Have Made The Decision To Quit Smoking Yet?

By Tsuyoshi E. Suzuki

Nicotine is considered one of the most additive substances on the Earth and it takes time to rid the body of its presence and effects. So if you are in the market to quit smoking, which you should if you are a smoker, you need to be aware that there will be obstacles and one of these obstacles is overcoming nicotine withdrawal urges. Nicotine itself is an addictive drug that is naturally present in tobacco plants. It is so addictive that it rivals drugs like cocaine and heroine. It doses are gradually lowered as the treatment progresses.

Smokers who live after a heart attack are the most likely to quit for good. They're very motivated. Find a reason for quitting before you have no choice. They don't know everything about their habit, as it is the nature of habits to blind us to the mechanisms by which they enslave us. They often say that cigarettes help them deal with stress and that having too much stress makes it hard to quit. Stress is one of the most common reasons many smokers go back to smoking.

Smokers have to be de-hypnotised as much as hypnotised. They often say that it is very difficult to quit smoking. This might be true to an extent, however if the smokers apply right and effective methods, smoking cessation may become a reality for all. They face massive withdrawal symptoms during and after they have quit smoking. There are various quit smoking aids which help the smoker overcome these withdrawal symptoms.

Smokers may consciously want to quit smoking, due to the terrible smell and the effects that smoking has on their health. The decision to quit smoking is yours to make but once you have made the decision, you should try as hard as you can.

Addiction actually means there are powerful physical and emotional urges and needs, which overpower the willpower of smokers forcing them to surrender. A strong resolve to quit, professional treatment to resist these needs or a reduction in the frequency and intensity of their occurrences will surely help in overcoming the addiction. Addiction to nicotine gives rise to physiological changes, changes that could alter the mood changes and performance ability of you the smoker. If you have given thought to abandoning your habit, you might want to take a self survey.

Secondhand smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals; 200 are poisons; 43 cause cancer.
Secondhand smoke comes from two places: smoke exhaled by the person who smokes and smoke from the end of a burning cigarette. It is the third leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., killing a total of approximately 53,000 nonsmokers per year. Consider asking the person to "take it outside" and not smoke in your presence to protect your own health.

Nicotine is an addiction, and if treated as such will always stay under your control. All you need to do to control it for a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, or in reality, a lifetime is to always remember to never take another puff!

Tsuyoshi E. Suzuki is a Managing Director of TS Worldwide Marketing Company Limited.
Discover how to quit smoking naturally within 6 days. Give up smoking now with our help.
Stopping smoking will benefit your life and for your beloved one. Find out more information.

Go here: http://www.tsworldwidemktg.com

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Hookah smoking: Is it safer than smoking cigarettes?

Hookah smoking is not safer — and may even be more harmful — than smoking cigarettes.
From MayoClinic.com

Q: Is hookah smoking safer than cigarettes? I've been told that the water used in the hookah makes the tobacco less toxic.

There is a myth that hookah smoking is safer than smoking cigarettes because the hookah smoke is filtered through water before it is inhaled. But recent studies have found that hookah smokers actually inhale more nicotine than do cigarette smokers because of the massive volume of smoke they inhale.

Hookah — also called narghile, shisha and goza — is a water pipe. The device has been used for centuries in the Middle East and Asia to smoke tobacco. Now, hookah bars and cafes are popping up across the United States — fueled by the growing popularity of hookah smoking among teens and young adults.

The hookah device consists of four parts:

• A base, or smoke chamber, which is partially filled with water
• A bowl, which contains tobacco and the heating source
• A pipe that connects the bowl to the base and dips into the water in the base
• A hose, a second tube in the pipe that does not dip into the water but opens into air in the base and allows users to inhale the hookah smoke

When a smoker inhales through the tube, a pressure difference forces air past the heating source and heats the tobacco, which gives off smoke. The smoke is pulled away from the tobacco and passes through the water and into the smoke chamber — where it is inhaled by the smoker.

Although many believe that the water in the hookah filters out all the "bad stuff" in the tobacco smoke, this isn't true. According to a recent World Health Organization (WHO) advisory, a typical one-hour session of hookah smoking exposes the user to 100 to 200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from a single cigarette. Even after passing through the water, the tobacco smoke produced still contains high levels of toxic compounds, including carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). Hookah smoking also delivers significant levels of nicotine — the very addictive substance in tobacco.

