction, you can first begin with the high-nicotine cartridge.  Use these for a little while and then switch to the medium-nicotine cartridge.  You can continue smoking with the same frequency but you will still be slowly weaning yourself from your dependence of nicotine .  Then, after a few more weeks , switch to the low-nicotine cartridge and then to the zero-nicotine cartridge.  Once you are smoking with the zero-nicotine cartridges, you have weaned yourself from your nicotine addiction and can now begin breaking your habit of smoking.  Or if you choose, you can just continue to smoke with the zero-nicotine cartridges with the satisfaction that you have rid of your addiction. 

There are many, many other advantages to switching to the electronic cigarette, whether you implement it to quit or just as a healthier alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes.  There are health benefits (the E-cig contains none of the harmful toxins and carcinogens found in tobacco cigarettes), financial benefits (save money), and social benefits (smoke anywhere even where smoking has been banned).

So whether you use the electronic cigarette to quit smoking or simply as an alternative to smoking tobacco cigarettes, you will be doing you and your body a huge favor in more ways than one.

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Posted by Smokes at 10:22 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Feb 132010

Smoking is emerging to be one of the major causes of death in the modern world. This is attributed to the growing consumers of tobacco. Tobacco is responsible for the death of 1 in 10 adults all over the world, which translates to around 5 million deaths every year. It is because of this fact that cigarette smoking is now a public health priority.

With the prevalence of cigarette smoking came its adverse health effects on its consumers. Smoking poses dangers directly and indirectly to the public. An indirect public health concern that cigarettes may pose is accidental fire. As for the health risks in smoking tobacco, the disease mainly strikes the cardiovascular system, resulting to heart attack, respiratory tract diseases, and even cancer.

In spite of these risks, the number of cigarette smokers all other the world has not dropped considerably. Though several smokers claim to have been meaning to quit this habit, they just find it so difficult. The fact is that after smoking for quite sometime, quitting smoking will prove to be very hard, but not impossible.

Why is it hard to quit smoking?

Foremost, this is because most smokers become addicted to the nicotine contained in tobacco products. Nicotine has a deadly addictive power. How? When a person puffs a cigarette, nicotine particles find their way to the lungs through inhalation.

From there, nicotine is absorbed into the bloodstream just like the oxygen people breathe. It travels with the blood to the brain where it locks onto certain receptor areas. Dopamine is then released into the brain. This is the chemical that makes the smoker feel a euphoric sensation. Smokers find it difficult to quit because they come to be dependent on this good feeling. And in wanting to experience this repeatedly, this leads to dependence a sign of addiction.

A person who attempts to quit may experience withdrawal symptoms. Topping the bill of withdrawal symptoms is depression. With the absence of the chemical that produces the relaxing feeling, the brain becomes distressed without it. Other withdrawal symptoms from smoking include:

- Headaches, dizziness, and nausea
- Shakes, chills
- Cough, dry throat nasal drip
- Hunger, fatigue
- Constipation, gas or stomach pain
- Insomnia, troubled sleep

Not knowing what to do with their hands is another common complaint among ex-smokers while quitting. Once people get hooked, smoking becomes a big part of their lives. They seem to enjoy holding on a stick of cigarette and puffing on them. And after a long period of lighting up, it becomes a routine. As a fact, humans are creatures of habit. By some force of habit, smokers find themselves reaching for a cigarette and lighting it up automatically without thinking about it.

Certain triggers in the environment may also hamper a smoker’s desire to quit. Things may turn on a smoker’s need for a cigarette. These may be feelings, places, and moods. Even the things done routinely may trigger this craving for a smoke.

For those who have been smoking for quite a while already, they may not realize it but they form some emotional attachment to cigarettes. They find the cigarette calming and comforting during those stressful times. cigarette smoking somehow becomes an extension of their social life, particularly when they are emotionally at the highest or lowest. Giving the smoker a feeling that giving up smoking would seem like giving up a trusted friend.

These are only some of the major reasons why it is hard to quit smoking. But there are also several strategies and quitting techniques that may aid smokers to finally give up on this tenacious habit. Quitting smoking all begins with one’s intention to stop. They must have the will power to overcome the craving for smoke. There are also a lot of quit smoking products in the market. These may also be worth trying. Support groups are proved to be very helpful, too.

Smokers must understand that to quit smoking may take more than one attempt. They must also try several methods before they can finally succeed. Smoking is a stubborn habit because it is closely tied to the acts in the course of people’s everyday lives. Even so, with determination, will power, and a strategy, to quit smoking is not out of the question.

Gaetane Ross
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/why-is-it-so-hard-to-quit-smoking-138799.html

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Posted by Smokes at 4:46 am Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Jan 292010

Besides being addicted, I mean.

