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'.

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.

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

BAD BREATH AND SMOKING

When you smoke, nicotine will build up on your teeth, gums, tongue and it has a drying effect in your mouth, the moisture decrease in your mouth will limit the washing effect of the saliva as it acts as a natural mouthwash on oral bacteria.

There are many sources and causes of bad breath other than smoking, the most common cases of bad breath is caused by problems coming from within the mouth, for instance poor oral hygiene or even gum diseases.

There are people that have some degree of bad breath after they sleep, it is commonly referred to as morning bad breath. This case of bad breath is normal since the mouth stagnates and gets dry overnight. However this bad breath will clear away when the flow of saliva is restored, most likely after taking breakfast.

Also drinks, foods or medicines can lead to bad breath; the chemicals in the food can get into the blood streams and will then be breathed out from the person’s lungs. The most commonly know is the smell of garlic or other spicy foods and also alcoholic drinks. This bad breath is temporary as the smell will wear off after some time.

What will also cause bad breath is the deposition of food debris, plaque and also gum diseases. The smell of the already smoked cigarette is in itself bad breath.

It is normal that the more you stimulate less saliva production you are also increasing your chances of having bad breath, additionally when you have periodontal or dental problems you will have bad breath, smoking contributes to a lot of these damages for instance mouth ulcerations or other mouth diseases caused by smoking or deposition of nicotine.

To keep yourself free from bad breath due to smoking, it is advised that you note that cigarettes or cigars contain tar and nicotine that will build up on tongues, teeth or even the cheeks, aside from that it should be noted that smoking irritates the tissues of your mouth, this will tend to dry your mouth as saliva is inhibited, this in turn will increase the growth and build up of bacteria.

If you cannot quit smoking, it is good to observe good oral hygiene to get rid of the bad breath. After smoking it is advisable that you use mouthwashes that will get rid of the bad breath.

Since smoking inhibits saliva production, a smoker should drink plenty of water so that the mouth will not be left dry. A dry mouth is a favorite place for odor-causing bacteria.

A permanent solution to getting rid of bad breath is to totally quit smoking; this cannot be done once thus you should do it step by step. This should however not make you live with the bad breath, there are these solutions: regularly brush your teeth, always clean your tongue, use antiseptic mouth washes and floss your teeth to get rid of the food debris that will decompose and lead to bad breath.

Health Risk : Smoking and Heart Diseases

There are several causes of heart disease and smoking is one of them. And, there are many diseases which can develop from smoking and heart disease is one of them. Cigarette smoking is actually a major cause of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Peripheral vascular disease refers to a range of abnormal conditions that affect the veins outside your heart, generally obstructing flow of blood in arteries. Smoking is very famous like a celebrity star, in different ways. In exchange from the pleasure of smoking, your life is the price you pay.

Types Of Heart Diseases

There are several types of heart disease, but the major ones are the atherosclerosis, coronary, rheumatic, congenital, myocarditis, angina, and arrythmia heart disease. Although heart disease can be deadly, it is also preventable.

The most basic and simple ways to prevent heart disease is to exercise regularly, eat heart-healthy diet, maintain healthy weight, avoid smoking, and have regular health screenings. It is never too late for anybody to change lifestyles and practice healthy habits for the betterment ones welfare.

Smoking and heart disease may not come hand in hand because not everyone with heart disease used to smoke, but we can’t ignore the fact that smokers may develop heart disease in a latter time or any other serious disease for that matter.

Chemicals In Tobacco Smoke Are The Main Culprits

Smoking kills more and more people each year and almost 40 % of those who died from smoking die from heart and blood vessel disease. Tobacco smoke contains thousands of chemicals in which many of them are poisonous.

Nicotine in tobacco smoke can increase blood pressure causing the heart to work harder. Carbon monoxide replaces oxygen in your blood. Smoking adds to the obstruction of the arteries which can lead to heart attack and other heart-related conditions.

And, smokers have greater risk of death from coronary heart disease compare to non-smokers. Aren’t these reasons enough for you to quit smoking? If at earlier time you stop smoking and heart disease is what you want to evade from, then, you must value your life so much.

How Long Does Nicotine Stay in Your System

Can nicotine be constituted as a drug? In my opinion, Yes! And that is simply for the reason being that it is a highly addictive substance, one which causes the brain chemicals to react and change making smokers feel drawn to it with out any resistance. Nicotine has a close relation to any other addiction being that it creates good moods and bad ones when smoking or going through a small withdrawal state.

The Process of nicotine and how long it stays in your system:

When the chemicals of nicotine enter your bloodstream, the body is sent into over drive trying to compensate for the damage being done to the body. As this process is taking place the chemical reaction causes a rapid blood flow from the heart, creating a chain reaction in which blood pressure rises and the heart rate increases causing the arteries to tighten and become narrower.