The trend of hookah smoking has doctors and public health experts concerned because — despite the claim of many users — smoking from a hookah is just as dangerous as smoking a cigarette.

content by:
Mayo Clinic

©1998-2008 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "Mayo Clinic Health Information," "Reliable information for a healthier life" and the triple-shield Mayo logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Terms of use.

Smoking: Does it cause wrinkles?

Smoking can accelerate the aging process of your skin. Find out how.
From MayoClinic.com

Q: Is it true that smoking causes wrinkles?
Melinda / Pennsylvania

Yes. Smoking can accelerate the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. These skin changes may occur after only 10 years of smoking and are irreversible.

How does smoking lead to wrinkles? Smoking causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin, depleting it of oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Smoking also damages collagen and elastin — fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely.
Smoking doesn't only cause wrinkles on your face. A 2007 study found that smoking is associated with increased wrinkling and skin damage on other parts of the body, including the inner arms.

In addition, repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes and the facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles.

Source: MayoClinic

©1998-2008 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "Mayo Clinic Health Information," "Reliable information for a healthier life" and the triple-shield Mayo logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Terms of use.

Smoking Facts - The Horrible Truth

By Tim Bock

Smoking is a deadly habit that affects millions of people. Even though it's so deadly, people still continue to do it. Below are a few facts on the subject. Let's hope they will encourage people to try to quite.

• People who smoke die on average 16 years younger than non-smokers. These deaths are usually diseases related to cancer and stroke.

• On average smokers spend over $3,000 a year on cigarettes. This means person who smokes 20 years will end up spending well over $60,000.

• It only takes a relatively short time for your body to start to recover. If you quit it will only take 3 months for you to see improvement in the functions of all your internal organs. The risk of heart attack drops and lungs will begin to get healthier

• Your children will suffer from more ear, nose and chest infections from the second hand smoke. Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease also becomes an increased risk.

• Finding and keeping jobs will become increasingly challenging. Since its common knowledge that smokers are much more likely to miss work due to illness employers have become wary of hiring smokers.

• Romantic relationships also become harder to come by. Who would want to go out with someone who has bad breath and stained teeth? Talk about running the mood!

While some of these facts can seem scary, just remember that it's never too late to quite. The sooner you stop smoking, the sooner you can start living a happier, healthier life. By quitting your loved ones will be proud of you, both because you overcame a huge obstacle and because you care enough about yourself and your loved ones to take action. That first step is the hardest, but don't be afraid to take action today. Your loved ones will thank you for it.

For more information on the harmful effects of smoking, please visit: Stop Smoking Today a website that specializes in fighting addiction to smoking including the side effects of smoking.

The Quitting Stage of Smoking

By Shareen Aguilar

Smoking is a deadly habit. Maybe it may not be for now, but smoking's health hazards may develop in a person's later years. The trouble with it is it could already be fatal and it might be too late for the victim. It is a very scary scenario but it does happen. Smokers who completely ignore giving up this terrible trait doesn't realize yet what can possibly happen to them many years from now.

Smokers who have been hooked to this addictive habit surely experiences difficulty in letting go of it. But people who have never seriously considered to quit smoking doesn't realize what fatality they are leading themselves in to. Only those who have really done and faced the serious consequences of how to quit smoking truly understands the difficulty in having smoking in their system and the aftermath if they maintain it in their body.

Putting yourself and your health at risk are the collateral as long as you continue to smoke. Health problems such as having a bad breath, gum disease, constant depression, high blood pressure, heart problems and the deadly lung cancer are all in line for you to absorb. Each of this health hazard are just waiting for the cue to hit and when it does, it is fatal.

But you can still avoid having any of this health problems from happening to you. What you need to do is to prepare yourself from expected withdrawal symptoms from the moment you quit smoking. Some quitters do find that to quit smoking would mean a really difficult stage. The cravings to smoke again is always there simply because of the fact that you miss smoking. A smart way to completely forget about smoking is to keep yourself busy.

Amuse yourself, go to the movies or visit friends and tell them that you are trying to quit smoking. This way, you'll get extra help from them whenever you feel like lighting a cigarette stick. Using nicotine patches and others are also a good alternative to giving yourself in for a craving. You may not be able to conquer your craving immediately but you can at least give in to it without having to light a cigarette stick again.

Think about the benefits that you will gain when you quit smoking. No matter how difficult the stage that you are going through now, tell yourself that you will gain an even bigger benefit once you have come clean from smoking.

Click Quit Smoking to find out more about how to quit smoking.

