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The use of tobacco and its resulting nicotine addiction is responsible for killing more than 430,000 people each year in the United States, more people than die from car accidents, homicide, suicide, fire, alcohol, cocaine, heroin, and AIDS combined. Tobacco use in some form accounts for around one in three of all deaths from cancer in the United States. Smoking is responsible for 83% of all lung cancer deaths. Smoking also causes cancers of the mouth, larynx, pharynx, esophagus, kidney, bladder, pancreas, uterus, cervix, and some leukemia. Cigarette smoking also can cause lung diseases that can be just as serious as lung cancer. Smokers may develop chronic bronchitis, with their airways blocked up with mucous, forcing them to cough frequently; and, of course, smoking can lead to emphysema, making it difficult for the lungs to perform their function of supplying adequate oxygen to the body. People with these problems tend to tire more easily and this influences them to avoid getting the exercise they need to promote their health. Cigarette smoking is responsible for more than 65,000 deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
Your heart is at risk. Smoking doubles the risk of heart attacks, and, in addition, is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, which is the narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles.
Cigarette smokers die much younger than nonsmokers. Based on data collected from 1995 to 1999, the Centers for Disease Control estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking. For smokers between the ages of 35 and 70 the death rate is three times higher than those who have never smoked.
Tobacco smoke is a major source of indoor pollution. Secondhand smoke causes about 3,000 lung cancer deaths every year among those who do not smoke, and also is a factor in up to 40,000 deaths related to cardiovascular disease for nonsmokers too. Exposure to tobacco smoke in the home increases the severity of asthma for children and is a risk factor for new cases of childhood asthma.
Tobacco is very bad for the reproductive health of a woman, leading to a reduction in fertility and an increased risk of having a miscarriage. If a woman who smokes conceives a child, she may face the possibility of having an early delivery or even a stillbirth. And women who smoke increase the chance that their baby will have a low birth weight.
See the future if you continue this path. If you would take a moment to think of yourself as getting any of the diseases promoted by a smoking and nicotine habit sometime in the future, note how painful it would be for you, both physically and psychologically. Think, for a moment, of how much unhappiness it would create for you and your loved ones, and how it would keep you from enjoying the more healthy life that is yours after you have become a permanent nonsmoker. It is important to fully understand and feel, both consciously and subconsciously, just how negative a nicotine habit is to your overall enjoyment in life so that your mind, both conscious and subconscious, knows, without any delusion, just how much intense suffering will come to you unless you change your course in life.
Now make that picture dimmer and less bright and move it away from you, and watch as it grows darker and smaller. Take a moment to see yourself free of your nicotine addiction in the future. Look at how much healthier you look and feel. You can breathe freely and enjoy the fresh air entering your lungs. Your skin is healthier and you look younger at an older age, while your clothes smell fresher and cleaner. You are totally free of all the physical problems smoking would have caused you. When thought about in this way, it is more pleasurable to not smoke. You’ve found other healthier ways to get pleasure and reward yourself. In fact, cigarettes are now truly disgusting to you. As you see yourself a tobacco-free person, notice, now, that you’re feeling fine, you’re so relieved, you’re so much more at peace, you’re so much happier, so much healthier, and now you’re freer to be who you really want to be. Notice how much more personally self-confident and filled with personal self-esteem you now look and feel.
