Stop Smoking Help to Stop Smoking
Only six percent of people who try to quit smoking actually succeed the first time around. Nowadays, there are a lot of products available in the market that help to stop smoking. They serve as great stop smoking aid for those dedicated to the no smoking cause.
The nicotine patch slowly releases the nicotine addiction in the body by slowly releasing nicotine through the skin and into the bloodstream. This stop smoking aid can be easily attached anywhere on the body and simply needs to be replaced every 24 hours. Since it can easily irritate the skin, it is ideal to change its location every few weeks.
Nicotine gum is also available without the need for a prescription. However, there is an art as to how it should be chewed, and it must be chewed very carefully, in order for it to help to stop smoking. The gum must massage the teeth at one spot only until a peppery taste appears. Then it should be held between the cheek and gum until this taste disappears. The cycle should be repeated every 30 minutes until the gum is used up.
Lozenges work in the same way for smoking cessation. Lozenges provide a quick reaction in quitting smoking and those who use it have control over how many to take. Lozenges come in the form of tablets and can be taken more than once a day. However, they, too, fatigue the jaw because of the special technique required by this stop smoking aid. If accidentally swallowed, they will cause nausea.
Inhalers are the most preferred form of stop smoking aid for those who are trying to quit smoking. The dosage is easy to control and the side effects are similar to those of smoking. Plus, inhalers keep the hand busy by mimicking the act of smoking. However, these should not be used for those who have asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) since they can easily overdose.
Nasal sprays are a similar stop smoking aid. They help with nicotine addiction by supplying the blood with an adequate amount of nicotine. However, they may cause sinus irritation.
All of these stop smoking aids are ways to quit smoking. They help ease nicotine addiction by continually supplying the user with nicotine without the act of smoking, which is a useful stop smoking aid. There are ways to quit smoking that don’t involve nicotine, though.
Sometimes, anti-depressants are a useful help to stop smoking, although how this works has not been researched yet. Zyban is one effective stop smoking aid. However, it is not recommended to use anti-depressants for a long period of time and is required to consult a physician before opting for this method.
Chantix is another prescription medication that is known to be used in help to stop smoking. Chantix is a non-addicting pill that contains no nicotine. They help cure nicotine addiction by stopping the nicotine receptors in the brain from releasing dopamine. This makes smoking practically useless for its ‘high’. Chantix comes in the form of pills and it is required to consult a physician before opting for this method.
All these stop smoking aids are ways to quit smoking. However, they each require a real dedication in the long-term goal of quitting smoking permanently. Meet that goal.
Stop Smoking – Fatal Effects of Smoking
Everybody knows that heavy smoking can eventually lead to heart disease or lung cancer. However, there are many other damaging effects of smoking that may play huge roles in a person’s overall health that you may not be aware of.
Apart from extreme damage to the lungs, smoking greatly reduces the mere desire to exercise in a majority of smokers by using a stress-alleviating chemical. By lowering this concentration on oxygen and artery constriction, the benefits that healthy exercise could bring lowered even further.
Because of this, smokers are primarily inactive, which makes them more unfit than those who have quit smoking. The result is that the body cannot deal with the strains put on it, no matter how minor the problem.
Heavy smoking, as a whole, directly affects the entire body. By smoking, you increase the likelihood of cancer in various forms, as well as leukemia. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is another possible condition apparent in those who do not quit smoking. About 90% of those who suffer from COPD are smokers. The same goes for those who suffer from asthma, chronic bronchitis, and emphysema. Smoking also increases the odds of an aneurysm, which could be fatal if not taken care of straight away.
Post-menopausal women who have not quit smoking have a lower bone density than non-smoking women, making them more prone to hip fractures and other bone fractures that could prove to be fatal, if reaching further complications.
The most prevalent effects of smoking, however, remain to be heart disease and lung cancer.
The longer the smoking habit continues, the higher the risks are. Usually, those who smoke a pack a day have up to 4 times the higher risk of receiving coronary heart disease compared to non-smokers. In the United States of America, smoking one pack daily for twenty years is almost guaranteed to ensure lung cancer.
