هل تفكر في الإقلاع عن التدخين ، إليك بعض الطرق المساعدة لذلك
What do I need to know about quitting?
The US Surgeon General has said, "Smoking cessation (stopping smoking) represents the single most important step that smokers can take to enhance the length and quality of their lives."
Quitting smoking is not easy, but you can do it. To have the best chance of quitting and staying quit, you need to know what you’re up against, what your options are, and where to go for help. You'll find this information here.
Why is it so hard to quit smoking?
Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times." Maybe you've tried to quit, too. Why is quitting and staying quit hard for so many people? The answer is nicotine.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to (dependent on) nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must deal with both the physical and psychological (mental) dependence to quit and stay quit.
How nicotine gets in, where it goes, and how long it stays
When you inhale smoke, nicotine is carried deep into your lungs. There it is quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and carried throughout your body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormones, the way your body uses food (your metabolism), and your brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and even in mucus from the cervix of a female smoker. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.
Different factors affect how long it takes the body to remove nicotine and its by-products. In most cases, regular smokers will still have nicotine or its by-products, such as cotinine, in their bodies for about 3 to 4 days after stopping.
How nicotine hooks smokers
Nicotine causes pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. It also acts as a kind of depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. Smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke as the nervous system adapts to nicotine. This, in turn, increases the amount of nicotine in the smoker's blood. In fact, nicotine inhaled in cigarette smoke reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body through a vein (intravenously or IV).
After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug. Tolerance means that it takes more nicotine to get the same effect that the smoker used to get from smaller amounts. This leads to an increase in smoking over time. The smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then keeps smoking to maintain this level of nicotine.
Toxic and harmful component of the cigarette
Nicotine withdrawal symptoms can lead quitters back to smoking
When smokers try to cut back or quit, the lack of nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is both physical and mental. Physically, the body reacts to the absence of nicotine. Mentally, the smoker is faced with giving up a habit, which calls for a major change in behavior. Both the physical and mental factors must be addressed for the quitting process to work.
Those who have smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer, and suddenly stop using tobacco or greatly reduce the amount smoked, will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later when most of the nicotine and its by-products are out of the body. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a few days to up to several weeks. They will get better every day that you stay smoke-free.
Withdrawal symptoms can include any of the following:
• Dizziness (which may only last 1 to 2 days after quitting)
• Depression
• Feelings of frustration, impatience, and anger
• Irritability
• Sleep disturbances, including having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and having bad dreams or even nightmares
• Trouble concentrating
• Restlessness or boredom
• Headaches
• Tiredness
• Increased appetite
• Weight gain
• Constipation and gas
• Cough, dry mouth, sore throat, and nasal drip
• Chest tightness
These symptoms can lead the smoker to start smoking cigarettes again to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms.
Smoking also makes your body get rid of some drugs faster than usual. When you quit smoking, it may change the way your body handles medicines. Ask your doctor if any medicines you take regularly need to be checked or changed after you quit.
Why should I quit?
Your health
Health concerns usually top the list of reasons people give for quitting smoking. This is a very real concern: Half of all smokers who keep smoking will end up dying from a smoking-related illness. In the US alone, smoking is responsible for nearly 1 in 5 deaths, and about 8.6 million people suffer from smoking-related lung and heart diseases.
Cancer
Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for many other kinds of cancer too, including cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and some leukemias.
Cancer and all COPD diseases can be caused by smoking in general
Lung diseases
Pneumonia is included in the list of diseases known to be caused by smoking. Smoking also increases your risk of getting lung diseases like emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases are grouped together under the term COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD causes on-going (chronic) illness and disability, and worsens over time -- sometimes becoming fatal. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis can be found in people as young as 40, but are usually found later in life, when the symptoms get much worse. Long-term smokers have the highest risk of developing severe COPD.
Heart attacks, strokes, and blood vessel diseases
Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers. And smoking is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. Smoking also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes. Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) because of blood vessel disease.
Blindness and other problems
Smoking causes an increased risk of macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness in older people. It also causes premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, gum and tooth problems, bad-smelling clothes and hair, yellow fingernails.
Special risks to women and babies
Women have some unique risks linked to smoking. Women over 35 who smoke and use birth control pills have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots of the legs. Women who smoke are more likely to miscarry (lose the baby) or have a lower birth-weight baby. And low birth-weight babies are more likely to die, or have learning and physical problems.