You may not fully know this, but the positive changes that result from becoming a permanent nonsmoker come sooner and are more pervasive than you ever imagined, making smoking cessation more immediately rewarding for you. Twenty minutes after you have quit, your blood pressure drops back down to the level just before your last cigarette and the temperature of your hands and feet increase toward a more normal level. Eight hours after you have quit the carbon monoxide level in your blood will have returned to a normal level. Just 24 hours after you have stopped smoking, your chance of a heart attack will already be decreasing. In the following weeks your circulation will be improved and the functioning of your lungs, even as soon as several weeks to 3 months’ time, will have improved by 30%. In subsequent weeks you will be able to look forward to other significant health improvements. Sinus congestion, shortness of breath, and coughing will have decreased. The cilia function within your lungs will return to normal, enabling you to deal with mucous and clean the lungs, and thus reduce any infection. One year after quitting, your extra risk of heart disease will be half that of someone who has continued to be smoker. After 5 years the risk of a stroke can be reduced to that of a nonsmoker. Ten years after quitting smoking your lung cancer rate will be half of that of someone who has continued to smoke, and your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, pancreas, kidney, and bladder will all have decreased. Fifteen years after you have quit and become a permanent nonsmoker your risk of coronary heart disease will have fallen to that of someone who does not smoke. A 35-year-old man who becomes a permanent nonsmoker will, on average, increase his life expectancy by 5.1 years. And, of course, the quality of his life will be greatly increased during all his years, no matter how long he lives. Even smokers who quit after age 50 substantially reduce their risk of dying early. The argument that it is too late to quit smoking because the damage is already done is just not true.
It is important for people to know that nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and heroin. As matter of fact, it works to create and maintain an addiction in a way that is similar to those drugs. The addictive nature of nicotine is created by its ability to release dopamine in the brain, a chemical that creates feelings of pleasure. This is similar to the physiological and psychological effects of both cocaine and heroin. Recent research has shown that there is also some chemical in cigarette smoke that reduces the level of monoamineoxidase (MOA), which plays a role in breaking down dopamine. This helps create an overall increase in dopamine and thus contributes to the desire to keep taking more nicotine.
Cigar smokers who inhale absorb nicotine as rapidly as a cigarette smoker, while those who choose not to inhale absorb a significant amount of nicotine through the lining of their mouth, as do those who use smokeless tobacco. Even though these smokeless users do not hurt their lungs because they do not inhale tobacco smoke, the nicotine from their habit is still very highly addictive and causes the heart to beat faster and their blood pressure to go up. Chewing tobacco hurts a person’s ability to taste and smell, often causes damage to gum tissue, and can even result in the loss of teeth. More seriously, chewing tobacco is full of cancer causing chemicals that can give people cancers of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, and esophagus. Many people who get these particular cancers were users of chewing tobacco. So powerful are the cancer-causing chemicals in chewing tobacco that even very young users get
these cancers.
Nicotine’s effects are short-lived within the body, leading people to continually give themselves more during the day. Eventually, the continued use of nicotine leads to what is referred to as tolerance. The drug is no longer as effective as it was, and people need higher and higher amounts of it just to get the same physiological and psychological effects that they experienced earlier. That is why people tend to increase their usage of nicotine-delivering substances the more they have been using them.
There are even short-term effects related to tolerance. Nicotine disappears from the body in a few hours and some tolerance is lost overnight. Smokers often report that the first cigarettes of the day, newly introducing nicotine to the body after several hours of forced abstinence during sleep, have the strongest effect and are enjoyed the best. As the day goes on, and they smoke more and more cigarettes, tolerance is created, and each cigarette has less effect.
