"Health Articles"

You know you need to quit smoking so I don’t need to bore you with the details that you have heard time and time again, as well as the reports from various studies that talk about your personal health and the negative effects of smoking. You already know those things, at least from a conscious perspective and you know you need to quit smoking.

The problem is that you have not been able to bring yourself to the point where it is real for you. Yes, admit it, you get colds more often that last longer than a normal cold, especially with a cough, but it goes away. You are not yet willing to attribute smoking to that, justifying it to yourself that everybody gets a cold now and then and that you are no different, and that the detrimental effects of smoking are over hyped.

But even at that, you know you should quit, perhaps “just in case” the mountains of medical studies are right. You know you would feel better and it would be healthier for you. You do not want to wait until your doctor tells you that you MUST quit smoking since at that point, it will be too late.

The problem is that you don’t WANT to quit smoking, and all the reports you’ve read say that you will never be successful in a stop smoking campaign if you do not develop the internal and mental commitment to yourself to stop smoking. So what do you do?

The first thing to realize is that as far as quitting smoking, there is no single method that works for all people. Just because your buddy Fred quit cold turkey and your other buddy Bob had success with the patch does not mean that either of those methods will be successful for you. Everybody is different, so what you need to do is find the method that WILL work for you.

Your addiction to smoking is probably a combination of psychological and chemical. For the psychological part, you should try to keep yourself out of situations where you would normally smoke. If that is talking on your cell phone on the street corner, then just do not put yourself in that situation, but talk on your cell phone from somewhere else where smoking is not permitted.

The chemical addiction is where most people have a problem. This is why the patch is successful with many people, because the patch provides small amounts of the nicotine that your body is craving, but provides it without smoking. While the effect of withdrawal is greatly over emphasized, to an extent it is real and the patch can help avoid those withdrawal symptoms by providing what your body is craving until you reach the point where those cravings do not exist anymore.

Find the method that works for you to allow you to quit smoking. One of the things you can do to strengthen your internal resolve to create that mental commitment to stopping smoking is to read the reports about the negative health aspects of it, over and over.

Quitting smoking is an admirable goal. But you can be sure of running into some problems along the way. It is difficult to be persistent when everything you try seems to fail. And many people who don’t realize immediate results from their efforts are easily swayed toward giving up.

It doesn’t have to be that way. Let’s begin by emphasizing how important it is to your self-worth that you never allow yourself to give up fighting for something you know and believe to be right.

If you can commit yourself to being smoke-free for the rest of your life, you’ll need to make sure you can re-enforce that idea positively by removing any doubt about your ability to see things through. Even if you are the type of person who sets goals only to see yourself fail time and again, you can still make this work with the proper motivational techniques.

Of all the tools you’ll need to achieve quitting smoking, a positive mental attitude will be your strongest ally. For long time smokers who may be first time quitters, be aware of the grip nicotine has on you. Respect its power, its cunning, and see it as an entity that can be expunged from your body. This addiction is tricky and will test your resolve unlike most anything you may have ever been through.

For those of you who have tried and failed in the past, remember that every failure brings with it the seeds for future success. Many successful former smoker’s had to go through multiple attempts to achieve their goal while other’s succeed right away and never go back to the habit.

As promised, here are five very powerful motivational techniques to help you on your journey.

1. Picture the End Result

Begin by seeing yourself as a non-smoker one year from today. Then two years. Then five. See yourself having more energy, more money. See yourself talking to your friends without smelling like a foul stale ashtray.

See yourself walking briskly down a tree-lined street under blue skies, maybe even running, without getting winded. Imagine walking out your front door without having to check if you’ve brought along your cigarettes and lighter. Without worrying about running out of butts before you can get to the corner store in time to replenish your supply.

How would it feel to be free from the restrictions that are ever increasing in a society hell-bent on becoming smoke free? You already know that you can’t smoke in most public places any longer. Imagine not having to step out into the biting cold of a nasty winter day to placate your body’s demands for more nicotine.

Now picture yourself as a healthy robust non-smoker with plenty of energy, more money in your pocket and free of offensive odors and nicotine stains. See yourself going through your daily life completely free of any desire to smoke.

Dwell on that scenario for five minutes or so with your eyes closed. Breathe deeply and exhale slowly while you use this mental exercise. When you open your eyes, imagine that you have already accomplished your mission. Feel the joy and allow yourself to believe it to be true right now. Let the feeling sink in and boost your desire to actually achieve this lifestyle.

2. Reward Yourself

Make a habit of rewarding yourself for each victory over your cravings. Set small goals at first so as to set yourself up for rapid achievement of successes.

For instance, on your first quit day you could set aside 5 dollars for every 4 hours you go without lighting up. When you wake up on day 2 and see 15 or 20 bucks in your reward jar, it’ll inspire you to keep it up so you can maybe buy that new car stereo you’ve been checking out recently.