Years of life lost due to smoking
Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 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. And given the diseases that smoking can cause, it can steal your quality of life long before you die. Smoking-related illness can limit your activities by making it harder to breathe, get around, work, or play.
Why quit now?
No matter how old you are or how long you've smoked, quitting can help you live longer and be healthier. People who stop smoking before age 50 cut their risk of dying in the next 15 years in half compared with those who keep smoking. Ex-smokers enjoy a higher quality of life with fewer illnesses from cold and flu viruses, better self-reported health, and reduced rates of bronchitis and pneumonia.
For decades the Surgeon General has reported the health risks linked to smoking. In 1990, the Surgeon General concluded:
• Quitting smoking has major and immediate health benefits for men and women of all ages. These benefits apply to people who already have smoking-related disease and those who don't.
• Ex-smokers live longer than people who keep smoking.
• Quitting smoking lowers the risk of lung cancer, other cancers, heart attack, stroke, and chronic lung disease.
• Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy reduce their risk of having a low birth-weight baby to that of women who never smoked.
• The health benefits of quitting smoking are far greater than any risks from the small weight gain (usually less than 10 pounds) or any emotional or psychological problems that may follow quitting.
When smokers quit -- What are the benefits over time?
20 minutes after quitting: Your heart rate and blood pressure drops.
12 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.
5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.
10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who continues smoking. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decrease, too.
15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is the same as a non-smoker's.
Immediate rewards of quitting
Kicking the tobacco habit offers some benefits that you'll notice right away and some that will develop over time. These rewards can improve your day-to-day life a great deal:
• Your breath smells better
• Stained teeth get whiter
• Bad smelling clothes and hair go away
• Your yellow fingers and fingernails disappear
• Food tastes better
• Your sense of smell returns to normal
• Everyday activities no longer leave you out of breath (such as climbing stairs or light housework)
Cost
The prospect of better health is a major reason for quitting, but there are other reasons, too.
Smoking is expensive. It isn't hard to figure out how much you spend on smoking: multiply how much money you spend on tobacco every day by 365 (days per year). The amount may surprise you. Now multiply that by the number of years you have been using tobacco and that amount will probably shock you.
Multiply the cost per year by 10 (for the next 10 years) and ask yourself what you would rather do with that much money.
And this doesn't include other possible costs, such as higher costs for health and life insurance, and likely health care costs due to tobacco-related problems.
Social acceptance
Smoking is less socially acceptable now than ever.
Today, almost all workplaces have some type of smoking rules. Some employers even prefer to hire non-smokers. Studies show smoking employees cost businesses more because they are out sick more. Employees who are ill more often than others can raise an employer's need for costly short-term replacement workers. They can increase insurance costs both for other employees and for the employer, who often pays part of the workers' insurance premiums. Smokers in a building also can increase the maintenance costs of keeping odors down, since residue from cigarette smoke clings to carpets, drapes, and other fabrics.
Landlords may choose not to rent to smokers since maintenance costs and insurance rates may rise when smokers live in buildings.
Friends may ask you not to smoke in their homes or cars. Public buildings, concerts, and even sporting events are largely smoke-free. And more and more communities are restricting smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. Like it or not, finding a place to smoke can be a hassle.
Smokers may also find their prospects for dating or romantic involvement, including marriage, are largely limited to other smokers, who make up less than 21% of the adult population.
Health of others
Smoking not only harms your health but it hurts the health of those around you. Exposure to secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoking) includes exhaled smoke as well as smoke from burning cigarettes.
Studies have shown that secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths each year from lung cancer and heart disease in healthy non-smokers.
If a mother smokes, there is a higher risk of her baby developing asthma in childhood, especially if she smoked while she was pregnant. Smoking is also linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and low-birth weight infants. Babies and children raised in a household where there is smoking have more ear infections, colds, bronchitis, and other lung and breathing problems than children in non-smoking families. Secondhand smoke can also cause eye irritation, headaches, nausea, and dizziness.
Health of others
Smoking not only harms your health but it hurts the health of those around you. Exposure to secondhand smoke (also called environmental tobacco smoke or passive smoking) includes exhaled smoke as well as smoke from burning cigarettes.
Studies have shown that secondhand smoke causes thousands of deaths each year from lung cancer and heart disease in healthy non-smokers.
If a mother smokes, there is a higher risk of her baby developing asthma in childhood, especially if she smoked while she was pregnant. Smoking is also linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and low-birth weight infants. Babies and children raised in a household where there is smoking have more ear infections, colds, bronchitis, and other lung and breathing problems than children in non-smoking families. Secondhand smoke can also cause eye irritation, headaches, nausea, and dizziness.
