Quit Smoking to Save Your Life

Increase in number of people addicted to smoking is alarming. According to National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) conducted in 2006, the estimated number of smokers in US is 47.1 million. Out of which 26.2 million (23.5%) are men and 20.9 million (18.1%) are women. The tobacco in cigarette comprises of more than 4000 chemical compounds, of which 400 are toxic substances. The main toxic substances are tar (carcinogen), nicotine (addictive), carbon monoxide (reduces oxygen in body), and components of gases (which causes COPD). Research has revealed that each cigarette decreases life by about 11 minutes. Thus, smoking reduces life expectancy by seven to eight years.

Harmful effects of smoking:
When a person tries to smoke for first time he suffers from cough, sore throat, nausea and other adverse feelings generated in body, as body knows that smoking is injurious to health.

• Smokers frequently suffer from respiratory infections and several minor complaints such as cough and cold.
• Smokers are sensitive to dreadful diseases such as cancer (lung, pancreas, bladder, kidneys, esophagus, cervical), heart diseases, cardiovascular diseases, lung diseases, respiratory problems (asthma) and they can be easily attacked by several other problems related to kidneys, liver and pancreas.
• Excessive smoking also leads to loss of good skin texture.
• Smokers are easily exposed to diseases, as smoking weakens a person and reduces the stamina and immunity (resistance power).
• Two cigarettes a day destroy the entire vitamin C from body. The loss of vitamin C destroys the skin tissues.

Harmful effects on non-smokers:
Kids or babies are likely to get asthma and infections of ear, nose, and chest when they come in contact with people who smoke.

How to get rid of smoking?
Quitting smoking is very difficult, as it is very tough to sustain the withdrawal symptoms. Self-motivation helps in reducing the addiction of smoking. Herbal medicine can be used to stop smoking, which pretend to give the nicotine effect and avoids all the side effects.

Natural sources to quit smoking:
Some of the natural herbs that help in quitting smoking are Oat Straw (Avina sativa), Lobelia (Lobelia inflata), Valerian (Valeriana officinalis), and St. John's Wort (Hypericum perforatum). Also, it is said that natural therapies like Acupuncture and Hypnotherapy helps in quitting smoking.

Techniques to quit Smoking:

• Music is excellent way to divert mind from desire to smoke.
• Meditation helps to get control over mind when a person has urge to smoke.
• Breathing exercises releases out all toxic substances that are concentrated in the body and helps to have control over the desire to smoke.
• If a pinch of rock salt is placed at the tip of tongue, it reduces the feeling of desire to smoke.
• Consumption of vegetable juices (carrots), fruit juices (grape and orange) and celery juice (juice extracted from celery plant) frequently in a day helps in discharging out nicotine and reduces the feeling to smoke.
• In order to reduce the intensity of withdrawal symptoms, two tablespoons of honey and plenty of water should be taken daily.

Governments are attempting to spread awareness among people about harmful effects of smoking and banned smoking in all indoor places. Quitting smoking has instantaneous and long-term advantages for a person as it improves stamina and energy. There is a saying 'Smokers never become old, because they die younger'.

Stop Smoking Benefits - Health, Sex and Money!

Smoking is a very difficult habit to break. In fact, most people that have quit smoking have tried more than once to get rid of the addiction. This is because nicotine is a very addictive substance that rewires the brain and bends it to its will. So if you are considering quitting, here are a few stop smoking benefits to consider:

- Health 

This is the most obvious of the stop smoking benefits. As soon as you quit, your body will start rebelling, however, it will also go into repair mode. Your blood pressure will drop right away, your sense of smell and taste will return after a few days and your lungs will start to heal themselves. Your risks of cancer to the lungs, throat and mouth will start to decrease and over the years will become comparable to that of a lifelong nonsmoker. Your risk of heart disease will also decrease. Hardened arteries, high blood pressure and cholesterol will become less of a risk factor. You will also have fewer risks of chronic bronchitis and emphysema. So the chances of you being tied to a low volume oxygen tank for the rest of your life will be greatly diminished. There are too many other stop smoking benefits that fall into this category to list here, but you get the point.