Quit smoking now to lower the risk of these diseases. Your health will improve greatly within only three months. Once a year has passed, the risks of developing a heart disease will be cut by half. And in a decade, you will be back to the life of a complete non-smoker. It is never too late. Quit smoking now for a longer life.
Stop Smoking: Harmful Compounds of Smoking
Smoking cigarettes comes with a lot of toxic substances that cause nothing but harmful repercussions in one’s life. Listing all of the effects of smoking would not necessarily be helpful. What should be known is that in medicine, the essential thing is the dosage.
Most of the harmful substances found when smoking cigarettes only come in mere nanograms per stick. However, with so many of them in a single cigarette, they end up amounting to a significant quantity.
Tar is a major part that can be found when smoking cigarettes and usually amounts to around 10-14 mg per cigarette. Cigarettes referred to as ‘low tar’ also contain around 8 or 9 mg of tar. Either way, smoking cigarettes induces a black substance called tar that surrounds the lungs and interferes with the alveoli’s actions. The alveoli consist of the lungs’ tiny sacs and make it possible for oxygen to enter the bloodstream, which makes their actions essential for life. Through smoking, this action is hindered and may also be prevented by low quantities of carbon monoxide (CO).
Once in the blood, carbon monoxide combines with hemoglobin, which plays an important part in moving oxygen all around the body. Due to smoking, CO gets into the mix and oxygen becomes trapped and therefore unavailable to the body. Even at its lowes concentration, lack of oxygen may cause severe headaches. And this is always present when smoking cigarettes.
Nicotine is another factor one must take into consideration when smoking. In fact, it is because of nicotine addiction that people keep smoking in the first place. Although nicotine in itself isn’t actually addictive, it releases dopamine in the brain that makes people feel good whenever they are smoking. Withdrawal from nicotine addiction usually comes from these lowered dopamine levels.
The average amount of nicotine in a cigarette is 1.2 mg, but this differs brand by brand. And although the human body takes in less of a compound than is actually in smoking, 70% of it is still inhaled. Most smokers finish several cigarettes daily, which will amount to an average of 20-40 mg daily.
But even despite these statistics, even the smallest amount associated to smoking can do a huge amount of harm, most of all since some body systems are more sensitive than others.
Cigarette smoking comes with huge amounts of various organic compounds. And even if ‘organic’ is used to describe merely healthy things in today’s world; in science, it simply means it has carbon in it. Contrary to popular belief, not all organic compounds are beneficial to human beings. Benzene is one example, and it is commonly found when smoking cigarettes, as well.
The harmful factors mentioned above are only a few that are associated with cigarette smoking. These usually grow in the lungs, as well as other parts of the body. According to the National Institute of Cancer, around 87% of lung cancer cases and 30% of all cancer cases can be attributed to cigarette smoking alone. They can all be prevented, though, so try to re-consider your smoking habits and think about what you’re putting in your body.
Zyban as a Way to Stop Smoking
Smoking addiction is probably one of the habits that are the hardest to kick. The addiction to nicotine is a physiological problem as much as it is a lifestyle problem. Having said that, there are definitely medications to battle nicotine addiction. One of which is Zyban.
Zyban, or Bupropion , is proven to be an effective smoking cessation aid. People who have found it hard to quit smoking by sheer will found it useful to have something to help them curb the craving. Originally marketed as an anti-depressant Wellbutrin, patients observed that regular intake of the drug reduced their cravings for nicotine.
Further research and testing found out that Zyban really does reduce smoking habit and ultimately lead to quitting smoking over-all. Repackaged as “Zyban,” it is being promoted as a “cure” for nicotine addiction. It is, however a prescription medication. It is in a pill form. In contrast to nicotine gums and patches, Zyban doesn’t put nicotine in the body to cover up for your craving. This is definitely a healthier way since it eliminates nicotine intake altogether, and thus the bad effects. Treatment can be about two to four months but quitting in about two weeks is not unknown.
A patient can take the Zyban while on the habit. Regular intake can lead to a quit-date, but medication needs to be continued for some time after. The medication reduces the withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, restlessness and depression. This helps the patients take their mind off smoking, which people usually do when the withdrawal symptoms kick in. It also decreases weight gain after quitting smoking. In tests, Zyban performed better than placebo. It reduced cravings and urge to smoke significantly better.