Stop Smoking Side Effects Can Make Quitting Difficult

By Judy Wellsworth

Many stop smoking aids are designed around the principle that one of the most difficult things to deal with in smoking cessation is its side effects. This is why there are a handful of nicotine-based aids - specifically to help the smoker manage the stop smoking side effects better.

A stop smoking side effect that the smoker himself would instantly notice when he starts eschewing tobacco is a shift in the blood sugar level. The quitter would suddenly need to satisfy his sweet tooth and reach for anything sweet. It isn't that smoking is responsible for putting sugar into your bloodstream; it's more of the effect of nicotine's stimulant properties that affects the blood sugar levels.

Furthermore, one who has just given up smoking would tend to put something in his mouth to replace the act involved in smoking of putting a stick in the mouth and lighting up. Because of this, many new quitters experience weight gain as a stop smoking side effect during the first few weeks of staying away from smoking.

As far as behavior is concerned, a nasty stop smoking side effect is being irritable and aggressive. Due to the smoker's habit of reaching for a cigarette during times when he is tense, it's only natural that he would feel irritable if that security blanket - in this case, the cigarette - is taken away from him during those times he needs it most.

As a result of this stop smoking side effect, many people around a person who is just starting to quit give in out of frustration and provide the smoker with the cigarettes he is craving, just to keep the tension to a minimum. By doing so, he has not helped the smoker kick the habit.

When one suddenly stops smoking, his body instantly plummets into a state of loss. The stop smoking side effects he may experience during the first few days are restlessness and depression. Depression has been linked to nicotine withdrawal while restlessness is related to the individual's loss of anything to do with his hands while idle. These symptoms usually stop within a month.

For smokers who have been used to smoking while performing intense mental work, a common stop smoking side effect is lack of concentration and difficulty doing creative work, such as writing. This, too, disappears after about a couple of weeks.

Not a few quitters report the stop smoking side effect of waking up in the middle of the night. Again, this may be due to nicotine withdrawal, and the body may be asking for its nicotine fix at this time of the night. Some say they feel lightheaded, but this goes on for only a few days.

Stop smoking aids such as nicotine replacement treatments are designed to make the stop smoking side effects more manageable. They also try to eliminate one's dependency on the replacement product so that over time, one can satisfactorily survive even without both tobaccos and the stop smoking aid.

You can also find more info on stop smoking patch and stop smoking aids. Stopsmokingaidsguide.com is a comprehensive resource to know smoking & how to get it off.

Facts About the New Stop Smoking Drug

By Patsy Hamilton

Here are the facts about the new stop smoking drug developed by Pfizer and approved by the FDA in May 2006. You may have seen advertisements for the new stop smoking pill, sold under the brand name “Chantix”. The ads suggest that you should “ask your doctor” if Chantix is right for you. We thought you might like to know a little about the drug before you “ask” for a prescription.

Varenicline would be the generic name for the new stop smoking drug. But, until Pfizer’s patent expires, it will not be available in generic form, meaning you will have to pay the higher price. Varenicline is derived from a toxic compound known as cytisine.

Cytisine is found in many plants, including the mescal bean, and there was some preliminary research suggesting that it might be effective for smoking cessation. Before they introduced their new stop smoking pill, Pfizer looked at many compounds similar to cytisine.

Drug companies cannot patent naturally occurring compounds like cytisine, so they have to come up with “derivatives”, something they can produce synthetically in the lab. So, the new stop smoking pill does not contain cytisine, the naturally occurring compound. It contains varenicline, the synthetic compound patented by Pfizer.

It is interesting to note that the only common use for plants containing cytisine is to induce a recreational “high”. Along with mild intoxication and heightened awareness of color, users have experienced nausea, vomiting, convulsions, heart pain and headache. Large doses have caused death due to respiratory failure

On a cellular level, compounds like cytisine partially block the body’s response to nicotine. The active compound in Zyban, the new stop smoking drug in 1997, does the same thing. Both Zyban
and Chantix are supposed to reduce the pleasurable sensations that nicotine causes in the body and thus reduce a person’s desire to smoke.

Neither of the drugs are “magic pills”. They work best when combined with counseling, a “quit plan” and a support program.

Of course Pfizer thinks their new stop smoking pill is better than Zyban. They advertise that two separate studies showed that Chantix helped more people quit than Zyban. They neglect to mention that there were three other studies that concluded that the drugs were about the same.
A study published in June of 2007 indicates that counseling and support programs are just as effective as the new stop smoking drug or any other therapy. The researchers went on to say that counseling is the “sole approach without any adverse effects”. Smoking has enough “adverse” effects on our health and the health of those close to us.