It is known that carbon monoxide in association with smoking and its effect on the body causes a decrease in the oxygen level that is carried to the blood. When all effects of nicotine and this are put together, the body becomes deprived in search of more oxygen supply for both the blood itself and cells in the body.

Once nicotine has entered the body, it is transformed and turned into a substance called cotinine. The time it actually takes for cotinine to rid itself from the body varies and can be a quicker process for those with a high metabolism.

It can usually take several days or up to a week plus for it to clear your system being that you steer clear from smoking including second hand smoking.

Is there a solution?

The obvious answer here is to completely quit smoking! That is in the best interest of your own health and well being. The best possible answer here is to drink plenty of water and or to sweat out the toxins. By doing both you can eliminate or speed up the process of traces of nicotine within your bloodstream

Why Do People Smoke?

Several findings have showed that smoking harms nearly every organ of the human body, causing a wide range of diseases. Despite the knowledge of the health consequences of cigarette smoking, still a tremendous number of people continue to smoke worldwide. Smoking is often described as been the leading avoidable cause of mortality and one of the most important modifiable causes of premature death.

Cigarette manufactures have been required to put warnings on all their packages of cigarettes to tell smokers that cigarette smoking is dangerous to health. But still people smoke. Why do they want to put something into their mouth and suck on it till addictive toxins go inside lungs and do damage? People who smoke claim that cigarettes really have a calming effect when we feel stressed. This is due to nicotine delivered from tobacco by smoking. The very rapid absorption of nicotine (nicotine takes just ten seconds to reach the brain once smoke entered the lungs) and the high blood pressure levels that result, promote rapid and strong behavioral reinforcement from smoking.

The advantages of smoking are immediate and true whereas the disadvantages are delayed and likely. The positive consequences of smoking include reduced irritability, induced relaxation, increased sense of control, sensory stimulation, and maintain group affiliation etc. Nicotine once enter the brain act as a tranquilizer thus makes the smoker experience relax though for few minutes but in fact smoking cause more stress internally. Thinking that smoking reduces stress and makes calm is really a great time waste says Mitchell.

There are many negative consequences. First cigarettes are legal drugs. Smoking is unnecessarily a waste of money. Cigarettes are the most addictive and destructive over-the-counter drug known to man. Cigarette smoking is equivocal to lung cancer. Researches have shown that depression is twice as common to people who smoke against those who do not smoke. Apart from nicotine, tobacco contains cyanide, nitrogen oxide, and carbon monoxide, all of which are harmful chemicals and are used as poison.

What Are the Risks of Cigarette Smoking

There are many risks of smoking and the purpose of this page is to outline the specific risks that are associated with smoking.

Smoking kills over 400,000 people a year -- more than one in six people in the United States -- making it more lethal than AIDS, automobile accidents, homicides, suicides, drug overdoses, and fires combined. It is estimated that the U.S. spends an astounding $50 billion each year on smoking-related health costs. Smoking may be even more dangerous now than 30 years ago, most likely because the lower tar and nicotine levels in most cigarette brands cause people to inhale more deeply. In one study only 42% of male lifelong smokers reached the age of 73 compared to 78% of nonsmokers.

People who are exposed to second-hand or side-stream smoke are also at risk. Smoke that is exhaled not only contains the same dangerous contaminants as inhaled smoke, but the exhaled smoke particles are smaller, so that they can reach distant sites in the lungs of involuntary or passive smokers and do great harm.

Does Smoking Affect Blood Pressure?

Smoking a cigarette raises the blood pressure by 5-10 mm Hg for about 30 minutes. If this is combined with drinking a cup of coffee, the effects are bigger and last longer.

Despite this, numerous epidemiological studies have found that people with hypertension are not more likely to be smokers than those with normal blood pressure, and conversely, that smokers are not more likely to be hypertensive than non-smokers. One possible explanation for this might be that smokers tend to weigh less than non-smokers, and that the effects of obesity and smoking on blood pressure cancel each other out. But even when smokers and non-smokers of the same body weight are compared their blood pressures are the same. This is probably because the blood pressure measurements are usually made when people are not smoking. If you smoke a pack a day, it will raise your average daytime pressure by about 5 mm Hg, even though your doctor may not detect this during an office visit.

The important thing about smoking is not what it does to your blood pressure, but that it greatly increases your risk of heart disease.

WHO - Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability that any single disease

According to their figures, it is responsible for approximately 3.5 million deaths worldwide every year - or about 7% of all deaths. Tobacco smoking is a known or probable cause of approximately 25 diseases, and even the WHO says that its impact on world health is not fully assessed.