- Sex

Smoking affects male and female sexual processes. Smoking has been shown to increase the risk of impotence (erectile dysfunction) by up to 50%. That is correct! Men that smoke have a 50% greater chance of being unable to perform in the bedroom. This addiction has also been shown to cause infertility in men by affecting the sperms directly. Men are not the only ones that are affected by this. Women that smoke are more vulnerable to having problems getting pregnant. Smoking has also been shown to speed up menopause and to cause the loss of eggs. If they smoke while pregnant, they risk miscarriages, low birth weights and increased chances of SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome). The stop smoking benefits on sexual health are very important. The good news is that smoking cessation has very fast effects when it comes to these issues.

- Money

This is a stop smoking benefit that is almost a no brainer. If you smoke 1 pack a day at $6.75 a pack (cigarette prices in the US range from $5.00 to $8 or $9 in the northeast) then you are wasting around $2450 a year. Multiply that by the amount of years you have been smoking and you get the picture. But there is more to it than just the cost of the cigarettes themselves. If you try to get life insurance, your premiums will be much higher than those of nonsmokers. Your home owners insurance is also higher because of the risk to your home of catching fire. Medical coverage can also be higher because you are a smoker. There are many ways in which smokers pay for their addiction. The financial stop smoking benefits are substantial and immediate. Your wallet WILL be fatter once you quit. There is no question about it!

Hopefully these stop smoking benefits have presented information in a different light than most articles on the subject. You can benefit health wise, sex wise and money wise if you stop smoking. After the initial difficulty of quitting, the stop smoking benefits will be well worth it. Remember all these benefits when you are faced with a particularly tough craving, or when you feel that your resolve is waning. Be strong and good luck!

Vampire Cigarettes - How Cigarettes Suck Your Blood

Every cigarette you smoke damages your health in many ways. Smoking actually stops your red blood cells carrying precious oxygen around you blood stream. Once the smoking vampire has stopped a red blood cell from carrying oxygen, that cell can never carry oxygen again. Less oxygen means poorer physical performance, reduced mental ability and increased risk of cancer and a reduced immune system. Less oxygen in your blood stream also makes you feel tired and lethargic.

There is some good news. The body has a remarkable ability to heal and rejuvenate itself. Lets look at how smoking damages the cell irreversibly, and how the body can start to repair once you stop smoking.

One of the major health risks associated with smoking is the due to the carbon monoxide you inhale while smoking. Carbon monoxide (CO) is a odorless, tasteless and deadly gas. You inhale around 20mg of CO for each cigarette you smoke. This CO binds to your red blood cells, permanently. These cells primary purpose is to carry oxygen around your body. Once a CO molecule has attached itself to a red blood cell, the cell can never carry oxygen again. Symptoms include dizziness, nausea, headaches and death.

The human body an amazing thing. Each cell is replaced every few years. You don't notice this, but it is a continual process of rejuvenation. Red blood cells are replaced every three months. This is the good news. As blood cells live for three months, the minute you stop smoking your bloods ability to carry oxygen starts to increase. You start to feel better and more alive after only a few hours. After three months, all your red blood cells have been replaced. Your skin looks healthier and those stairs don't seem so much of a chore. Your body is getting all the oxygen it needs and you feel better and can concentrate longer and enjoy greater health.

As a "non smoker" who smoked a packet a day for 20 years I know how tough quitting can be. However it can be done and I have written an eBook to help you quit smoking forever. The ideas and strategies worked for me, and a hope they will work for you too.

Discover The Simple Method For Quitting Smoking

A vast majority of people who try to stop smoking find after a short period of time they resume the habit, many are unsuccessful simply because of the method they used to help them stop smoking. There’s real hope for people who seriously want to stop smoking. It seems many people are looking for some easy way to quit smoking or some magical stop smoking aid.

How many times have you said to yourself or to your friends or family that you are going to quit smoking today or tomorrow or even next week with no such luck, or I’m going to join a stop smoking program and never do. It may be difficult to stop smoking, but it is not impossible.

There are a few stop smoking aids that have been proven effective. In the past years, Acupuncture has been used, among other uses, to help people stop smoking.

An analysis by New Scientist Magazine back in 1992, found that hypnosis, in one session, had a success rate of up to 60 per cent in helping people stop smoking. If you want to give it a shot in your efforts to stop smoking, it is advised that you find a therapist with a proven back record of success with helping people stop smoking. Acupuncture is a highly effective quit smoking method for all, and specially for those people who had been unsuccessful with other methods to stop smoking. Acupuncture for stop quit smoking does not involve any “magic” acupuncture points.

Reasons

There is a wide range of ages for smokers today and about as wide a range of reasons they smoke. Knowing the reasons of why you want to quit is an important fist step. These are the 4 reasons of why you should quit smoking.