Or maybe that vacation to Mexico you’ve always wanted to take. Doing something nice for yourself as a reward will stimulate your mind in a positive re-enforcing manner. You will be focusing on the end result instead of your craving and the critical first few days will pass more quickly and easily.

3. Create a Success Circle

Another way to be successful in any endeavor is to surround yourself with like-minded people, a mastermind group if you will.

In this case, they don’t all have to be people who are quitting at the same time as you. In fact, people who do not smoke and who share some of the same interests and ideas as you would be best suited to your group for this purpose.

You needn’t make a big deal out of your decision to quit smoking. But if you do tell your friends about it, it could keep you from allowing yourself to backslide.

Use the leverage at your disposal and have your friends monitor your progress. Sometimes just the thought of having your peers see you go back on your word will be enough to deter any thoughts of backsliding. After all, you want to be seen as a person of your word, don’t you?

4. Your Health is Your Future

Begin to exercise regularly. Even if it is no more than a daily half hour walk, help your body to heal itself through some type of low-impact aerobic activity.

Your body needs plenty of oxygen to flush out all those years of toxins. Mild exercise will not only provide that but will also help control any possible weight gain.

If you experience a particularly tough craving, go for a bike ride or pump some iron or take a brisk walk to the park and back. Working your body will also help change what you are focusing on and that is critical to your eventual success.

You should also pay attention to your diet. Eat plenty of green and orange vegetables for their anti-oxidant qualities. Stay away from too much caffeine or soft drinks as these are dietary triggers that launch a nicotine craving. Drink plenty of fresh, clean water to help flush out your system.

Plan to get a good night’s sleep at the end of the day. Don’t allow yourself to slump into a chair in front of the television as this is prime time for your addiction to kick up it’s heels and bite you in the butt.

Get a good book that interests you and allow yourself to focus on its content. Once you have been smoke-free for a few months you will find it easier to relax without the distraction of a nagging urge to light up. Regaining good health is key to your success.

5. Avoid Those Enabling Triggers

Make no mistake about it, you cannot let your guard down for one minute during the quitting process. The first year of your new smokeless existence will be tested frequently for chinks in the armor of your determination. Identifying these triggers and removing them from your daily routines is critical.

Alcohol has been a common trigger for most people who smoke. It really should be avoided but can be consumed in moderation as long as you don’t let it break down your resolve.

However, if you can’t have a drink without a smoke, just don’t drink until you have eliminated smoking from your daily routine. It’s that simple.

After dinner smoking is a bit trickier. You obviously cannot go without eating. Instead, once finished eating, get up from the table right away and help clear the dishes and condiments from the table.

Reach for a stick of gum to cleanse your breath and teeth. Do anything that would change your normal routine of lighting up. Go for a walk and bring along a camera to take pictures with. As long as you change what you are focusing on after dinner, you should be able to avoid grappling with the urge to fire up.

Many people who drive like to light up the minute they slide behind the wheel. Replace the ashtrays with sugar-free gum or candy mints and remove all lighters from your vehicle. Try to keep a cold bottle of water in the car as well.

The most important thing is, don’t give up if you hit a bump in the road. Re-motivate yourself and get back on track. Always keep your end goal in sight and never let the word ‘defeat’ find a place on your list of options.

Physicians are often asked whether it is harmful to smoke three cigarettes a day, or five, or fourteen, or a pack; people seem to seek a standard measurement. If they exceed it that would be bad; if they smoked fewer than the standard that would be all right. But no such figure can be set. For several of my patients, one cigarette a week would be too many cigarettes.

A better way to respond to questions about cigarette smoking, then, is to speak not of quantities but of habit patterns. You are smoking to excess if you do any one (or more) of the following:

Reach for a cigarette the first thing in the morning or the last thing at night.

Light a cigarette without realizing it, find yourself smoking, and wonder why you lit it and when.

Claim that you are unable to enjoy certain situations without a cigarette - your morning coffee, food, reading the paper, playing cards, and so on.

Feel it necessary to explain the number you smoke with such phrases as “They help me relax” and “I only take a puff or two, forget it, and then light another.”

Become severely upset when you find yourself in a “no smoking” area - certain theatres and public buildings, for example - and feel compelled to “duck out for a quick cigarette,” or are ready to risk public disapproval or punishment by “sneaking” a few puffs.

Find it almost unbearable when you are out of cigarettes, and are unable to tolerate the situation; instead, are willing to go to some lengths (dressing, walking to the corner store, stopping a stranger) to get a cigarette.

Feel that you have to smoke to show that (a) you are one of the gang, or (b) “adult.”

If with any degree of regularity you act or react in any of the ways described above, you are smoking to excess.