Heart attack and stroke

UK studies show that smokers in their 30s and 40s are five times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. Tobacco contributes to the hardening of the arteries, which can then become blocked and starve the heart of bloodflow, causing the attack. Often, smokers who develop this will require complex and risky heart bypass surgery. If you smoke for a lifetime, there is a 50% chance that your eventual death will be smoking-related - half of all these deaths will be in middle age. Smoking also increases the risk of having a stroke.

Lung problems

Another primary health risk associated with smoking are lung cancer, which kills more than 20,000 people in the UK every year. US studies have shown that men who smoke increase their chances of dying from the disease by more than 22 times. Women who smoke increase this risk by nearly 12 times. Lung cancer is a difficult cancer to treat - long term survival rates are poor. Smoking also increases the risk of oral, uterine, liver, kidney, bladder, stomach, and cervical cancers, and leukaemia. Another health problem associated with tobacco is emphysema, which, when combined with chronic bronchitis, produces chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. The lung damage which causes emphysema is irreversible, and makes it extremely difficult to breathe.

Harm to children

Smoking in pregnancy greatly increases the risk of miscarriage, is associated with lower birthweight babies, and inhibited child development. Smoking by parents following the birth is linked to sudden infant death syndrome, or cot death, and higher rates of infant respiratory illness, such as bronchitis, colds, and pneumonia. Nicotine, an ingredient of tobacco, is listed as an addictive substance by the US authorities. Although the health risks of smoking are culmulative, giving up can yield health benefits regardless of the age of the patient, or the length of time they have been smoking.

Future impact

By 2020, the WHO expects the worldwide death toll to reach 10 million, causing 17.7% of all deaths in developed countries. There are believed to be 1.1 billion smokers in the world, 800,000 of them in developing countries.

Quit smoking - Why and How?

They're raising taxes on tobacco again, this time to cover for even more administrative follies that smokers did not cause. And at the same time, smoking is still becoming more of a target of political correctness! How can both things be true? Because nobody ever said it had to make sense.

Most smokers agree; it would have been better not to start, than to feel helpless and want to quit smoking. Unfortunately, moderation is not an option for most people. Once the subconscious gets a taste of that nicotine rush and makes it a clear habit, it wants it all the time. Then you are not the boss any more. Some people can smoke occasionally, but those folks, like their smokes, are few and far between. Yes, it is a good time to get rid of the habit. It will be better to get your jollies from something else anyhow, such as accomplishment, making money, reading or artwork, for example. That way you won't have to gamble on poor circulation or respiratory problems from the smoke, either. And everything will be cleaner.

Face it - however painful, becoming free from cigarettes is an attractive thing. You can be relaxed anywhere, not merely 'waiting' for the next opportunity to smoke. And the money! Taxes have made the cost of tobacco completely ridiculous. So, say you have decided to quit, and the only problem is the difficulty and how to go about stopping.

The answer is right there in that last sentence: Decided! We are talking 100%, no ifs and or BUTTS decided. You can handle a few days of the heebie-jeebies with a little help from some clever tools. Not the patch, or the gum, mind you, those are just more nicotine to prolong the agony. You want to be free from all of that stuff. Be aware, though, your subconscious is going to try to trick you, and it is very good at it.

Guess what? You can trick it right back, using subliminal and/or hypnosis audio. The subconscious is ALWAYS listening! And those things are very inexpensive, maybe the price of only two packs of cigarettes or so. But you have to be determined and actually use them. You can get a subliminal .mp3 download or hypnosis from anywhere. You can play the silent subliminal one anywhere with anything else going on, and it will help.

Cold turkey, while not the "easiest," is by far the best and most effective way to stop smoking cigarettes. As if there was an easy way. For some people it's the only way, but since we are all so different, for some people cold turkey is not even an option. The cravings are just too overwhelming, and the will power beats the won't power. So just know yourself and decide. Decide at the deepest level possible, the unconscious mind. It is easy to say it, and 'decide' at the conscious level, but convincing the deeper self is another story. But you can do it. Lots of people prove this all the time. If yours is a tough nut to crack, you'll need stronger crutches. But just don't give up on giving it up; be strong, and decide your way to freedom!

By : Dave Asprooth (http://www.sprudio.net)

Stop Smoking To Save Lots of Money

In the last year the cost of living has gone up tremendously. In our area electricity, water and food all cost more than one year ago. And if gas prices rise to where they were last summer, it will hurt our budget even more.

So if you, like our family, are trying to find ways to reduce spending, here is one way you could save thousands of dollars each year: stop smoking.

If you are trying to quit smoking it is often necessary to really look at your overall budget to get a real reason to quit. Simply trying to stop smoking for your health sometimes is just not enough. You need to really open your eyes at times to see how much smoking really is costing you each year that you smoke. Additionally, this can also be impacted if you require a great amount of health care due to smoking related complications. However, at a minimum the costs that you can count on for certain will include the costs of the cigarettes themselves.