Nicotine also suppresses the production of insulin by the pancreas, which acts to raise blood sugar and causes the liver to release glycogen into the blood. In addition, cigarettes themselves are actually between 8% and 18% sugar, so smokers who puff a cigarette frequently during the day are actually given themselves blood sugar-raising hits throughout the day. All this contributes to smokers experiencing a slight sugar high from increased blood glucose. As a result of all of this many smokers also experience a lessening of appetite. This may explain why people gain weight after stopping smoking. They are trying to maintain their prior elevated glucose level, which was found to be pleasurable. Any craving that a new nonsmoker might experience is most noticeable in the morning and mid-afternoon, when low blood sugar is no longer blocked by smoking.
Nicotine is biphasic in nature. It can both stimulate and relax a person, depending on how they smoke. Nicotine doesn’t work in the body the same way alcohol does, but they both exhibit biphasic activity. People often become uninhibited and more excitable after drinking, while at other times they may become sedated and eventually fall asleep.
Cessation of nicotine intake results in withdrawal symptoms that strongly influence anyone trying to end their tobacco use to start consuming it again. These symptoms can include headache, irritability, restlessness, tiredness, feelings of depression, poor concentration, and anger and frustration. While the most powerful influence on withdrawal is the pharmacological effects of nicotine, many behavioral aspects affect the nature of the withdrawal symptoms. For many smokers, the sight, feel, and smell of a cigarette and the rituals involved in obtaining, handling, lighting, and smoking the cigarette are all strongly associated with the pleasure of smoking and when absent can contribute to psychological feelings of withdrawal. While nicotine gum and patches can act to alleviate the pharmacological aspects of withdrawal, some cravings may persist because of these missed behavioral aspects of smoking. This is a problem in quitting smoking that can be easily dealt with and greatly minimized through the use of hypnosis.
One of the clearest indicators of the power of the effects of nicotine is that while over two-thirds of all tobacco users want to stop using it only a small number are able to do so permanently. Each year, nearly 35 million people make a concerted effort to quit smoking. Only 20% of those trying succeed in abstaining for as long as a year and only a small percent of these are able to do so by using willpower alone. Less than 7% succeed in abstaining for more than a year. Most of those trying to stop start smoking again within days.
Over 90% of smokers who try to quit without seeking treatment fail, with most relapsing within a week. Most smokers take several attempts to quit before they finally succeed.
To reduce the risk of lung cancer and other related cancers that are caused by smoking, smokers need to stop smoking completely. It has been found that the amount of carcinogens inhaled remains high even as they cut back on the number of cigarettes they use. Research has shown that this even applies when smokers are supplementing their intake of nicotine with the use of patches. The reason this is true is believed to be that the smokers inhale more deeply on the fewer cigarettes they do smoke to feed their addiction and the nicotine patches made little difference in how long and deeply the users inhaled the smoke from their cigarettes. Thus, the patches made little difference in the overall amount of carcinogens introduced into their bodies by their smoking habit. The conclusion is that patches do not significantly decrease a smoker’s risk of cancer. Possible theories as to why this is so is that patches fail to provide the high that the smokers desire, nor do they provide a substitute for the enjoyment that people get from the act of physically enjoying a cigarette. Another reason may be addictive compounds found in cigarette smoke that aren’t in the patches.
Sometimes in life failure is not necessarily an indicator of the difficulty or even the impossibility of accomplishing something. It just tells you what doesn’t work. Fortunately, seeing a qualified certified hypnotist is effective for changing a smoker into a nonsmoker for life. Not only do they become nonsmokers, but they do so more easily and comfortably then they ever expected. With the new cooperation of their subconscious they are able to lose their desire to smoke cigarettes and cigars. There is some physiological discomfort during the withdrawal period following the cessation of tobacco use, but with hypnosis these effects can be mitigated and the period of discomfort shortened. Hypnosis is also able to greatly reduce and even eliminate any tendency to gain weight after smoking cessation. In my clinical practice, I typically see clients only once for complete and permanent smoking cessation.