Fixing a date for quitting and listing out the reasons for the same is the starting point. There are so many different programs on the market today, what works for one may not work for another, and based on reasons for wanting to quit. The reasons you started smoking are probably not around anymore.

Make a list of the reasons that you want to quit smoking. The first thing you should do is spend some time thinking of the reasons you want to quit smoking. So, does the connection between quitting cigarettes and weight gain have to do directly with the cigarettes themselves, or are there other, outside reasons why this happens so often to people who “kick the habit”.

There are a lot of people who smoke out there who, among other reasons, are afraid to try to quit smoking cigarettes for the fear of what they think is inevitable weight gain. If you’re a smoker, chances are you’ve tried to quit many times or deep down inside you’ve felt you should quit for obvious reasons pertaining to your health, but have no idea where to start. You may want to write at the top of the note pad, “My Why Reasons I’m quitting smoking.

Quit smoking help with hypnosis involves consultations and sittings with a hypnotherapist, who generally squeezes out the reasons for one’s smoking and the reasons for wanting to quit. Here's five good reasons for quitting the Centers for Disease Control presents to teen smokers. In order to help you quit smoking, you need to do a self-analysis on the reasons you smoke and the reasons on why you want to quit smoking.

List all the reasons you can remember as to why you started smoking. This is not an easy task for many, but once they’ve listed all the true reasons, and have adopted the mental attitude to replace smoking with other things that will provide better benefits, the task of quitting becomes much easier.

Exercise

Even though I love to exercise and love athletics, I had a problem with smoking. Hypnotism is no ‘quick fix’ and many experts advise that it should only be one tool from the toolbox – including diet, exercise and developing a more positive outlook - that a smoker needs to use to quit the habit.

Consider meditation, yoga or a dance or exercise class. By nature, did you know that our human body needs exercise regularly at least twice a week. Exercise, I cannot emphasize how important this is, exercise is supposed to boost up your energy so that you have better preparation to fight the cravings.

I briefly mentioned exercise in the last paragraph. It may help you to exercise with an unlit cigarette hanging from your mouth. You will not only be smoke-free, but will have gained new life style changes that include healthier eating habits, exercise and increase in stamina and endurance.

Regular Exercise – keeping a regular exercise routine is a key part of healthy living. Lets look at this exercise like a recipe, any good cook will tell you that a recipe can be completed without some of the ingredients called for, however the quality of the finished dish may not be up to par. How about many other health challenges, including weight loss, exercise & fitness, living with & controlling arthritis pain…and many more.

As far as exercises are concerned, obviously any exercise at all is great; but exercises that concentrate on the lungs are excellent. Exercise relieves stress and helps your body recover from years of damage from cigarettes. The exercise combines traditional self hypnosis with NPL or Neuro Linguistic Programming.

Stop Smoking Laser

Many have tried to quit smoking but it is cumbersome. With a strong desire, and determination to quit this obnoxious behaviour that have caused lives of thousands of lives, stop smoking laser is a relief, but only to the determined and those who want to cut expenses and care for their lives.

Stopping smoking using laser treatment is now affordable and available in most countries. The technique, widely used in United States and Europe, has found its ways to developing countries. This hi-tech treatment uses a beam of light that target specific cells along joints to boost their activity to produce larger amounts of endorphins.

Once the smoker decides to kick the habit, and opts for laser stop smoking program, laser is applied on wrists, hands, ears and the side of the nose so as the light penetrates to the cells that produce the hormones.

Endorphins are enzymes produced by the body cells to reduce the craving for nicotine and relax the body systems hence reducing withdrawal symptoms. Moreover, the laser stimulates and boosts the body’s ability to detoxify nicotine, hence dropping the amount of nicotine absorbed in the body.

Laser treatment is not as easy as other programs that involve herbal concoctions and pills. Stop smoking laser program is administered mostly in hospitals; by a consultant or medical doctor, nurse, or radiologist hence the patient/smoker safety are guaranteed. Besides, the smoker undertakes counselling sessions to keep their decision packed and not reverting to their previous smoking habit.

Kicking the habit is challenging, but laser therapy has had a good help to all those who like to quit. Though the package is a bit expensive as compared to other programs where the smoker can buy and use it at home, laser treatment has proved effective. The therapy takes less than thirty minutes, and it is administered once.