Most people want to quit. They try one of the drugs or nicotine replacement. They get nauseas and throw up. They have headaches, trouble sleeping and bad dreams. They get constipated. They get frustrated and they start smoking again.

They may think that all of those side effects were from nicotine withdrawal, when in fact, those are the side effects of the new stop smoking pill and nicotine replacement therapies, like the patch. Zyban can make your mouth dry. It can cause you to shake and sweat and make your ears to ring. The most controversial side effect of Zyban is an increased risk of seizures. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms are relatively mild, in comparison, and usually only last a few days.

Whether you choose to try the new stop smoking drug or one of the other plans that are available, the most important thing is that you make a plan to quit and stick to it. To learn more about your options, please visit the Stop Smoking Blog, a resource for those who want to quit, written by those who have.

Patsy Hamilton was a health care professional for over twenty years before becoming a health writer. Currently she is writing a series of articles about options for people who want to quit smoking. Read more at http://stop-smoking-blog.com

New Stop Smoking Medication - Which One Is The Most Effective

By Peter Finch

Several therapies have entered the market to help smokers curb the smoking habit. No sooner is one treatment method entrenched in the market than another new stop smoking medication makes its debut on the shelves. This inundation of treatment methods has actually flummoxed the person who wants to give up smoking. If you are a smoker thinking to give up, then it is necessary to make a comparison of the various kinds of new stop smoking medication so that you know what will work the best for you.

Nicotine replacement methods are not that new actually - they have spent some years on the shelves. But still they are so popularly used nowadays that people think they are new entrants in the market. These come in various forms like patches, gums, lozenges, etc. All of them contain nicotine as the main ingredient. When a person uses a nicotine replacement product, then he or she is getting a fix of nicotine, which helps to keep away the urge for the real cigarette. This works because pure nicotine is not as harmful as the other ingredients in the cigarette, especially tar.

But even with nicotine replacement methods, depression is common. In fact, the depression could lead to the person becoming demoralized and return back to active smoking. For this reason, different antidepressants have been developed. In fact, popular new stop smoking medication is in the form of antidepressants such as varenicline (brand name Chantix) and buproprion (Wellbutrin). Both of these help the body's nervous system to cope with the depletion of active nicotine from the receptor cells, which controls the depression.

These drugs are also helpful to a great extent in cold turkey situations. Doctors prescribe both Chantix and Wellbutrin to a large extent, but suggest the quitting smokers to keep the medications supplemented with a healthy diet and lifestyle.

However, antidepressant drugs have one great failing - they cannot be used in all kinds of people. There are several contraindications for them, and people with serious disease conditions like diabetes mellitus and liver and kidney problems must strictly avoid their use. In some people - especially young teens - both varenicline and buproprion can stimulate suicidal tendencies.

That is the reason why the very new stop smoking medication - the herbal remedies - have become so hugely popular. These contain a very judicious blend of herbs that can work in several ways to heal a person from smoking addiction. Herbs like Saint John's Wort and chamomile have been used for their antidepressant properties for centuries, while herbs like lobelia and cinnamon can actually make the taste of nicotine unbearable to a smoker. For this reason, a proper formulation of these herbs can cure the smoking addiction like nothing else can.

Apart from acting as antidepressants, these herbal remedies can flush out the toxic buildup in the smoker's body. This is a very advantageous edge over other new stop smoking medications that are thronging the market.

Among the recent popular brands that have infiltrated the market, remedies like SmokeRX stand apart simply because they have the right blend of herbs and not just fillers. For this reason, these remedies work very effectively and also show quick results. In fact, their acting time is oftentimes so short that the person can completely quit smoking, without having to go through the excruciating cold turkey phase.

Also, it is slightly wrong to classify herbal remedies as new stop smoking medication, because they have been in use since thousands of years. It is only recently that products are being made by blending several of these effective herbs in the right proportion.

Are you serious about quitting smoking? If you are, then you must try the amazing all herbal stop smoking pill which actually helps you quit in just 7 days. Guaranteed. Yes, this time you can do it. SmokeRx is the ultimate in stop smoking aids and has helped numerous people to quit the habit. Stopping smoking has never been this easy or quick. Forget nicotine patches, gum and sprays. Why fill your body with nicotine when you want to get rid of it? All herbal SmokeRx works. We guarantee it.

