Stop smoking

The key to breaking any habit is to first determine why you do it. So you have to understand why you smoke. Once you're done that, you can then see why almost every other method of breaking the 'cigarette habit' has the possibility of failure; and then you can learn the right approach, and you'll will finally succeed in 'kicking the habit'.

Let's start by facing what seems to be the overwhelming facts. Smoking must be something you enjoy doing.. If it wasn't enjoyable, why would at least 6 out of every 10 adults smoke either occasionally or regularly? If people didn't enjoy it, why would they spend a portion of their paychecks, every week, for tobacco products? So let's agree, then, that for most people smoking is a habit they enjoy. And let's not pretend that either of us would sacrifice this apparently delightful habit for minor reasons.

While It's true most of us don't like to find bits of tobacco in our pockets or purses, and it is annoying and expensive when you occasionally burn a hole in your clothes, car upholstery, carpet, or furniture, and some of us are truly disgusted by "tobacco breath" or "nicotine stains". There are even quite a few of you are even more dismayed by the amount of money you "burn up" each year. Yet you all have other expensive or potentially annoying habits or interests, but you are not equally concerned about them. No, those of us who have at one time or another made the attempt to give up cigarettes have invariably been impelled by what I used to call "that health propaganda."

Sporadically you'd come upon reports blaming the smoking habit for everything from athlete's foot to yellow fever. But other studies, prepared by researchers and physicians whose names are followed by suitably impressive degrees and abbreviations, absolved cigarettes of all guilt. Us layman had trouble deciding who was speaking against what, and why, and to whom and for whom (and for how much).

Although while you suspected that where there's smoke there's fire, you weren't quite ready to believe that where there's smoke there's also likely to be heart disease and lung cancer. Some of the evidence was contradictory. Some was fragmentary. Much of it left aside such other possible factors in disease as polluted air, industrial poisoning, food additives, widespread use of insecticides, increased tensions of Cold War living, and over employment of "miracle drugs." Almost all the reports youre based on studies involving animals, not humans.

After all, why go through so much pain and so much frustration if later it might turn out that there hadn't been any real need to do so? While, the period of uncertainty is over in the minds not only of most experts, but even for most smokers. Vast numbers of people who smoke now readily grant that there's no longer any question but that this is a dangerous habit.

This is a unique situation, isn't it? Suppose, to put it in perspective, that 70 million Americans regularly drink a beverage named "Wcaacae" (a name my attorney insists I use in order to protect the innocent). And suppose that an eminent medical group suddenly declared: "The moderate drinker of 'Wcaacae' who drinks 10-5 swallows a day-showed to be 5 times more likely to be a cancer victim than the non-drinker."

How long do you think good old "Wcaacae" would remain on the market? Even if the government didn't ban it, how long would Mom buy it at the supermarket? Indeed, how many supermarkets would even stock it?

youll-surprise!-there is no such statistic about "Wcaacae." My figures are borrowed from a report on the effects of cigarette smoking. In 1960 the American Medical Association summarized a 5-year study of the death rate among men from lung cancer is linked to cigarette smoking:

1. The moderate smoker (10 to 15 cigarettes daily) showed up 5 times more often as a victim of fatal lung cancer than did the non-smoker.

The smoker winces when he reads this kind of look into his future-but yet it doesn't stop him from smoking. It didn't stop you, did it? And do you want to know why? well, for one thing, a part of you doesn't believe it. Part of your mind thinks that smoking will affect the 'other guy' but not you. You tell yourself that it makes you happier and healthier and nicer-looking and maybe even richer,stronger and maybe even more glamorous. This part of your mind flatly refuses to pay attention to anything that conflicts with its beliefs.

Obviously I can't cover all the various ways you can stop smoking in one page, so to learn more about how to finally quit smoking once and for all be sure to visit all the pages on this site.

Smoking / Quit Smoking News From Medical News Today

08/21/2008 04:00 AM

BJOG Release: Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy During Pregnancy

Smoking during pregnancy is known to increase the risk of stillbirth and pregnancy complications. To assist in smoking cessation, nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) is commonly prescribed but there is little information about the effects of NRT on a pregnant woman and her baby. New research to be published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology examines whether NRT is safe to use during pregnancy.

08/21/2008 03:00 AM

Lung's Protective Response Against Tobacco Smoke Blocked By Infection

An infection that often goes undetected can block the lung's natural protective response against tobacco smoke, according to researchers at National Jewish Health. The findings, recently published online and scheduled to appear in the October issue of Infection and Immunity, suggest one mechanism that may cause smokers to develop chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

08/21/2008 02:00 AM

Link Between Low Level Cadmium Exposure And Lung Disease

New research suggests that cadmium is one of the critical ingredients causing emphysema, and even low-level exposure attained through second-hand smoke and other means may also increase the chance of developing lung disease. The University of Michigan School of Public Health study suggests that higher cadmium levels in the body as much as double the risk of developing a pulmonary disease diagnosis such as emphysema or chronic bronchitis.

08/20/2008 06:00 AM

Confusion About Nicotine May Stop Smokers From Kicking The Habit

Over two thirds of smokers incorrectly believe that nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products, like NiQuitin, are just as harmful as cigarettes, and this misconception may even be stopping them from getting the support they need to give up smoking. Quitting smoking cold turkey can be quite a shock to the body and can make quitters more likely to fail than if they were to use a product with therapeutic nicotine, like NiQuitin.

08/20/2008 02:00 AM

Smokers More Likely To Hemorrhage After Throat Surgery

According to a report in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery, patients who undergo a surgical procedure that removes excess tissue from the throat (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty or UPPP) along with a surgical tonsil-removing procedure (tonsillectomy) have an increased rate of hemorrhage (bleeding) if they are smokers. However, smokers do not have an increased rate of bleeding if they undergo tonsillectomy alone.

08/19/2008 03:00 AM

Medicare Support Pays Off For Senior Smokers Trying To Quit

New research suggests that Medicare could help seniors stop smoking by providing nicotine patches and a telephone hotline to those who want to quit. Nearly 20 percent of seniors who tried that approach managed to quit smoking for a year, according to a study designed to gauge how much smoking-cessation efforts will cost Medicare.

08/18/2008 10:00 AM

Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report Feature Highlights Recent Blog Entries

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

Breaking the Smoking habit