Being a drug, Zyban also comes with side effects like dryness of the mouth. Difficulty in sleeping is also common among people who take the medication. It also can lower the threshold for seizures in patients. Thus, it is not prescribed to patients with epilepsy and it also is not advised for quitting alcoholics and bulimic patients. Overdose of Zyban can lead to symptoms such as lethargy, hallucinations, hypertension, etc. Proper consultation with a medical professional must be done to ensure safety in the consumption of Zyban.
Smoking is shown, over and over again, to cause a lot of health problems. While many people do indeed like to quit smoking, it’s not as easy to drop it like that. Even those who had shown the force of will to stop it for good have been brought back to the habit. It is not, then, rare to ask help in quitting, from a person or a medication. Zyban has been for a time a proven, effective and reliable way to get over nicotine addiction and thus a help to stop smoking.
People who are already having problems with their habit should not hesitate to consult their doctor if Zyban is safe for them. When prescribed and consumed correctly, this medication proves to be one of the safest way to quit smoking.
Reasons to Quit Smoking – Health Hazards of Smoking
It is not unknown to most people that smoking can lead to harmful effects in the health of a smoker. Still, many people are still hooked on it. There is no decline in sight in the population of those who smoke. While smoking may look cool, this does not cover for the detrimental consequences it can put in your health.
If you haven’t start smoking yet, don’t start it. Nicotine, the chemical dominant in smoking tobacco, is more addictive than opium. Once you’re addicted to it, it’s frustratingly hard to quit. Getting in to it is so easy but getting out is almost impossible. The most common reason why people ponder on quitting smoking and getting rid of their nicotine addiction is the concern for their health.
Smoking kills and anyone who smokes is faced with this risk. It does not only leads to death but worse, it can make your life hard as you are on your way to your deathbed. To further show you how bad smoking can be, here are some of the danger smoking poses to your health.
1. Smoking increases the risk of a heart attack. Chemicals found in tobacco promote the narrowing of the blood vessels increasing the likelihood of stroke. The age bracket of people highly at risk of a heart attack is significantly lower among those who smoke. In extreme cases, smoking can influence cell regeneration and division in heart cells causing the heart to warp in shape.
2. Smoking contaminates the lungs making the alveoli less elastic. This leads to emphysema which is a very horrible disease to die to. The tar in tobacco also promotes lung cancer. The tar will make a smoker’s lungs look like coal.
3. Smoking can lead to cancer of the mouth. Some diseases concerning the mouth area are exclusively found in smokers. Halitosis, or more commonly, bad breath, is also more common in smokers. Smokers also easily lose teeth, as if bad breath isn’t enough ego buster.
4. Smoking decreases your immunity to diseases. This makes a smoker more susceptible to sickness especially the communicable ones which spread rather quite easily. This may seem not of a big deal since there are a lot of drugs that can cure those diseases but imagine easily getting the more deadly diseases like tuberculosis and HIV.
5. Smoking in women increases the chance of miscarriage while pregnant. There are also other detrimental effects smoking can give the fetus. Among men, addiction to nicotine leads to a higher risk of impotence. Smokers are also found to have a significantly fewer sperm count than their non-smoking counterparts.
As outlined, there are a lot of dangers posed by a smoking habit. Looking at it, it is easy to see why it is imperative to stop smoking now. Saying that, it also shows that there is some danger ahead of you if you plan to start the habit. Death from cigarette smoking is almost as sure as taxes (…and death) if you start lighting up.
Quitting Smoking – What are the Health Benefits?
Smoking tobacco is notoriously rampant around the world. This may be due to absence of prohibition in most countries for these smoking products. There also seems to be the easy availability of smoking products like cigarettes. Smoking directly causes about 5.4 million deaths per annum around the world. This really seems to be a significant amount of casualties among those who smoke. But there is never a decline in smoking population for the past years.
A smoker though really does find it hard to stop smoking. Aside from getting “used” to the habit, a chemical in tobacco called nicotine induces a sensation in the body to crave to consume more of it, which is from tobacco. Nicotine is known to be more addictive than opium. This makes it so difficult to stop smoking, especially after being in the habit for a long time.