“Excess” means “more than what is right, proper or necessary.” When used in medicine, it means “more than is good for continued good health” We can eat too much, work too much, drink too much (including non-alcoholic liquids), sleep too much, and so on; and while any such excess is potentially troublesome, some excesses are worse than others.

Smoking must be put in that category, because it has vastly increased the incidence of lung cancer and coronary artery diseases, and because it plays a significant role in increasing the mortality rate in other pathologies.

Some people do more than one thing excessively; for example, they may smoke excessively and drink excessively and perhaps also work excessively. Since there is a reason for everything we do, there are reasons for this pattern of behavior. Usually the excess acts as an “escape mechanism” from an emotional problem. If the habit is removed but the cause is not, another habit generally develops. That is where the psychiatrist can make his unique contribution; he can seek out and remove the basic cause or causes for that particular emotional problem.

Excess can also be the result of an endless circle of action and reaction. An emotional problem causes anxiety; the anxiety itself causes greater anxiety. And as the anxiety continues to mount, feeding on itself and breeding itself, an escape mechanism becomes necessary. Relaxation effectively prevents this dangerous accretion of anxiety and tension, and one bonus you can achieve as the result of reading this book is learning how to relax.

Excess, we’ve seen, can take many forms. Psychology shows us that the individual makes an unconscious “choice” of his particular escape mechanism (or mechanisms), and that his choice is usually made through an unconscious association with what he thinks will bring gratification - excessive eating, drinking, playing, sleeping, working, or so on.

Most of us know that smoking is indeed a habit that can have many serious implications on our health but there is a tendency to view the problem lightly. It’s important that every smoker be aware of the facts concerning smoking and so I have included certain facts and figures that I hope will serve as eye openers.

I don’t know how it is with you, but as far as I am concerned as soon as I have to look at statistics, my eyes get bleary and something just turns off in my head. But for your own good I implore you to take a good look at the statistics given below, remember, it could save your life.

The World Health Organization has been studying smoking trends and statistical patterns across the globe and has come up with the following statistics:

Most smokers begin early in life, before they are 25 years old. According to World Health Organization studies, the majority of smokers in affluent countries begin in their teens. A decline in the age of starting smoking has been observed worldwide.

As a wannabe quitter, you’re in excellent company. People all over the world are trying to quit and stay away from cigarettes. There appears to be a correlation between a country’s standard of living, level of education, and income and the number of people who have quit smoking. The more and better-informed people are, the more likely they are to quit smoking.

Current estimates are that over 1 billion people in the world smoke. (In other words, approximately one in three adults on the planet smokes.) The majority of these smokers reside in countries on the low end to the middle of the socioeconomic spectrum. Of this majority, about 80 percent live in low - and middle - income countries. The total number of smokers worldwide is expected to keep increasing.

But are things in the USA any better? Not really, as you can see for yourself in the figures of National Health Interview Survey (NHIS), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics.

In the United States, an estimated 25.6 million men (25.2 percent) and 22.6 million women (20.7 percent) are smokers. These people are at higher risk of heart attack and stroke. The latest estimates for persons age 18 and older show…

Among whites, 25.1 percent of men and 21.7 percent of women smoke
Among black or African Americans, 27.6 percent of men and 18.0 percent of women smoke
Among Hispanics/Latinos, 23.2 percent of men and 12.5 percent of women smoke
Among Asians (only), 21.3 percent of men and 6.9 percent of women smoke
Among American Indians/Alaska Natives (only), 32.0 percent of men and 36.9 percent of women smoke
Studies show that smoking prevalence is higher among those with 9-11 years of education (35.4 percent) compared with those with more than 16 years of education (11.6 percent). It’s highest among persons living below the poverty level (33.3 percent).

And These Figures Spell Death…
One out of every five deaths is caused by tobacco

An average of 400,000 Americans die each year from tobacco

Tobacco to blame for many serious pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases

Tobacco and nicotine are some of the most potent carcinogens and are to blame for a majority of all cancers of the lung, trachea, bronchus, larynx, and esophagus

Tobacco use also produces cancers in the pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix

Impotency is sometimes to blame from addiction to nicotine because of its ability to reduce blood flow

Smoking is an important risk factor for respiratory illnesses, causing 85,000 deaths per year from pulmonary diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and pneumonia

Children and adolescents who are active smokers will have increasingly severe respiratory illness, as they grow older

Smoking during pregnancy causes about 5-6% of prenatal deaths, 17-26% of low-birth-weight births, and 7-10% of pre-term deliveries, and it increases the risk of miscarriage and fetal growth retardation

Cigarettes are responsible for about 25% of deaths from residential fires, causing nearly 1,000 fire-related deaths and 3,300 injuries each year

These are grave statistics and well worth heeding the message of, which is to quit, now.