We know it’s not good for us; we know it might get us sick or dead; we know we smell because we use it; we know it’s a bad habit; we know most people don’t like us to do it next to them…

But then again – We still do it! Why?!

People start smoking because they are curious. They want to know the effect on other people, why they use it, and can’t stop when they want to.

Does it really make us feel better or calmer? Will it really make us a part of the group if we use it?

We know the answers. When we are kids we think we should do what the other friends are doing and we smoke to be a part of the gang.

When are older, we think it might help us with the stress we experience in our lives.

Then it becomes a bad habit we can’t get rid of.

Sure the tobacco is addictive, but isn’t that another lame excuse?

When you want to stop something you do it. When you feel pain you stop doing what ever it is you do even if you like doing it because you don’t want to get hurt.

So why is it so hard for us to stop smoking?!

In order to stop, but really stop we need to decide we really want to do it. Not because our spouse asked us, Not because we just want to see if we can stop, Not just for a few month.

We need to decide we do not want this habit!

After we did that we can get to the next stage which is to stop.

If you are a heavy smoker try to reduce the amount of cigarettes first, until you completely stop.
You can also use some methods to help you when you feel like you must take a cigarette.

• Put mustard seeds on the lungs and tape them with plaster, also rub the spot.

• Every time you have the urge to smoke, put some salt of the tip of your tongue. Repeat for 1-2 month.

• Try nicotine products, such as: gum, drops, tapes and more.

Be healthy and smell better!!!

Here’s a great show in an air-conditioned hall. The admission is free. You have to pay at the exit gate only! Your smoking is somewhat like that. You got your first cigarette probably free from your friend. Now you are spending a lot, moving heaven and earth, to quit smoking. You don’t have an account how many thousands of dollars you spent on cigarettes, how much money you paid on stop smoking drugs medication!

Nicotine is no ordinary addiction. It has destroyed millions of individuals and millions of homes. You made many resolutions in front of your friends and relatives but not one of them fructified.

Asthma can be controlled, but COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease) which is the direct gift of smoking, is difficult to control or cure. Damage to the airways in COPD is permanent. The obstruction can not be removed. Here, the airways are only narrowed.

A test called spirometry is conducted to decide whether you have COPD. To confirm the diagnosis, bronchodilators are added. These are the drugs that cause the airway to dilate.

The treatment of COPD is peculiar. In the sense, you need to stop smoking first, before the commencement of the treatment. You can’t continue to smoke and expect the anti-smoking drugs to produce miracles. Highest co-operation from you is needed. Don’t depend upon the drugs as such. Take their co-operation. For treating COPD, short acting bronchodialator inhalers, steroid inhalers, long acting bronchodilators are used.

You have done enough of drama rehearsals. Time has arrived for your final show, or call it showdown with nicotine. It won’t give up easily. It is out to confront you ably assisted by around 4000 poisonous elements that it commands, 40 of them cancer-causing. No doubt, your will power to quit smoking is supreme, but let some drugs medication help
you stop smoking.

Some do cold turkey, with benefit. The triggers in environment are bound to make it psychologically difficult to lighting up. The main obstacle is behavior patterns. You will experience physical withdrawal symptoms. But if you are determined, this strategy will work.

Since nicotine is your enemy, tools or drugs that confront nicotine, and help in reducing its effect are most welcome. Nicotine patch is one of them. Though they are costly, and the insurance companies will not admit your claim for expenses on this account, this step is worth pursuing. Nicotine gum is another such product. You are not actually expected to chew the gum, just lodge it between your gum and cheek.

Herbal remedies also play a positive role in the area of stop smoking drugs medication. You may say, and strictly speaking you are right, that tobacco is also a herb. But “to remove the thorn, sometimes, you need to use a thorn.” Some other herb must confront the tobacco herb. Ginger cigarettes, herbal teas and things alike help to remove the toxins from your body.

Zyban is another drug, that finds favor in the stop smoking tools. It is a prescription medicine, and you need to take it under your doctor’s advice.

Simply wanting to stop smoking is a large part of the battle to succeeding. Often knowing that cigarettes are destroying your health is not enough incentive. You don’t want to think about all the health problems that smoking can cause.

After all, between the physical addiction to nicotine and the psychological addiction, the whole person, mind and body, is craving the next cigarette. With that strong pull encouraging you to the next smoke, the thought of getting cancer, having a heart attack, or hurting your unborn baby might not be enough to make you decide to stop smoking.

That your health doesn’t deteriorate with the first cigarette encourages you to believe that smoking is not dangerous. Tobacco takes twenty to fifty years to damage your body with cancer or heart disease.

For a young person who is encouraged to start smoking at fifteen or seventeen that seems like a lifetime away. The sad thing is, by the time the damage is done it can be too late to quit smoking. They can end up dead of a heart attack at forty-five or dying of lung cancer at fifty.

How does one succeed in stopping the mind and body from continuing this addiction? You must deal with the body and the mind separately but at the same time. In other words, deal with the physical addiction with one technique and the psychological addiction with another technique all at the same time.

It’s actually easier to deal with the physical addiction. There are patches, pills, and gums that you can use if you need them. Your doctor will be able to help you in this area by recommending products that can help your body lose the desire for a cigarette.