A word about quitting success rates
Before you start using nicotine replacement or sign up for a stop smoking class or program, you may wonder about its success rate. Success rates are hard to figure out for many reasons. First, not all programs define success in the same way. Does success mean that a person is not smoking at the end of the program? After 3 months? 6 months? 1 year? Does smoking fewer cigarettes (rather than stopping completely) count as success? If a program you're considering claims a certain success rate, ask for more details on how success is defined and what kind of follow-up is done to confirm the rate.
The truth is that quit smoking programs, like other programs that treat addictions, often have fairly low success rates. But that does not mean they are not worthwhile or that you should be discouraged. Your own success in quitting is what really counts, and that is under your control.
Success rates in general
Only about 4% to 7% of people are able to quit smoking on any given attempt without medicines or other help.
Studies in medical journals have reported that between about 25% and 33% of smokers who use medicines can stay smoke-free for over 6 months. There is also early evidence that combining some medicines may work better than using them alone.
Behavioral and supportive therapies may increase success rates even further. Check the package insert of any product you are using to see if the manufacturer provides free telephone-based counseling.
How to quit
Smokers often say, "Don't tell me why to quit, tell me how." There is no one right way to quit, but there are some key elements in quitting with success. These 4 factors are key:
• Making the decision to quit
• Setting a quit date and choosing a quit plan• Dealing with withdrawal
• Staying quit (maintenance)
Making the decision to quit
The decision to quit smoking is one that only you can make. Others may want you to quit, but the real commitment must come from you.
Think about why you want to quit.
• Are you worried that you could get a smoking-related disease?
• Do you really believe that the benefits of quitting outweigh the benefits of continuing to smoke?
• Do you know someone who has had health problems because of their smoking?
• Are you ready to make a serious try at quitting?
If you are thinking about quitting, setting a date and deciding on a plan will move you to the next step.
Setting a quit date and making a plan
Pick a Quit Day
Once you've decided to quit, you're ready to pick a quit date. This is a very important step. Pick a specific day within the next month as your Quit Day. Picking a date too far away can allow you time to rationalize and change your mind. But do give yourself enough time to prepare and come up with a plan. You might choose a date with a special meaning like a birthday or anniversary, or the date of the Great American Smokeout (the third Thursday in November each year). Or you may want to just pick a random date. Circle the date on your calendar. Make a strong, personal commitment to quit on that day.
Plan for your prescriptions: Remember that if you are planning to use a prescription drug, you will need to talk with your doctor about getting it in time for your Quit Day. If you plan to use bupropion (Zyban) or varenicline (Chantix), you must start taking the drug a full week before your Quit Day. If you are using one of these medicines, add a note on your calendar for the week before your Quit Day to remind you to start taking the drug.
Prepare for your Quit Day
There is no one right way to quit. Most smokers prefer to quit cold turkey -- they stop completely, all at once. They smoke until their Quit Day and then quit. Or they may smoke fewer cigarettes for 1 or 2 weeks before their Quit Day. Another way involves cutting down on the number of cigarettes you smoke each day. With this method, you slowly reduce the amount of nicotine in your body. You might cut out cigarettes smoked with a cup of coffee, or you might decide to smoke only at certain times of the day. While it makes sense to cut down in order to reduce withdrawal symptoms, in practice this can be hard to do.
Quitting smoking is a lot like losing weight: it takes a strong commitment over a long time. Smokers may wish there was a magic bullet -- a pill or method that would make quitting painless and easy. But there is nothing like that. Nicotine substitutes can help reduce withdrawal symptoms, but they work best when they are used as part of a stop-smoking plan that addresses both the physical and psychological components of quitting smoking.
Here are some steps to help you prepare for your Quit Day:
• Pick the date and mark it on your calendar.
• Tell friends and family about your Quit Day.
• Get rid of all the cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work.
• Stock up on oral substitutes -- sugarless gum, carrot sticks, hard candy, cinnamon sticks, coffee stirrers, straws, and/or toothpicks.
• Decide on a plan. Will you use NRT or other medicines? Will you attend a stop-smoking class? If so, sign up now.
• Practice saying, "No thank you, I don't smoke."
• Set up a support system. This could be a group class, Nicotine Anonymous, or a friend or family member who has successfully quit and is willing to help you. Ask family and friends who still smoke not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out where you can see them.
• Think back to your past attempts to quit. Try to figure out what worked and what did not work for you.
