Smoking harms every part of the body – there is no organ that it doesn’t touch. It causes many diseases. It reduces the quality and enjoyment of life and also reduces how long a smoker can expect to live.

Smoking has a devastating effect on the individual and their family and friends. And yet every day nearly 6,000 children under 18 years of age start smoking; of these, nearly 2,000 will become regular smokers. That is almost 800,000 annually. It is estimated that at least 4.5 million U.S. adolescents are cigarette smokers and approximately 90 percent of smokers begin smoking before the age of 21. Cigarette smoking during childhood and adolescence produces significant health problems. These problems include cough and phlegm production, an increase in the number and severity of respiratory illnesses decreased physical fitness, an unfavorable blood lipid profile and potential retardation in the rate of lung growth and the level of maximum lung function. An estimated 440,000 Americans die each year from diseases caused by smoking.

It has been estimated that, in England, 364,000 patients are admitted to hospitals each year due to diseases caused by smoking. This is 7,000 hospital admissions per week, or 1,000 day. For every death caused by smoking, approximately 20 smokers are suffering from a smoking related disease. In 1997/98, cigarette smoking caused an estimated 480,000 patients to consult their Medical Practitioner for heart disease, 20,000 for stroke and nearly 600,000 for chronic obstructive lung disease.

Half of all teenagers who are currently smoking will die from diseases caused by cigarette smoke - if they continue to smoke. One quarter will die before 70 years of age, losing on average 21 years of life. It is estimated that between 1950 and 2000 six million Britons, 60 million people worldwide, died from tobacco-related diseases. One in two long-term smokers will die prematurely as a result of smoking – half of these in middle age. Most die from one of the three main diseases associated with cigarette smoking: lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease (bronchitis and emphysema) and coronary heart disease.

In the UK deaths caused by smoking are five times higher than the 22,833 deaths arising from: traffic accidents (3,439); poisoning and overdose (881); alcoholic liver disease (5,121); other accidental deaths (8,579); murder and manslaughter (513); suicide (4,066); and HIV infection (234). World-wide, almost 5 million die prematurely each year as a result of smoking.

Smokers also face a higher risk than non-smokers of developing many medical conditions which may not be fatal but which may cause years of debilitating illness or other problems. These conditions include the following:

Acute necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis (gum disease)

Angina (20 x risk)

Back pain

Buerger’s Disease (severe circulatory disease)

Cataract (2 x risk)

Cataract, posterior subcapsular (3 x risk)

Colon Polyps

Crohn’s Disease (chronic inflamed bowel)

Depression

Diabetes (Type 2, non-insulin dependent)

Duodenal ulcer

Hearing loss

Impotence (2 x risk)

Influenza

Ligament injuries

Macular degeneration (eyes, 2 x risk)

Muscle injuries

Neck pain

Nystagmus (abnormal eye movements)

Ocular Histoplasmosis (fungal eye infection)

Optic Neuropathy (loss of vision, 16 x risk)

Osteoarthritis

Osteoporosis (in both sexes)

Penis (Erectile dysfunction)

Peripheral vascular disease

Pneumonia

Psoriasis (2 x risk)

Rheumatoid arthritis (for heavy smokers)

Skin wrinkling (2 x risk)

Stomach ulcer

Tendon injuries

Tobacco Amblyopia (loss of vision)

Tooth loss

Tuberculosis

This means that the smoker has circulation, hearing, vision, joint, muscle, sexual, digestion, lung, skin and other problems – not a pleasing picture. This list doesn’t include the various cancers that smoker are prone to - cancers such as mouth, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, stomach and leukaemia. Nor does the list include the fact that the circulation problems can lead to gangrene (death of the tissues) which necessitates amputations. There are also functions that are impaired in smokers. These include:

Ejaculation (volume reduced)

Fertility (30% lower in women)

Immune System (impaired)

Menopause (onset 1.74 years early on average)

Sperm count reduced

Sperm less able to penetrate the ovum

Sperm motility impaired

Sperm shape abnormalities increased

The life of a smoker is not an easy one. The suffering and illness caused by the smoking is severe. The only way to ensure that you don’t have this pain and suffering is not to smoke. If you currently smoke than you need to quit. Quitting is not easy –however you do not have to do undertake the quitting process alone – you can have guidance, support and assistance.

References

Cigarette smoking-attributable morbidity – United States, 2000. MMWR Weekly Report, 5 Sep. 2003.

Cigarettes: what the warning label doesn’t tell you. American Council on Science & Health, 1997.

Mortality statistics 2002., Office for National Statistics, 2002; General Register Office for Scotland, 2002; Registrar General Northern Ireland, Annual Report, Statistics & Research Agency, 2002.