The psychological addiction is more complicated to overcome. Everyone would rather experience pleasure than pain, and trying to stop smoking will produce pain. To the smoker, cigarettes produce pleasure.

Some smoke to have something to do, or because they believe it will calm their nerves. They might associate smoking with a pleasurable experience, such as smoking with friends at the bar or while they play poker. They aren’t smoking because they feel the need for the nicotine, but because they associate smoking with a good time.

So how does one overcome the psychological addiction? Some professionals suggest filling up the time you would normally be smoking with some other activity. The activity needs to be a positive one or it won’t work.

Have the activities planned out. Know exactly what you are going to do in place of smoking and be prepared for it.

Include times of regular exercise, meditation and breathing exercises. Believe you can stop smoking and surround yourself with people who will encourage you to succeed.

Most importantly, get rid of the idea that life isn’t worth living without cigarettes. That thought must not be allowed. Change that thought to “life is worth living without cigarettes.” Instead of thinking that cigarettes are good, replace the thought with something like “cigarettes are killing me.”

By changing your thoughts about cigarettes from positive to negative you will change your beliefs about them. When your beliefs change, then you lose the psychological craving for them and it’s easier to stop smoking.

Feeling out of breath lately? It might be from that habit you’ve been trying to quit for years: Smoking. Smoking doesn’t just leave us out of breath at the end of the day, it also can make ones breath smell badly; creating unsavory odors on clothing, and worst of all lead to cancer. Smoking is becoming something of the past, and cities are reacting to this trend. In most major cities smoking is either banned, or limited to a few select places. On university campuses across America smoking is also banned. So it should become apparent to anyone that smokes that it is time to stop smoking today.

In order to stop smoking one must put their entire energy, and mind into the task. Making sure it is really a commitment you want to keep can be a task in itself. Many of those that have quit smoking needed several warm up rounds, and trial and error phases before actually kicking the habit completely. This is because to stop smoking completely for most individuals is not an easy thing to do, and can often result in relapses. One shouldn’t be discouraged if the first attempt to stop smoking fails, as most people will go through this. The key is to keep going with the program, and look at it as just one step in the right direction. Keeping a positive attitude that you can do it, and if you falter, try again.

For those wishing to stop smoking, it is imperative to locate a program that will help you in the process. What works for some, might not work for others, and this is why it is important to go with a product or program that has a reputation for success, and is part of a user reviewed community that people have rated worthy of trying.

One great site is QuitSmokingRightNow, which offers a complete solution to quit smoking. This powerful website and e-book will be a one stop shop for those who want to quit smoking, and something that can fuel your motivation to truly stay quit. QuitSmokingRightNow is a site that offers its visitors helpful tips, and tricks to quick smoking, along with a full blown course kit to help users stop smoking all together.

Another quality site is SmokingChallenge. This website is full of helpful stop smoking information, along with a comprehensive course for sale that promises to help you stop smoking once and for all. This is the type of site that offers a course that shows one how to stop smoking, and makes it easy enough for those who want to give it a true shot to go for it and actually quit.

Whatever product you choose to go with, make sure you have a site that shows you customer reviews of the product, like the site Review Place. Review Place will show you what the real customers of sites like the ones listed above think about the programs, if they worked, how much they cost, and any other information that is important. This is good for those serious about trying to stop smoking.

Quitting smoking is something that is absolutely necessary in our society today. Doctors are now more than ever before proving that smoking is literally a massive killer, and it is not something that should be taken lightly. For those serious about trying to stop smoking, getting the right product may surely do the trick, and if the research is done right, you can be sure that now is the time that you will stop smoking for good.

Your resolution to quit smoking is just a pill away– that’s how some of the pill manufacturers advertise their products. The main enemy for the quit smoking researchers is nicotine. How to tame this greatest killer of humanity year after year is a matter of concern for all researchers.