If you have ever stopped to think about how much you are spending a week on cigarettes you have surely noticed that it is a rather significant amount. Prices are climbing higher than ever before, and this is largely due to the fact that many states as well as the federal government are imposing extremely costly taxes on cigarettes to help offset many of the increased health problems that are created.

On average, all around the country cigarettes can cost as much as $5 per pack. If you have a habit of smoking that consists of only a single pack per day, you are smoking seven packs in a single week. This might not seem like much, but if you consider that each week, you are spending $35 on cigarettes, it can add up quickly. In a single week if each pack costs $5 you will have spent as much as $35 on your cigarettes! For many people this is a tank of gas, a trip to a movie theater, or even a new outfit if you know how to shop right. You could even put the money in a savings account and start to find how your money could actually grow, rather than be burned.

As much as the idea of $35 might seem like a lot of money, to many people it is just a minor price to pay for something that they thoroughly enjoy. If we consider that the average month has 30 days, and each day you are smoking a $5 pack of cigarettes the monthly price will jump up to approximately $150. This is a rather substantial amount and could easily cover most people’s gas bills, power bills, water bill, phone bill or even a great night out on the town occasionally. If you really want to see the overall impact of smoking each year, consider that each year you are smoking 365 packs of cigarettes. This multiplied by 20 comes up to 7,300 cigarettes each year, which comes up to an astonishing $1,825 dollars each year! Talk about a huge amount of money spent on smoking.

Remember, though, this is just the price of a single pack a day habit, and it is assuming that you are paying only $5 per pack. Many states have higher prices, while others are a bit cheaper. If you actually smoke more than a single pack a day, you would be looking at $3,650 a year for a two pack a day smoking habit as well as 14,600 cigarettes each year that you smoke!

The sheer price of cigarettes when added up in a single year is horrific. If you consider that you would probably be smoking for a period of 5 years you are looking at a total cost of $9,125 for a single pack a day habit and a striking $18,250 for a two pack a day habit. The amount of money that can be saved by not purchasing cigarettes is absolutely enormous.

If the idea of just improving your health is not enough to get you to quit smoking, you may have a sudden desire to quit after you see exactly what it is costing you each year to smoke. The prices of cigarettes are continuing to rise, and this combined with increased living expenses makes it extremely hard for families to make ends meet.

Saving money any way possible is a huge help, and even the expense of pricey stop smoking aids is significantly cheaper than the cost of actually continuing to smoke.

Why Quit Smoking - Some Hidden Benefits

Looking to gain the biggest benefits that you can out of your goal to quit smoking is not insane, rather it is a good idea. Knowing exactly what is in store for you as you attempt to quit will help to keep you encouraged, plus it can be a great reminder about exactly why you set out on the adventure of stopping smoking when the going gets tough.

Making sure that you are most benefit possible is not only a wise idea, but it can also serve a huge benefit of ensuring that you take full advantage of the improvement in your lifestyle. One of the biggest benefits comes in your health. You can decrease your risk of lung cancer, heart disease, heart attack, stroke and even high blood pressure to name just a few of the health problems that are experienced by smokers.

While the time that it takes to decrease the risks vary, you should start to see an improvement in your health very quickly. This can be highly encouraging since you will be able to breathe better as you workout to stay in great physical health.

Money is another fabulous reason to quit smoking. With the average cost of smoking up to over $1,800 a year for a single pack a day habit, you are looking at a lot of money just burned away.

Keeping the money in your pocket can do a lot for your budget. It could even mean the difference between being able to buy that incredible sports car that you have had your eye on.

You might even decide to drop the money into a savings account and really get the maximum benefit, regardless of your choice you are going to be happy to hang onto the money, rather than burn it up.

Other benefits can include being able to keep your house, car and clothes smelling better. Everyone knows that cigarettes have a bad smell, and those who do not smoke can really pick up the smell.

As your desire to smoke goes away, your desire to smell good will increase. This can lead to a complete top to bottom cleaning that will put you in a great mood.

If you quit smoking in the spring you could just consider it your yearly spring cleaning spurt. You will definitely love the increased sense of smell though, after all those gorgeous flowers in the yard will now have a reason to exist beyond just looking pretty. The ultimate benefit that you will experience is your expected life span will be increased. What is better than finding the fountain of youth?

Just by stop smoking, you can significantly increase the amount of time that you are expected to live. This combined with the health benefits that quitting smoking offers you could find that you are looking at adding as much as 10 years onto your life. This is something that is absolutely huge, and just by quitting smoking as well.

Most who discover just how much they can add to their life are absolutely shocked, but taking care of yourself and quitting smoking for good is a great benefit that you will certainly appreciate when you are older and enjoying those added years.

Do not be afraid to live your life to the fullest, after you quit smoking you will have plenty of energy for a lot of great new activities that you can enjoy for years.