Using laser treatment to quit smoking has helped a great number of smokers worldwide. According to clinical trials, and surveys, laser therapy rates as the best program to help quit smoking, in terms of its effectiveness. Laser treatment has also being used in weight loss programs.

Since laser stop smoking treatment is natural, there are few side effects to all or some patients. The treatment does not complicate with persons taking other prescriptions and is far much affordable as compared to spending hundreds of cash buying cigarettes and treating nicotine related diseases like lung cancer.

The program has been applicable since 1960s in Canada, and now widely employed in United States and other parts of the country. Due to its high success rate, the treatment rates high compared to other programs. The counselling to reduce and control stress associated with quitting smoking.

For reasons, if you want to quit smoking, laser therapy as commonly known, is a new program to help you kick the habit within one day, with no known side effects. What you need is determination, the will to make your stand and escape from cancer, tuberculosis and heart diseases.

Why quit smoking seems so hard

The pleasures of smoking

It’s not easy to let go of something that’s been such an integral part of your life for so long. That little stick of tobacco has stuck with you through thick or thin, rain or shine, day or night. With minimal effort it has provided hours of comfort and activated the pleasure centers in your brain. No wonder the thought of quitting seems so daunting. Who wants to give up something that can temporarily make sadness, stress, and boredom evaporate into thin air? Just thinking about it can stop you in your tracks. But that’s exactly what’s needed. Stop for a moment and think about why smoking is in your life. What purpose does it serve?

How to get your smoking needs met without smoking

Whatever your reasons are for having smoking in your life, there is an alternative behavior you can substitute in place of smoking which will achieve the same result in the end. Only you can determine what will work for you. Some examples include:

Purpose of Smoking	Sample Substitute Behaviors
Relaxation or stress reduction	Deep breathing exercises, meditation, massage or exercise
Boredom or Loneliness	Find something you’re passionate about such as art, music, or literature
To feel more comfortable in social situations	Counseling, enroll in a public speaking class, join a support group or splurge on a makeover
A meal doesn’t feel quite complete without a cigarette	Eat a healthy meal and then top it off with a delicious dessert

Finding help to quit smoking

Finding the right combination of things to help you stop smoking is as individual as you are. Medication can provide support in your effort to stop smoking by easing withdrawal symptoms, reducing cravings, and improving your chances of successfully quitting.

Medication therapy

Smoking cessation medications are most effective when used as part of a comprehensive stop smoking program monitored by your physician. Talk to your doctor about your options and whether an anti-smoking medication is right for you. U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved options are:

- Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Nicotine replacement therapy involves "replacing" cigarettes with other nicotine substitutes, such as nicotine gum or a nicotine patch. It works by delivering “small and steady doses” of nicotine into the body to relieve some of the withdrawal symptoms without the tars and poisonous gases found in cigarettes. This type of treatment helps smokers focus on breaking their psychological addiction and makes it easier to concentrate on learning new behaviors and coping skills.

- Non-Nicotine Medication

Non-nicotine medications help you stop smoking by reducing cravings and withdrawal symptoms. Currently, bupropion (Zyban) and varenicline (Chantix) are the only two medications that don’t contain nicotine which are approved as smoking cessation aids. These anti-smoking pills are intended for short-term use.

Non-medication therapies

There are several things you can do to stop smoking that don’t involve nicotine replacement therapy or prescription medications:

- Hypnosis

A popular option that has good results. Hypnosis works by getting you into a deeply relaxed state where you are open to suggestions that strengthen your resolve to quit smoking and increase your negative feelings toward cigarettes. Ask your doctor to recommend a qualified smoking cessation hypnotherapist in your area.

- Acupuncture

One of the oldest known medical techniques. Acupuncture is believed to work by triggering the release of endorphins (natural pain relievers) that allow the body to relax. As a smoking cessation aid, acupuncture can be helpful in managing smoking withdrawal symptoms.

- Behavioral Therapy

Nicotine addiction is related to the habitual behaviors (the “rituals”) involved in smoking. Behavior therapy focuses on learning new coping skills and breaking those habits. The American Lung Association offers a free online smoking cessation program that focuses on behavioral change.

- Motivational Therapies

Self-help books and websites can provide a number of ways to motivate yourself to quit smoking. One well known example is calculating the monetary savings. Some people have been able to find the motivation to quit just by calculating how much money they will save after they quit. One person saved enough money to pay his annual car insurance premiums.