People with nicotine addiction need support and knowledge on how to recover from such addiction. It is advantageous, then, for a person to know the benefits of stopping smoking when they can. These benefits may seem not too significant but we should know that everything adds up especially when done in a significant amount of time. These are the benefits you can expect once you put down your smoking habit:
1. Blood pressure becomes normal – a minute after smoking, the heart beats harder due to the penetration of smoking particles in the blood. As much as 30% rise in heart rate can be experienced after 10 minutes of smoking. Normal levels of blood pressure can only be attained after 20 minutes of not inhaling smoke particles.
2. Oxygen level becomes normal – carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke can be absorbed in the blood and reduce its capacity to carry oxygen. This depletes the supply and slows body function and metabolism. It returns to normal after 8 hours of no smoking. Carbon monoxide levels though tend to be elevated for about 24 hours.
3. Nicotine exits your system – the addictive chemical found in cigarettes can only stay in the body for about 48 hours. This makes it easier to quit the habit if you could just hold it out for 48 hours since the addictive part is kicked out.
4. Breathing easy – a significant amount of time, after about 72 hours, your lungs is cleared of the debris left by smoking. This makes the lungs work more efficiently and perform better.
5. Better circulation – the circulatory system takes a longer time to cleanse itself of the chemicals absorbed while you’re on your smoking habit. It takes about 2 to 12 weeks for your circulation to be significantly better.
6. Lower heart attack risk – after quitting smoking for about 5 years the risk for a heart attack is half than that of what was had while actively smoking. This is due to the compounded effects of the previously discussed benefits.
7. Eliminates the risk for lung cancer – after 10 years of stopping smoking, the chance of having lung cancer is gone
As we can see, we are doing our body a big favor once we stop smoking now. Quitting smoking never is easy but it will be worth it.
How to Stop Smoking by Yourself
Smoking, or nicotine addiction, has some serious social and health consequences. It obviously puts off people who don’t smoke and it is an unhygienic habit and results to discoloration of nail and gums which is unsightly. A more profound impact is on health. Smoking is proven to result to lung cancer and emphysema, two very deadly diseases. And it is not pretty to die from these diseases.
Smokers, though, are thinking about quitting smoking at some time in their ash-laden career, which is a tread uphill. There are pharmacological reasons why people with the habit find it hard to stop smoking. Smoking usually starts out as something new to try. But it will eventually come to a point that the smoking and intake of nicotine is more than just a habit born of peer pressure, and that point can come pretty quickly. The body starts to crave for nicotine. It shows this in symptoms such as anxiety and restlessness. These symptoms are usually so hard to ignore that eventually a smoker needs to fill this crave by smoking. The body, being used to ingestion of nicotine, makes it hard for the smoker to quit smoking.
Outlined here are some steps that will help a smoker lessen the habit and ultimately stop smoking.
1. First, believe in the reason why you need to stop smoking. It may be to fulfill a promise made to a significant other or for the betterment of your health. Think of something that will inspire you and fuel your determination to quit smoking. More importantly, face this challenge for yourself. In the end, quitting smoking benefits you the most. It should always be about what will be good for your body.
2. Take quitting smoking as a day to day struggle. Don’t be tempted to think of the whole quitting mission as one battle. Instead, think of it as a war in which you battle craving every single moment of it.
3. Don’t stop smoking abruptly. The last thing you want to get from being strong-willed are withdrawal symptoms and these can be very severe. They often drive the smoker to consume more nicotine.
4. You can, instead, reduce consumption each day up to the point where you can do away with smoking for a day. A good way to do this is to keep track of how much cigarettes you consume. Reduce your consumption by only smoking until you can hold it no longer. However, remember that you should not consume more than you did the previous day. If you find that you can reduce how much you smoke after some time, then do so. Keep this number and never go up in consumption again. Do these until you can quit smoking altogether.
5. Stay away from things that will lead you to smoking. Do other things instead that require you to keep your mind on to something, away from thinking about smoking. You can chew gum to keep your mouth busy.
6. Have a reward to look forward to. This will further strengthen your resolve to stop smoking. Just be sure you won’t give yourself a pack of cigarette as a reward.
Following these steps will help you quit smoking. Don’t be surprised if you won’t be successful the first time. Just be determined to your cause and you will see yourself nicotine free with sheer hard work.