How can quitting smoking cigarettes help someone mentally, given they do not drink or do any other type of drug?

Aside from addiction, nicotine has similar effects to caffeine, so it doesn’t really affect a healthy person mentally any more than a cup of coffee would.

Nicotine and other chemicals like harman and norharman (which act as potent monoaminooxidase inhibitors) in cigarette smoke can normalise brain activity and relieve depression, so you find the vast majority schizophrenics smoke and some people suffering from depression may subconsciously self-medicate with tobacco. Of course, there are less harmful ways of treating schizophrenia and depression, but generally quitting smoking has no positive mental effects.

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Posted by Smokes at 5:20 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct 252009

Can electronic cigarettes help you quit smoking and what are they anyway?

Asked recently to write about electronic cigarettes, I have to confess that I had never heard of such a thing. Some internet research later and I discovered that electronic cigarettes are very much a quickly growing concern. A Google search revealed there is no smoke without fire as almost six million results just for the phrase “electronic cigarette” were returned.

In existence for about three years, the electronic cigarette is a unique device intended to allow smokers to continue smoking but with either none or vastly reduced health concerns. According to many electronic cigarette distributers they are also very helpful for quitting smoking altogether.

Now in a fourth generation, electronic cigarettes have become much more user friendly than earlier versions which perhaps were a little too large to encourage a mass market appeal. The “mini” is the most realistic e cigarette to date with its length of 100mm being the same as a conventional cigarette.

An electronic cigarette contains a taste of tobacco but none of the harmful substances found in normal cigarettes allowing smokers cravings to be satisfied without inhaling the many dangerous toxins. Is it all smoke and mirrors? Or can this item really be the saviour it wants to be?

A battery, an atomiser and a renewable nicotine chamber allows the smoker to hold and smoke the electronic cigarette just as they would any other cigarette, even creating a “smoke” like vapour and glow at the end as they draw. The nicotine chamber proves very useful as cartridges are available in different strengths, permitting the user to reduce the amount of nicotine they intake until if they wish, can quit completely.

At a time when money is tighter than ever, distributors of electronic cigerattes have estimated that a huge eighty per cent saving can be made compared to smoking normal cigarettes as a typical nicotine cartridge lasts as long as fifteen to twenty normal cigarettes.

Appearing to be a much healthier alternative at least on the surface, dig a little deeper and more benefits seem reveal themselves. Smoking legally in public being one. As there are no known harmful substances being emitted from the electronic cigarette it does not fall into the same legal trappings of normal cigarettes. Smokers could remain in their warm office, restaurant or pub and smoke their electronic cigarette.

None smokers also will benefit, as their worries about passive smoking are rendered null and void by the electronic cigarette. A much more sociable environment then!

Upon reflection the electronic cigarette is a healthier, cheaper and environmentally friendly alternative to smoking and as the awareness and the market grows they have great potential to successfully replace the harmful cigarettes we have all come to know and many of us have come to dread and fear.

spidergoose
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/the-electronic-cigarette-story-683982.html

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Posted by Smokes at 11:55 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct 252009

If you are thinking of quitting smoking cigarettes then you must know how bad they are for you and those around you and I applaud your decision. You have also probably heard many nightmare tales of how hard it is to quit which may be scary and demotivating. To help you kick your addiction to cigarettes and the addictive component nicotine here are 10 tips and ways to quit smoking cigarettes that can show you it can be done and it is not as hard as people can make it out to be if you have a plan!

1. Write a list of reason you LIKE smoking
It may seem counter to your needs to quit smoking but ignoring why you like smoking and why you continue to smoke is important so that psychologically you can overcome these things or leave them behind or replace them with something. Ignoring them simply means when cravings hit those reasons subconsciously attack your reasoning and resolve.

2. Make a list of reasons it will be hard to quit
Wow, I sound so negative so far which I am sorry for but bear with me! Honesty is massive part of overcoming an addiction to nicotine and cigarettes because many people try to quit without being honest with themselves first and those people usually fail on that attempt. So write down a list of reasons you think might make it hard to quit or the reasons you know from experience have made it harder.

3. Write a list of reasons you want to quit
Ok now we are getting more positive! Again HONESTY is the big word here for the same reason stated before. You need as many solid positive reasons for quitting cigarettes so that these ways to quit smoking cigarettes work! HINT: List them in a positive way so instead of writing “Scared of lung cancer” write “I want to be healthy and live a long life!” … negative reasons are not as strong as positive ones.

4. Write down a list of ways to tackle cravings
When the cravings hit all reasoning and resolve can suddenly go out the window as you may already have experienced and is not something to be ashamed of. You just need a way to overcome these things, having something to distract you from the cravings is a very important things to do whether it is to get your joggers on and hit the pavement or if you are at work to maybe chew some gum, get a coffee or clean up your office space.