Successful quitting is a matter of planning and commitment, not luck. Decide now on your own plan. Some options include using nicotine replacement or other medicines, joining a stop-smoking class, going to Nicotine Anonymous meetings, using self-help materials such as books and pamphlets, or some combination of these methods. For the best chance at success, your plan should include 2 or more of these options.
Your Quit Day
On your Quit Day, follow these suggestions:
• Do not smoke. This means none at all -- not even one puff!
• Keep active -- try walking, exercising, or doing other activities or hobbies.
• Drink lots of water and juices.
• Begin using nicotine replacement if that is your choice.
• Attend stop-smoking class or follow your self-help plan.
• Avoid situations where the urge to smoke is strong.
• Reduce or avoid alcohol.
• Think about changing your routine. Use a different route to go to work, drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place or eat different foods.
Read on to find out more about the kinds of thoughts and temptations that come up when you try to quit, and ideas for ways to deal with or avoid them.
Dealing with withdrawal
Withdrawal from nicotine has 2 parts -- the physical and the mental. The physical symptoms, while annoying, are not life-threatening. Nicotine replacement and other medicines can help reduce many of these physical symptoms. Most smokers find that the bigger challenge is the mental part of quitting.
If you have been smoking for any length of time, smoking has become linked with nearly everything you do -- waking up in the morning, eating, reading, watching TV, and drinking coffee, for example. It will take time to "un-link" smoking from these activities. This is why, even if you are using a nicotine replacement, you may still have strong urges to smoke
Rationalizations are sneaky
One way to overcome these urges or cravings is to notice and identify rationalizations as they come up. A rationalization is a mistaken thought that seems to make sense to you at the time, but the thought is not based on reality. If you choose to believe in such a thought, it can serve as a way to justify smoking. If you have tried to quit before, you will probably recognize many of these common rationalizations:
• I'll just have one to get through this rough spot.
• Today is not a good day. I'll quit tomorrow.
• It's my only vice.
• How bad is smoking, really? Uncle Harry smoked all his life and he lived to be over 90.
• Air pollution is probably just as bad.
• You've got to die of something.
• Life is no fun without smoking.
You probably can add more to the list. As you go through the first few days without smoking, write down any rationalizations as they come up and recognize them for what they are: messages that can trick you into going back to smoking. Look out for them, because they always show up when you're trying to quit. After you write down the idea, let it go from your mind. Be ready with a distraction, a plan of action, and other ways to re-direct your thoughts to something else.
Use the ideas below to help you stay committed to quitting.
Avoid temptation
Stay away from people and places where you are tempted to smoke. Later on you will be able to handle these with more confidence.
Change your habits
Switch to juices or water instead of alcohol or coffee. Take a different route to work. Take a brisk walk instead of a coffee break.
Alternatives: Use substitutes you can put in your mouth such as sugarless gum or hard candy, raw vegetables such as carrot sticks, or sunflower seeds. Some people chew on a coffee stirrer or a straw.
Activities: Do something to reduce your stress. Exercise or do hobbies that keep your hands busy, such as needlework or woodworking, which can help distract you from the urge to smoke. Take a hot bath, exercise, or read a book.
Deep breathing: When you were smoking, you breathed deeply as you inhaled the smoke. When the urge strikes now, breathe deeply and picture your lungs filling with fresh, clean air. Remind yourself of your reasons for quitting and the benefits you'll gain as an ex-smoker.
Delay: If you feel that you are about to light up, delay. Tell yourself you must wait at least 10 minutes. Often this simple trick will allow you to move beyond the strong urge to smoke.
Reward yourself
What you're doing is not easy, so you deserve a reward. Put the money you would have spent on tobacco in a jar every day and then buy yourself a weekly treat. Buy a magazine or book, go out to eat, develop a new hobby, or take a yoga class. Or save the money for a major purchase. You can also reward yourself in ways that don't cost money: visit a park, go to the library, and check local news listings for museums, community centers, and colleges that have free classes, exhibits, films, and other things to do.
Staying quit (maintenance)
Remember the Mark Twain quote? Maybe you, too, have quit many times before. If so, you know that staying quit is the final, longest, and most important stage of the process. You can use the same methods to stay quit as you did to help you through withdrawal. Think ahead to those times when you may be tempted to smoke, and plan on how you will use other ways to cope with these situations.
More dangerous, perhaps, are the unexpected strong desires to smoke that can sometimes happen months, or even years after you've quit. To get through these without relapse, try these:
• Review your reasons for quitting and think of all the benefits to your health, your finances, and your family.