Nicotine Addiction in Britain. A report of the Tobacco Advisory Group of the Royal College of Physicians. RCP, 2000 (for percentage of smoking-related deaths).

Mortality statistics 2002., Office for National Statistics, 2002; General Register Office for Scotland, 2002; Registrar General Northern Ireland, Annual Report, Statistics & Research Agency, 2002.

Peto R. Mortality in relation to smoking: 40 years’ observations on male British doctors. BMJ 1994; 309: 901-911.

The World Health Report 2003. World Health Organization, 2003.

Dr Jenny Tylee is an experienced health professional who is passionate about health and
wellbeing. She believes that health is not just absence of disease and seeks to actively promote
vitality and wellness through empowering others. She encourages smokers to quit and believes that the

Related posts

• Treatment Of Symptoms In Menopause (0)
• Quit Smoking: 21 Shocking Smoking Facts, The Tobacco Companies Don’t Want You To Know (0)
• Why Modern Medicine is the Greatest Threat to Health (0)
• What The Quit Smoking Brigade Don’t Tell You About Quitting! Part 1 (0)
• Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) Information (0)

Tags: Heart, menopause, smoker, smoking, world health organization

Many people who smoke struggle through a long process of weaning themselves off of smoking. Many of them successfully quit and never smoke again, some of them continue to have the urge to smoke and still others are never quite able to give up the habit.

So what exactly is going on inside the mind of a person who smokes? They associate a lot of pleasure to smoking. We all create pictures in our mind of various things. If you were to think of a certain food that you really don’t like, you will find that the picture in your mind is not as nice as the picture of your favorite food. In a similar way, if a non-smoker we to think of themselves smoking, they will have a not so nice picture. If a smoker were to look at the picture in his or her mind of smoking, he or she would have a nicer picture.

The secret to instantly becoming a non-smoker is very simple. It’s so simple in fact that most people don’t believe it really works. The secret is to change the association that you have to smoking. Take that positive association and turn it into a very, very negative association. Let’s walk through the process:

Step 1: Look at the image in your mind of cigarettes. Quickly determine the attributes of that image. Is it bright or dim, large or small, fuzzy or clear, near or far, black and white or color, 3D or flat? Is it a still image or a movie? Is it panoramic or is there a frame around it? What about noise? Are there any sounds associated with the image? Is it an internal sound or an external sound? Where are the sounds coming from? What is the sound? Where is it directed toward? Is it loud or soft? Are there any feelings associated with the image? Where are the feelings coming from? Is there any heat or pressure? Is it an internal feeling or an external feeling?

Step 2: Think of the food that you absolutely hate the worst. Close your eyes and look at the image of this food in your mind. Answer the same questions as in step 1.

Step 3: Switch the attributes of the image of the cigarettes to the attributes of the food that you hate. Make the image just as dreary.

Step 4: Look into the future and see if you are going to want to have a cigarette in a similar situation where you would have, in the past, had a cigarette.

In my career as a coach, I have used this process, among others, to help people quit smoking with fantastic success. The underlying rule behind this secret is that you must absolutely be committed to quitting right now. If you want to quit and you just aren’t committed yet, look into the future and see what your life might be like if you never quit. Make this future as a smoker as negative as possible to be able to get some leverage on yourself. I promise that if you have a strong enough reason to quit and you now know how to do it instantly, there is nothing holding you back from being a non-smoker with this process.

Phillip Woodson is the president of Transformational Results, a peak performance coaching company dedicated to helping individuals live their lives at their absolute best. Phillip coaches individuals on stress management, freedom from fears and phobias, eliminating habits and addictions, and weight loss. For more information about Phillip or his services, or to sign up for his monthly newsletter full of helpful life tips and strategies, visit his website at transformationalresults.com transformationalresults.com or email him at mailto:mail@trcoaching.com mail@trcoaching.com

Related posts

• Seven Easy Steps to Flatten Your Tummy (0)
• Phentermine Helps When Other Drugs Give Up (0)
• Nicotine’s Role In Quitting Smoking – Why It Is So Hard To Quit (0)
• Do You Believe Smoking Is A Way To Stay Slim (0)
• Would You Really Like To Quit Smoking? (0)

Tags: quit smoking, smoker, smoking, weight Loss

For those who suffer from schizophrenia there is a proven way to alleviate the symptoms, with a cheap natural compound, that is completely safe.

What is the compound called? The answer may well surprise you:

Nicotine

Nicotine taken outside of cigarette smoking is safe and non toxic and is a proven relief for suffers of schizophrenia. In fact it is naturally occurring compound and part of the food chain with trace elements found in such common foods as potatoes chili’s and tomatoes.