5. Compare lists
Now you have a few sheets of paper (or for some people nearly a book!) you can compare your negative and positive reasons. This is important because often if you have more reasons you like smoking compared to reasons you want to quit smoking cigarettes then you may not be ready to quit and might need to find some more reasons and support to quit. Also if your list of things to do to overcome cravings do not have an answer to all your reasons why quitting might be hard then you may need to revisit the former list and add to it. Once you have done this not only have you been introspective enough to see things clearly and plan ahead you have created the base work for a contract with yourself to quit which is a cornerstone of quitting cigarettes for good.

6. Set a quit date
Having firm goals is important when dealing with addictions and when looking for ways to quit smoking cigarettes this is a vital step. Having a set date you set for yourself and can plan for means you will not make snap decision when you are not ready and you will also force yourself to commit to a date than a vague “I will quit next week” then that week never seems to come …

7. Throw out all smoking paraphernalia
Get rid of them when that quit date hits! Get rid of your smokes, if you hold on to any cigarettes it is a temptation and a subconscious easy way out .. if you are serious break the fags and toss them out, if you can’t do that you are not ready to quit. Also get rid of lighters and anything else that has to do with smoking in your space.

8. Busy your hands and mouth
One part of the addiction to cigarettes that people ignore in favor of concentrating on the dependency effects of nicotine is the habit that has formed over many years of the actual ACTION of smoking. IF you carry some toothpicks you can suck on or some nuts you can crack open and eat you will busy your hands looking for a familiar action, no need for anything terribly elaborate just keep them busy or they may stray to a cigarette.

9. State your intention to quit smoking cigarettes
Tell your friends, tell your family and tell your co-workers that you plan to quit smoking cigarettes for a two reasons. One, you need a support network to help you so it is good to get as many well wishers and helpers as you can. Two if you are not announcing it does not become REAL to you and is less substantial because it is like you are a keeping a secret often as many do not want the stigma of people knowing they failed if it comes to that which is just another excuse!

10. Stay Positive, Quit positive
Research has shown that those that quit when in a good and positive mood stand a much greater chance of achieving their goal. IF you plan to quit and map out your ways to quit smoking cigarettes while under stress of when depressed it does not bode well as a negative reason as has been mentioned is no where near as strong as positive ones!

This list may only scratch the surface of all the challenges and ways to quit that you may need to kick your habit for you particular situation. If you want to be armed with all the tools & information that can give you every chance to be smoke free forever click below to find out more.

http://www.kick-addiction.com/nicotine-addiction/treatment/

Michael Porteous
http://www.articlesbase.com/quit-smoking-articles/10-ways-to-quit-smoking-cigarettes-be-smoke-free-forever-752177.html

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Posted by Smokes at 11:55 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct 252009

How many people do you know who have quit smoking for a month or a year or and then started up again? What methods did they use to quit smoking: hypnosis, drugs, cold turkey? If they started back up after trying to quit smoking, hypnosis was probably not one of the things they tried. Is that your story, too? Unfortunately, it’s really common.

Anyone who has smoked for a number of years comes to a point where they really want to quit. In fact, they’re desperate to quit. That’s when they find out just how addicted they are. Because even though they have really good reasons, and a lot of motivation to quit, they can’t.

Has this already happened to you? Have you already had the experience of wanting to quit because the new baby was on the way? Or your new boyfriend or girlfriend doesn’t smoke. So you don’t want to anymore either? Or maybe you’re just tired of seeing so much of your hard-earned cash literally go up in smoke!

Whatever your reason for wanting to quit smoking, good intentions are usually not enough. Nicotine addiction is so strong, that you’ll need all the help he can get. The good news is, there’s a lot of help available. You have a lot of good quit smoking methods and products to choose from.

Quitting smoking is really a two-pronged process. You have to deal with both the physical nicotine addiction, and the psychological habits that you have created around smoking. Let’s call them your “smoking rituals”.

Everyone who has smoked for any number of years has actually built a whole set of smoking rituals that are unique to them. One of the reasons it’s so difficult to quit smoking is that the rituals become self reinforcing. What exactly does that mean?

It means that when you first began smoking you developed a set of habits, or actions, that you used every time you lit up your cigarette. And these are things like having a favorite ashtray, preferring a particular brand of cigarettes, using matches instead of a lighter, or always buying a red or a yellow lighter.

Now think about how many cigars or cigarettes you smoke every day. Do you smoke one pack a day? That’s 20 cigarettes. So that’s 20 times a day that you use your red lighter, or you look at that gold and white cigarette package. And then there are all of the habitual places and times that you smoke. You have a cigarette sitting in your favorite chair, or you light up after every meal.