Stop Smoking Tip - Give Up Smoking Carefully Or Else

By Peter Finch

There is a very common belief that giving up smoking causes the person's weight to increase. This is not very far from the truth. At the same time, it is also true that there are ways to stop smoking that ensure no weight gain will occur. How to avoid weight gain when you kick the habit is in fact the best stop smoking tip anyone can give you.

It is a fact that smoking is a calorie-burning activity. It is proved that a chain smoker who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day will burn at least 200 calories in a day. That is the reason why a person who indiscriminately gives up thinking will actually gain weight as soon as he or she gives up the habit. This weight gain will not be apparent in mild smokers, but if the person is a heavy smoker, then indeed the augmentation in weight will be clearly visible.

There is a very justifiable reason why stopping smoking can make you gain weight. In most old techniques of smoking cessation - which are being practiced even today - smokers were actually exhorted to eat or drink something whenever they had the smoking urge. Eating and drinking does help to curb the urge to smoke. But the plan would always cause its repercussions. Firstly, smokers would eat things like potato chips and other snacks that would be calorie-building, or they would drink colas or coffees.

Needless to say, they would dramatically gain weight, though they would succeed to quit smoking. And, in some cases, the people would not be able to stop smoking but also get hooked on high-calorie foods, thus making it a double problem.

Thus, the most valuable stop smoking tip will be to give up smoking with a safe, tried and tested method, or else you will risk becoming obese and give an invitation to a host of diseases.
Stopping smoking by indulging yourself in eating is not the solution. Many people are understanding this supplementary problem that might come up, and so they are leaning more and more on herbal remedies. Herbal stop smoking methods do something very important - they act as natural antidepressants and help the smoker to fight against the excessive cravings that may come on. As a result, the smoker is able to give up the habit without getting addicted to anything else.

The herbal solution for smoke cessation, SmokeRX, is one such effective stop smoking technique. It works completely and in itself, i.e. it does not stop the smoking habit by creating another. This is the way in which most herbal remedies are formulated nowadays.

Remember this stop smoking tip: use a naturally safe and logical method for your smoke cessation. There are hundreds of them out there, but you need to play safe so that you do not succumb to another addiction just when you have given up one.

Are you serious about quitting smoking? If you are, then you must try the amazing all herbal stop smoking pill which actually helps you quit in just 7 days. Guaranteed. Yes, this time you can do it. SmokeRx is the ultimate in stop smoking aids and has helped numerous people to quit the habit. Stopping smoking has never been this easy or quick. Forget nicotine patches, gum and sprays. Why fill your body with nicotine when you want to get rid of it? All herbal SmokeRx works. We guarantee it.

How To Quit Smoking

By Steve Hill

Do you smoke? Would you like to quit smoking? Are you looking into the best ways to quit smoking? Now is the time to stop smoking, it is no longer cool to smoke, the cost of a packet of cigarettes is just incredible and smoking is banned in almost every public place. In this article I will attempt to help people to stop smoking by giving advice on how to quit.

Lets start by being nice, if the first few pieces of advice are not enough to get you to stop smoking then I will start to get tough towards the end of this article.

Lets face it, the cost of a packet of cigarettes is just plain stupid, they are far too expensive. If you were able to quit, it could be the equivalent of having a five percent pay rise at work, now wouldn't that be nice? What you need to ask yourself is what is the maximum amount you would be willing to pay for a packet of twenty cigarettes. Eight pounds, ten pounds, twenty pounds? In a couple of years time they are likely to cost this amount. Who gains from these huge increases?

The government mainly but also the tobacco companies themselves of course. We all moan about how much tax we pay from time to time but here you are seemingly happy to pay way over the odds for your dirty little habit.

After smoking a fag, the clothes of the smoker really smell, and a really vile smell at that. After smoking for a few years, the teeth of the smoker turn slightly yellow, hardly sexy is it?

Has this worked so far, are you now going to stop smoking? No, I did not think so, it is therefore time to get tough.

Despite of all of the things that I have said about people who smoke cigarettes you may be surprised to learn that I also used to smoke. My father, who is quite a rough, tough man, was disgusted by my habit. One day in a fit of rage he drove me to our local hospital. He took me through to the cancer the wards. I was left numb by the whole experience. Young men and women, barely into their fifties, lying their with lung cancer, cancer no doubt caused by smoking.

I would like to thank my father as I have now not smoked a cigarette for the last five years.

Stephen Hill runs The How To Stop Stammering Centre, he has a number of websites including:

stuttering

dvd replication

stuttering treatment

Quit Smoking - What Do You Think About the New UK Smoking Ban?