In the recent past, they have developed many wonder drugs, claiming that they have almost made it, but soon many unanswered questions cropped up. Is it really possible to stop smoking by taking recourse to pills? If so, for how long the pill diet has to continue? Nicotine’s chemical reaction on the body is their main target. Having known this, will they succeed to mimic or block nicotine’s destructive powers? Researchers have also found out that certain pills have within them the in-built double-benefit scheme! They help you stop smoking and drop weight! Is it good or bad?

They say that the best friend is the worst enemy. Cigarettes were your best friend. Now suddenly you want to quit smoking. Naturally the worst experiences, call them sufferings, will meet you on the way. But it’s time you cross each hurdle, without losing confidence and without giving up the race. All should be well, in the end!

Now, there is no doubt that enemy number one is nicotine. Strike this enemy so hard that there is no need to strike again. There is perfect agreement amongst the researchers on the subject. A revolutionary medicine is being developed, which when hits the market on a commercial scale, could be in the form of potion or pill. It is called Methoxsalen. This drug is also developed on the scientifically accepted fact that cigarette smoking is an addiction developed by human body’s earnest desire, obsession for nicotine.

Curb the desire, say the scientists who developed this drug; elimination of this craving is possible, the researchers fervently believe! They have great hopes on this new discovery, which they hope, will produce precedent-shattering results!

Are they right this time? Logically speaking, it seems that they are moving on the correct track! It is just like removing thorn by thorn! They are out to develop ways and means to prevent nicotine to reach up to the brain. It is the brain that does the duty of producing happy and enjoyable sensations when you smoke. When the brain stops giving such signals, what will the poor addict do? He is now not interested in lighting another cigarette at all, and at the end of the day he finds that the packet is almost in tact.

He now knows that he has found a way out from the nicotine-influencing zone. Hopefully the final exit will be soon!

Just as all stimulants seem to affect IBS sufferers harder than those without IBS, tobacco is one of the most extreme. Whether you smoke or chew, tobacco is a powerful gastro-intestinal stimulant, irritant and carcinogen. Because people with IBS have extremely sensitive intestinal tracts anyway, tobacco should be avoided at all costs. But even if you don’t have IBS, the effect tobacco has on your GI tract is severe.

Tobacco has shown to be harmful to the entire digestive system. Two of the most common ailments caused by smoking is heartburn and acid reflux, which are conditions that people with IBS are already more likely to suffer from. Tobacco weakens the sphincter in the oesophagus, therefore allowing stomach acid to flow upward into the oesophagus. Tobacco has also been known to double your chance of developing a peptic ulcer and chemicals in tobacco also hinder the healing of ulcers and make sufferers more likely to develop additional ulcers later in life. The exact increase is unknown but it’s thought to be as high as 10 times as likely. Doctors also believe that there is a link between the development of Crohn’s disease and the possible development of gallstones in tobacco users.

The addictive and poisonous part of tobacco, nicotine, can cause many health problems on its own. Additional weakening of the sphincter of the oesophagus, increased acid production in the stomach and a decrease in the pancreas making sodium bicarbonate, which neutralizes stomach acid. But nicotine isn’t the only problem with tobacco. There are over 400 toxins and at least 43 known carcinogens in tobacco, all of which will hit someone with IBS harder than they would hit a healthy person. A seldom considered side effect of smoking is increased air consumption, which can lead to bloating and flatulence.

And of course, the most common result in long-term cigarette smoking or tobacco chewing is the development of cancer, including cancer of the digestive tract, such as colon, bladder, pancreas, kidney and stomach cancer. It’s not known if IBS sufferers are at a higher risk to develop cancer of the digestive tract, but the additional irritation and stimuli to the body tends to not be favourable for IBS patients.

Tobacco irritates the lining of the intestines, which can cause diarrhoea, intestinal cramping, pain, bloating and gas in IBS patients. Nicotine has been reported to highly increase the frequency of stomach cramps in IBS sufferers. Tobacco use also decreases the efficiency of food digestion and it can also dramatically slow down the metabolism of those with IBS. This can alter bowel movements, which are already a huge problem for those with IBS, and cause bloating. Withdrawal from nicotine can cause both constipation and diarrhoea, again, already a big problem for those with IBS.