• Remind yourself that there is no such thing as just one cigarette -- or even one puff.
• Ride out the desire to smoke. It will go away, but do not fool yourself into thinking you can have just one.
• Avoid alcohol. Drinking lowers your chance of success.
• If you are worried about gaining weight, put some energy into eating a healthy diet and staying active with exercise.
Recovering from slips
What if you do smoke? The difference between a slip and a relapse is within your control. A slip is a one-time mistake that is quickly corrected -- a relapse is going back to smoking. You can use the slip as an excuse to go back to smoking, or you can look at what went wrong and renew your commitment to staying away from smoking for good.
Even if you do relapse, try not to get too discouraged. Very few people are able to quit for good on the first try. In fact, it takes most people many attempts before quitting for good. What's important is figuring out what helped you when you tried to quit and what worked against you. You can then use this information to make a stronger attempt at quitting the next time.
Some special concerns
Weight gain
Many smokers do gain some weight when they quit. But even when steps aren't taken to try to prevent this, the gain is usually less than 10 pounds. Women tend to gain slightly more weight than men. There is some evidence that smokers will gain weight after they quit even if they do not eat more. There are some studies that suggest that nicotine replacement therapy or bupropion may help delay weight gain, but they don't prevent it.
For some people, a concern about weight gain can lead to a decision not to quit. But the weight gain that follows quitting smoking is usually very small. It is much more dangerous to keep smoking than it is to gain a small amount of weight.
You are more likely to be quit smoking successfully if you deal with the smoking first, and then later take steps to reduce your weight. While you are quitting, try to focus on ways to help you stay healthy, rather than on your weight. Stressing about your weight may make it harder to quit. Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables and limit the fat. Be sure to drink plenty of water, and get enough sleep and regular physical activity.
Try walking
Walking is a great way to be physically active and increase your chances of staying quit. Walking can help you by:
• Reducing stress
• Burning calories and toning muscles
• Giving you something to do instead of thinking about smoking
No special equipment or clothing is needed for walking, other than a pair of comfortable shoes. And most people can do it pretty much anytime. You can use these ideas as starting points and come up with more of your own:
• Walk around a shopping mall
• Get off the bus one stop before you usually do
• Find a buddy to walk with during lunch time at work
• Take the stairs instead of the elevator
• Walk with a friend, family member, or neighbor after dinner
• Push your baby in a stroller
• Take a dog (yours or a maybe neighbor's) out for a walk
Set a goal of 30 minutes of physical activity 5 or more times a week. But if you don't already exercise regularly, please check with your doctor before starting any exercise program.
Stress
Smokers often mention stress as one of the reasons for going back to smoking. Stress is a part of everyone's lives, smokers and non-smokers alike. The difference is that smokers have come to use nicotine to help cope with stress and unpleasant emotions. When quitting, you have to learn new ways of handling stress. Nicotine replacement can help to some extent, but for long-term success you will need other strategies, too.
As mentioned above, physical activity is a good stress-reducer. It can also help with the short-term sense of depression that some smokers have when they quit. There are also stress-management classes and self-help books. Check your community newspaper, library, or bookstore.
Spiritual practices such as admitting that you cannot control your addiction and believing that a higher power can give you strength have been used with much success to deal with other addictions. These practices, along with the fellowship of others on a similar path, are a key part of 12-step recovery programs. These same principles can be applied to quitting smoking.
Taking care of yourself
It is important for your health care provider to know of any present or past tobacco use so he or she can be sure that you will get the preventive health care you need. It is well known that using tobacco use puts you at risk for certain health-related illnesses, so part of your health care should focus on related screening and preventive measures to help you stay as healthy as possible. For example, you will want to be certain that you regularly check inside your mouth for any changes. Have your doctor or dentist look at your mouth, tongue, or throat if you have any changes or problems. The American Cancer Society recommends that medical check-ups should include oral cavity (mouth) exams. This way, tobacco users may be able to find changes such as leukoplakia (white patches on the mouth tissues) early, and prevent oral cancer or find it at a stage that is easier to treat.
You should also be aware of any of the following changes:
• Change in cough
• A new cough
• Coughing up blood
• Hoarseness
• Trouble breathing
• Wheezing
• Headaches
• Chest pain
• Loss of appetite
• Weight loss
• General tiredness
• Frequent lung or bronchial infections
Any of these could be signs of lung cancer or a number of other lung conditions and should be reported to a doctor. While these can be signs of a problem, people with lung cancer often do not notice any symptoms until the cancer has spread to other parts of the body.