So after even one year of smoking, do you really wonder why every time you see your cigarette lighter, or you finish a meal, it just feels natural to have a cigarette? In fact, it feels uncomfortable not to have one. And we’ve only been talking about your behavioral habits.

When you quit smoking cigarettes, you also have to face your nicotine addiction. And the physical addiction to nicotine is as strong or stronger than a physical addiction to heroin. The good news about that is: once you stop putting nicotine into your system, most of it flushes out within a couple of days.

Quit smoking drugs, like patches and pills and nasal sprays, are intended to help you get through the physical withdrawal period. They’re supposed to help reduce the nicotine cravings, and you’re supposed to gradually taper off from them. They work about 20% to 30% of the time for long-term smoking cessation. But if you talk to people who have successfully quit smoking for 10 or 20 years, you’ll probably find that they used self hypnosis at some point to help them stop smoking for good.

Joanne Fallwater
http://www.articlesbase.com/health-articles/quit-smoking-hypnosis-will-help-you-quit-for-good-724079.html

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Posted by Smokes at 11:55 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Oct 252009

It was a Sunday morning, I woke up late and turned in my bed in search of a cigarette.

While turning my pillow I felt a peculiar burnt smell which was not a pleasant one.

I tried to find out what was the smell due to?

I rubbed my head with my hand and smelt.

It was the same nasty smell more intense.

It was the smell of cigarette smoke!

On Saturday night I was with two of my friends in a small stuffy French pub where men and women smoked, drunk and danced all night.

We also participated in those activities and enjoyed the night.

It was at 3 am, my friends dropped me at my apartment.

Somehow I could open the door and entered the room.

After smoking a cigarette, I slept.

The puffing in the pub by so many people stuffed the smoke into every ones dress, body including the exposed hair of the head.

I never realized the harmful nature of the tobacco smoke, but I thought it was fun and enjoyment.

It was when I left for France 40 years ago, I started smoking the foreign cigarettes to start with.

Later when I came back to India, the habit continued till 1996.

When I used to travel in train, I used to smoke without any respect for the co-passengers – men, women or children.

I was deriving a kind of pleasure in taking out a cigarette from the pack and light it either with a lighter which I brought from France or later with match stick made in Sivakasi.

I left smoking three times on the eves of New Year.

It hardly lasted for a month or two.

During this period I used to have good apatite and put on weight.

I read some where one of the consequences of quitting smoking is increase in body weight.

In spite of my wife, son and daughter’s advice, I could not leave smoking.

In 1996, one fine morning, I decided myself with a great determination and will power ‘not to smoke’ from that day.

Fortunately it continues to date.

When I travel, I could smell the cigarette or beedi smoke coming from long distance.

When I used to smoke in those days, I never could smell the smoke coming out of my cigarette.

Now I have become so sensitive to the bad smell of cigarette smoke.

I realized how harmful I was for those who traveled with me in those days.

Also I felt sorry that how much displeasure I would have caused to those men, women and children who never asked me to stop smoking.

What a shameful life I lived making others uncomfortable.

They would have cursed me in their mind.

Two years ago when I was traveling in the train, a middle aged man was smoking in the compartment as I used to do earlier.

I saw an young lady, came to him and requested him to stop smoking.

The man who was smoking felt very bad and extinguished the bit of burning cigarette and threw it out.

I was happy that such an incident did not happen to me in those days!

Every one has a freedom to express to safeguard public health.

That was what that young lady did boldly.

Tobacco consumption in whatever form is harmful for health.

It appears that China is the largest producer and consumer of tobacco.

There are 350 million smokers in China according to an article published in a news paper.

It is a common ritual in Chinese wedding it adds.

Banning tobacco cultivation itself is one way of putting off puffing.

Increasing the cost of cigarette and its associates by imposing taxes is another measure many Governments took.

The Finance Minister in every year budget speech made it a point to add tax for cigarettes and tobacco products.

The Governments gave statutory warning in cigarette packets itself saying cigarette smoking is injurious to health to create awareness.

Recently one of the health ministers of Government of India brought a rule that smoking scenes should not be shown in cinema.

These are measures to create awareness among the public not to smoke.

Tobacco business is a biggest money earner in many countries.

Millions of people are employed in both production and processing of tobacco.

Considering the economic importance of income and creation of employment for country men and women, it becomes a sensitive issue for governments to bring strict rules to abolish the use of tobacco.

However, health consciousness among the public has brought down the smoking to a considerable extent.

It is a good sign; even without imposing hard rules, people themselves change for the best.

We hope the World No Tobacco Day on 31 May every year will remind people to wind up the bad habit of smoking and other ways of consuming tobacco.

NARA
http://www.articlesbase.com/wellness-articles/no-tobacco-day-174598.html

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Posted by Smokes at 11:55 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,