In addition to schizophrenia, nicotine is also being researched to treat other diseases including:
Depression Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, attention disorder, come cancers and obesity.

Why is nicotine so valuable as a treatment for schizophrenia?

Quite simply it affects our moods and concentration. Medical research has also shown that people with Schizophrenia smoke far more than the general population.

Schizophrenia sufferers are making up for deficits in the brain that affect concentration.

Several companies are engaged in research in this area.

The health benefits of nicotine being shown by medical research on the brain at present are showing that nicotine helps memory alertness and concentration as well giving feelings of pleasure.

Nicotine is already known to activate the receptors on the surface of cells in the brain, causing the release of dopamine, a chemical that gives feelings of pleasure.

The areas of the brain that are stimulated by nicotine influence our moods and this is why its so helpful in treating schizophrenia.

Nicotine stimulates the release of several neurotransmitters that include, Serotonin, Dopamine and Norepinephrine. Nicotine corrects imbalances in these areas and makes schizophrenia sufferers feel better and at the same time improves concentration, attention and memory.

Nicotine in its pure form is a naturally occurring compound, which is safe, and non-toxic and medical research is on to develop a drug that delivers pure nicotine without the health dangers of smoking.

The first product has already hit the market

Nicotine water which has been actively looked at by many companies and now products are being sold as dietary supplements.

Water is the safest way to deliver Nicotine. Originally devised for smokers when they don’t want to or cant smoke more people are buying it to help with schizophrenia, depression and a host of other illnesses.

Nicotine suffers from a bad reputation but as it is taken by more people such as those who suffer from schizophrenia, it looks set to receive a huge image boost and be seen as one of nature’s wonder drugs.

NEW ORGANIC NICOTINE DRINK

A new nicotine lemon flavored water is available which contains pure organic nicotine in a refereshing lemon flavored drink. Find out more at smokefreechoice.com smokefreechoice.com

Related posts

• What Are The Causes Of Diabetes (0)
• Take Care of Your Heart (0)
• Phentermine Helps When Other Drugs Give Up (0)
• Controversial Weight Loss (0)
• You Can Be Old But Your Heart Must Be Young (0)

Tags: diet, obesity, smoker, smoking

When you quit smoking it is almost certain you will encounter nicotine withdrawal urges. When a person quits smoking they deprive the body of the nicotine it has grown accustom too. Nicotine is considered one of the most additive substances on the Earth and it takes time to rid the body of its presence and effects. So if you are in the market to quit smoking, which you should if you are a smoker, you need to be aware that there will be obstacles and one of these obstacles is overcoming nicotine withdrawal urges.

Before you actually quit smoking you should have a plan on how to deal with many of the common nicotine withdrawal urges you will encounter. Some common nicotine withdrawal urges include:

Trouble sleeping Anxiety Difficulty concentrating Depression Irritability Cravings to smoke a cigarette Increase in appetite By knowing common nicotine withdrawal urges you may encounter you can develop a plan on how you are going to deal with the nicotine withdrawal symptoms. If you are concerned about not being able to overcome and cope there is still help. Nicotine cessation products such as; nicotine gum and patch can help you quit smoking by breaking the habit of smoking. Remember, you still will have to quit whichever product you choose and you will still need to overcome the nicotine withdrawal urges. Over time you can begin to wean yourself off the nicotine cessation product. Then you will be free of the drug completely.

If you are concerned about dealing with depression after you quit smoking there are prescription drugs such as Zyban or Wellbutrin that can help. These types of medications have also shown to be effective towards many of the other symptoms associated with nicotine withdrawals. Talk to your doctor for more information.

Nicotine withdrawal urges will come and go throughout the day. The longer you make it without smoking the less intense they will be. When you quit smoking you will begin to encounter urges to smoke as your body rids itself of the nicotine. Wait it out, the urge will pass. Find ways to distract yourself and try to relax. Change your daily routine if you possible and stock up on healthy food to munch on. Inform those close to you that you are quitting smoking so they understand why, at times, you start to act a bit touchy. Keep reminding yourself why it is important to you to quit smoking. You can quit and if you slip quit again.

Jason D is an ex-smoker and publisher of a

Related posts

• Nicotine’s Role In Quitting Smoking – Why It Is So Hard To Quit (0)
• Health Information: Stop Smoking And Save Your Life (0)
• The Hypnotic Effect of Advertising and News Reports on Smokers (0)
• Quitting Smoking May Be Difficult, But We Must, It’s A Major Risk Factor For Heart Disease (0)
• Quitting Smoking : Why Women’s Health May Benefit More (0)

Tags: anxiety, quit smoking, quitting smoking, sleep, smoker, smoking