So for those people with IBS, sometimes just a small amount of stimuli to the digestive tract can be too much. The effects of tobacco use are universally negative for an average person and can be dramatic for those with IBS. There is no known cure for IBS and treatment options are not widely agreed upon, even by experts. But one treatment everyone can agree on is to reduce or eliminate tobacco use, even if you don’t have IBS!

Many people began smoking cigarettes because they thought it made them look sophisticated and ‘cool’ or because they succumbed to peer pressure. However, smoking can lead to very poor health and may also increase your chances of getting a terrible disease like breast cancer.

There are a number of myths about smoking. For example, it is generally thought that young men become addicted to smoking faster than young women, but this is not the case. Research has shown that young women tend to adopt the bad habit of cigarette smoking much more quickly than their male counterparts. Studies have also suggested that just being around people who smoke cigarettes brings a higher risk of developing cancer; so-called ‘passive smokers’ even have a higher risk of getting the disease than chain smokers, in fact.

The World Health Organization has associated smoking with over 25 types of cancer, including uterine cancer, kidney, cervical, and pancreatic cancers, and the list grows by the day. Women and nonsmokers have been found to be more prone to breast cancer than any other form. The WHO report indicates that smoking cigarettes is not only damaging to the smoker, but also to the health of people just standing nearby. For women, smoking is synonymous with death because it increases the chance of heart attack and stroke as well as cancer. Their risk increases ten-fold if they are also using birth control medications and smoking.

If you were to list all of the bad effects of smoking you would be involved in a never-ending task. Smokers use cigarettes, happily thinking that this will relax them by easing their stress and tension. However, the unhealthy effects of the smoking are easy to see on the faces of smokers. They have bad breath, yellow teeth, wrinkled skin, and complain of tongue and stomach ulcers.

Children are at greatest risk of picking up the smoking habit. Parents who smoke are providing a terrible example to their children, who often want to follow in the footsteps of their mothers and fathers. Children of smokers can’t tell the difference between what’s good or bad because, from their earliest years, they have been exposed to a bad example.

Smoking cigarettes can also hamper a person’s ability to think clearly. It creates an addiction that is difficult to overcome, and people who smoke always think they need a cigarette to get through any period of tension in their lives.

Even though it is hard to quit smoking because of its additive nature it can be done. Many people do it every day. Researchers say every time you smoke you are inhaling more than 4000 different chemicals. One of the extremely addictive ones is nicotine. It is such a powerful poison that a drop, the size of a pinhead of this toxin, in the blood stream, would kill you instantly.

Nicotine stimulates the central nervous system creating a pleasurable and euphoric sensation that makes the smokers feel so relax. In the meantime, it is paralyzing your nervous system. So to get that same euphoric feeling again, you have to in-crease the amount you smoke. This cycle play over and over again until most likely you are addicted.

Once you become addicted, your body will crave nicotine. Trying to quit smoking causes withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms may include nausea, irritability, depression, headache, insomnia, fatigue, and cravings for a cigarette. Withdrawal symptoms should be expected when you are trying to quit smoking. But remember it is only temporary.

In addition to nicotine cigarette smoke also contains the dangerous gas carbon monoxide. Studies show that carbon monoxide has a stronger attraction for red blood cells than oxygen does. Since red blood cells carry oxygen throughout your system, this means that a smoker’s body is being depleted placing additional strain on the heart.

Nicotine coupled with carbon monoxide release fatty acids in the blood stream. This plaque contributes to hardening of the arteries, which may lead to a heart attack, stroke, and other circulatory diseases.

It is not unusual to feel depressed while quitting smoking, but proper nutrients can help you cope with the withdrawal symptoms. Unfortunately, smoking became a habit instead of a choice. It became a part of your lifestyle. Your activities and smoking are so intertwine that you do not even realize you are doing it. As you drink your coffee, read the newspaper, talk on the phone, take a break at work, and socialize you have a cigarette in your hand.

There are so many health problems associated with smoking including: Cancer, Heart Attacks, Cataracts, High Blood Pressure, Impotence, and Ulcers.