By Mark Goodworthy

A controversial new law in the United Kingdom, particularly in England, will be implemented beginning summer of 2007. The new law totally bans smoking in every public place and actually follows the ban passed in Wales and Scotland. This smoking ban has already been imposed in countries like the United States, Spain and the Republic of Ireland. The voting to pass the new legislation actually took place last February 2006 and has received much attention ever since.

The smoke-free legislation is expected to have an effect on businesses whose regular customers are smokers. The places that will be hit by the new law include enclosed and substantially enclosed public and work places. Many residents are worried of the general effects to the economy that will result from the ban. But overall, many experts believe that the smoking ban will have very little impact on the nation’s economy.

Almost 75 percent of the United Kingdom’s residents are non-smokers and businesses are actually going to benefit from the new law as more non-smokers will now to go to place previously frequented by smokers. On the other hand, businesses like pubs and clubs will be the hardest hit. For every violation of the smoking ban law, owners will be fined 2,500 pounds and in addition, they are also afraid that they will lose customers if they asked their regular clients to smoke outside. No smoking signs are also required in these places and failure to display one means more fines.

All smokers can still smoke outside as long as the area is not enclosed and are considered to be private such as care homes, hotels and even own residences. If they are caught smoking in places included in the ban, these smokers will be fined 50 pounds.

And it does not stop there. The UK government believes that the imposition of the smoking ban on the first of July is just the start. They are hoping to also target parents who smoke in front of their children, even if they are inside their homes. The government is also targeting a reduction in the number of smokers from twenty-five percent to five percent.

Smoking advocates, meanwhile, consider the new law as a violation of their civil rights and would cause non-productiveness in the work sector since employees will now have to go to authorized smoking places in order to smoke.

Are you ready to quit smoking? We can take this quit smoking journey together and make real progress to a healthier life.

Stop Smoking Methods - Why Is Nicotine So Addictive?

By Peter Ward

The latest research into nicotine addiction is leading to an improved understanding of the effects and working mechanism of the drug on the body, even indicating a genetic predisposition to becoming addicted to cigarettes.
Advanced neuro- imaging techniques assist researchers by allowing them to observe specific changes in the brain under the influence of nicotine. The hope is that these findings will allow the development of new and effective smoking cessation treatments.
When a person smokes a cigarette they ingest around 1 to 2mg of nicotine, after inhalation the smoker receives an initial “high” due to stimulation of the adrenal glands. This causes a rush of adrenaline which stimulates the body; this in turn causes a release of glucose, an increase in blood pressure as well as breathing rate and heart rate.
The calming effect of nicotine that smokers report is a response to the loss of withdrawal symptoms rather than the drug itself. It seem that the effect of nicotine on the brain is to activate parts of the brain that regulate feelings of pleasure, increasing the levels of the chemical, dopamine, also associated with sensations of physical reward. Research also indicates that certain other chemicals in tobacco smoke reinforce the nicotine effect.
An enzyme called monoamine oxidase which helps break down dopamine, is less effective when smoking causing the pleasurable dopamine effect to last longer. Another chemical acetaldehyde seem to chemically enhance the effect of nicotine The addictive nature of nicotine comes from the fact that these pleasurable effects are short lived, causing the smoker to desire more of the drug to obtain the pleasure reward, so driving them back to tobacco use.
The other addictive aspect of smoking for some people is the “ritual” of smoking. The purchase, the handling, the lighting and smoking of a cigarette all add to its habit forming nature.
The desire to smoke can be put into two main categories.1) The physical craving for nicotine, resulting in the dopamine effect, that the body experiences due to the chemical changes detailed above and…2) The thoughts and attitudes held by the smoker themselves, what are the real reasons behind a persons smoking habit. Often understanding why a person truly smokes can help them quit by addressing underlying problems.
By understanding these two sides, combination treatments such as the use of nicotine replacement therapy, in the form of patches or gum, in conjunction with behavioural therapies, such as, neuro linguistic programming or cognitive behavioural therapy treat both aspects of the addition together. This kind of combination approach has proved highly effective. An improved understanding of nicotine addiction, as well as how it works, will lead to advanced treatments in the future. These will add to existing forms of treatment
Peter Ward writes on a variety of health and associated health issues. The website below offers free guidance and advice on smoking cessation. Concentrating on changing smokers attitudes and thoughts to help them quit smoking by understanding why they smoke in the first instance. Click on the link : http://www.quit-smoking-asap.com