Remember that tobacco users have a higher risk for other cancers as well, depending on the way they use tobacco. You can learn about the types of cancer you may be at risk for by reading our document that discusses the way you use tobacco. Other risk factors for these cancers may be more important than your use of tobacco, but you should know about the extra risks that might apply to you.
If you have any health concerns that may be related to your tobacco use, please see a health care provider as soon as possible. Taking care of yourself and getting treatment for small problems will give you the best chance for successful treatment. The best way, though, to take care of yourself and decrease your risk for life-threatening health problems is to quit using tobacco
Why should I quit smoking?
Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer when you get older, but did you know that it also has bad effects on your body right now? A cigarette contains about 4000 chemicals, and at least 43 of those chemicals are known to cause cancer in humans. Some of the other chemicals are found in products that are known to be poisonous. Some of the worst ones are:
• Nicotine: a deadly poison
• Arsenic: used in rat poison
• Methane: a component of rocket fuel
• Ammonia: found in floor cleaner
• Cadmium: used in batteries
• Carbon Monoxide: part of car exhaust
• Formaldehyde: used to preserve body tissue
• Butane: lighter fluid
• Hydrogen Cyanide: the poison used in gas chambers
Every time you inhale smoke from a cigarette, small amounts of these chemicals get into your blood through your lungs. They travel to all the parts of your body and cause harm.
Electronic Cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes offer no promises. The truth is that e-cigarettes are not scientific analysed, for now. An electronic cigarette is a great solution for smokers, becouse it does not contain carcinogens and tar and can be legally smoked in places where smoking is prohibited. It enables smokers to enjoy the same pleasure as they get from a traditional cigarette when inhaling the nicotine, imitating the whole process of smoking. There is no second hand smoke!
Electronic Cigarettes
What is the electronic cigarette?
All of them work on the same manner. The difference is in products' quality.
There is a brand new invention that everyone who smokes should know about. It's called the electronic cigarette, also known as a smokeless cigarette or e-cigarette, and it is changing the legal landscape for cigarette smokers around the world.
The patented Electronic Cigarette offers to effectively simulate the experience of smoking an actual cigarette, without any of the health or legal issues surrounding traditional cigarettes.
While Electronic cigarettes look, feel and taste much like traditional cigarettes, they function very differently. You see, electronic cigarettes do not actually burn any tobacco, but rather, when you inhale from an e-cigarette, you activate a "flow censor" which releases a water vapor containing nicotine, propylene glycol, and a scent that simulates the flavor of tobacco. All of which simply means that electronic cigarettes allow you to get your nicotine fix while avoiding all of the cancer causing agents found in traditional cigarettes such as tar, glue, hundreds of additives, and hydrocarbons.
In addition to being healthier than traditional cigarettes, and perhaps most importantly of all, is the fact that electronic cigarettes are completely legal. Because Electronic cigarettes do not involve tobacco, you can legally smoke them anywhere that traditional cigarettes are prohibited such as bars, restaurants, the work place, even on airplanes. Furthermore, electronic cigarettes allow you to smoke with no fears of inflicting harm on others due to nasty second hand smoke.
The refillable cartridges come in a multitude of flavors as well as nicotine strengths. You can get regular, menthol, even apple and strawberry flavored cartridges and nicotine strengths come in full, medium, light, and none. While electronic cigarettes are technically a "smoking alternative" rather than a smoking cessation device, the range of nicotine strengths offers some obvious potential as an aid in the ones attempts to quit smoking and seems to be proving popular within that market.
The nice thing about electronic cigarettes as apposed to say, nicotine patches, is that e-cigarettes produce the same tactile sensation and oral fixation that smokers desire, while satisfying ones tobacco cravings as well. When you take a drag from n electronic cigarette you actually feel the your lungs fill with a warm tobacco flavored smoke and when you exhale the smoke billows out of your lungs just like regular smoking, however, as mentioned, that smoke is actually a much healthier water vapor that quickly evaporates and therefore does not offend anyone in the immediate vicinity.
While electronic cigarettes have been around for a while in various incarnations, it has been recent advances in the technology as well as ever increasing restrictions against smoking that have propelled the e-cigarette into a new found popularity. If you are interested in a healthier alternative to smoking, or if you simply want to have the freedom to smoke wherever and whenever you want, an electronic cigarette might be the solution you've been looking for.
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