Let’s not forget secondhand smoke. Evidence shows that secondhand smoke may be more dangerous than the smoke the smoker inhales. Recent air sampling show that pollutants are more concentrated inside our house than outdoors. Indoor toxicity runs two to five times higher than outside. The effects of constantly breathing impure air in a room that’s polluted with cigarette smoke, even though you are a nonsmoker can lead to lung cancer. Also, if you smoke and your home has high radon levels, your risk of lung cancer is even higher.

Most smokers wish they had never started smoking, but is so hard to quit smoking because they are addicted. In fact some researchers say tobacco is more addictive than heroin and cocaine. Smoking contributes to at least 21% of all heart disease. Quitting now will reduce your risk of heart problems up to 70% in the next four through five years.

In fact you can reap the benefits of not smoking in just 24-hours after your last cigarette. In 1 day your pulse should calm and your blood pressure should return to normal.

There are so many health advantages when you quit smoking.The secret to your success if finding which way is right for you.

Quit Smoking Tips

It is estimated that cravings for a cigarette usually last only 3 to 5 minutes. When the nicotine demon strike try focusing on something else for that small length of time. As you resist, it will become easier as time goes on.

Cut back on junk food, processed, refined, salt, white sugar, white flour, and saturated fat. Get rid of alcohol, coffee, and teas. Only herbal tea is allowed.

Incorporate more vegetables and fruits into your diet. Drinking fruit and vegetable juices have been known to curb cravings.

Drink plenty of pure water that’s free from toxins. This will helps cleanse the system.

When the craving of tobacco comes over you, try reaching for some carrots or celery sticks.

Don’t miss meals eat regularly. This will stabilize your blood sugar until your body is accustomed to being without nicotine.

Get rid of all cigarettes, try to freshen everything that smell of smoke, and make your place smell “smoke free.”

As much as possible stay away from smokers and a smoking atmosphere.

Take long walks in the open air and breathe deeply. This will help strengthen and clear your lungs.

Be determined to quit! Even if you slip don’t throw in the towel.

If smoking, blood pressure, stress and headache were the candidates for Presidential Elections in the US who will win? Make a guess.

Jokes apart…All will lose deposits. No one likes them, for the simple reason that millions are affected by them and suffer on the account of them. They are all most unwanted. You wish to get rid of them but may not actually know it.

High blood pressure which is also known as hypertension in medical terms has affected millions in the US. The estimated figure is 80 million! Many of these, and their number also runs into millions, do not know that they have blood pressure.

The identifiable symptoms of blood pressure are constant headache, difficulty in breathing and feeling dizziness. Smoking is definitely harmful in the state of high or low blood pressure. It is an accepted fact that smoking increases the possibilities of heart attack. The reason is simple enough to understand. Nicotine in cigarette and other tobacco products constrict one’s blood vessels and the heart thus beats faster which is not good for the high blood pressure patients. Further, smoking creates complications in the lungs and in the vascular system.

In fact the thread bare analysis- whether smoking, alcohol, coffee, tea, are good or bad in the condition of blood pressure is meaningless. They are all equally bad. The loyal agents of the dreaded nicotine therefore deserve nothing but condemnation. Any soft attitude towards the products of such classification is not going to help the cause of your health.

And if you are the jack of all trades and are indulged in activities such as drinking coffee, drinking alcohol and smoking cigarettes, you are a certain candidate for blood pressure. You also become a possible candidate for future heart attacks and other lung problems!

Stress and headaches are the natural outcome of blood pressure. These three are so closely interrelated that it is difficult to pinpoint which is the direct cause of which disease or imbalance.

Now the question arises how to treat this smoking habit, blood pressure, stress and headache all together? Seemingly they look different, but all of them belong to the same root. So, “positive lifestyle changes” is the only answer!

Your one negative trait may be the cause of several diseases. Similarly one positive trait may be the cure for several diseases. Believe me just one positive lifestyle change may initiate a series of changes in your health. That too all naturally, and for the better!