Water

Water is critical for the human body to function properly. It makes up two-thirds of our body weight, and every cell and organ depends on it. Without water, a person would die within just a few days.

When we quit smoking, water eases several of the discomforts associated with nicotine withdrawal: Constipation Coughing Hunger/urge to eat Cravings to smokeWater also helps flush residual nicotine out of the body, and by keeping yourself well-hydrated, you'll feel better overall. That can only help as you make your way through the discomforts of nicotine withdrawal. Sources:

Water in Diet. 02 September 2005. Medline Plus.

Nurses Can Help Smokers Quit. January 1993. National Institutes of Health.

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Why Quit Smoking Young

Photo © Kerri R. When I was a smoker, I had every excuse in the book to continue to be one, but my favorite one to pull out of my hat was my youth. I would say, "My uncle Arthur smoked from the time he was 16 to the day he died at age 80. My aunt Del has been smoking since she was a teenager. Nothing is going to happen to me now, only during the BAD part of my life, the end part!"

So I continued to smoke. I LOVED to smoke. It was a huge part of my social life, my alone time, my escape. But being an active young person with a family, my limitations were becoming more and more painfully apparent. I couldn't chaperone field trips. I couldn't go to more than one store and bring my kids. I couldn't go to the movies. I couldn't race my kids down the street or even toss a Frisbee for any length of time. Not only that, my circle of friends didn't really smoke anymore, so I found myself either sneaking or just turning down evenings out for fear of being the "odd man out".

Then one day, my son heard me coming home from Happy Hour with my co-workers. I was greeted with,

"I knew you were home mom. I recognized your cough."

At 31, I had recognizable cough. A nagging and obvious cough is not a natural occurrence for a 31-year-old woman.

I did finally make the leap into freedom on January 8th, 2004. I started reading more and more into other people's stories, finding myself fixating on others who were my age. I found a library of them at whyquit.com. There is Noni, who died at 33, when her son was only months old. Her husband celebrated their child's first birthday without her. She was a victim of small cell lung cancer.

In her 30's????

Impossible.
It must have been a fluke, bad genes, just one of those things.
Unfortunately not.

Then there was the story about a 34 year old father who died of lung cancer, leaving his little boy without a father. A tough guy; a construction worker, who had smoked since he was 14, reduced to a mere shell of a man.

Yet another story is about a woman by the name of Barb Tarbox. Barb tells a tragic tale of smoking to fit in as a teenager, never thinking anything bad would happen, especially while she was young. Barb got lung cancer at 41 and was suddenly faced with having to cause enormous pain to her daughter, leaving her without a mother - watching her suffer while she died.

What drove me to write this was a chance meeting I had the other day with a 31 year old woman who shares the same name as me. Talk about spooky fate. Kery was just diagnosed with the early stages of emphysema. She HAS to quit if she is to have a chance at life. She is MY AGE! She has 3 children. Emphysema could suffocate her to death right in front of them. It's not cancer, it's another lung disease this time.

I have been one of the lucky ones. I don't know if I would have been one of the tragic stories above or if I would be blessed with a long life like my Uncle Arthur. What if I wasn't? Would I want to be the one to sit my young children down and explain to them that they were going to have to find their own way in the world because I was dying due to a poison I couldn't resist?

I quit smoking 18 months ago. I find the sheer freedom of it exhilarating. And because I quit young, I have the rest of my life to do WHATEVER I want, breathing with ease the whole time, without slavery, living my long life the way I CHOOSE, not chained to an addiction. I can run, I can swim, I can be as active or as inactive as I want. I gave myself ME back and I have my whole life to enjoy that feeling.

I still have to worry if I quit in time, but not nearly as much as I would worry if I waited another 10, 20, or 30 years to quit. The thing about this addiction is that it doesn't just lose its grip eventually. Quitting is a choice you HAVE to make. It will cling on even while you are dying of cancer. Bryan, as mentioned above, smoked up to 1 week before he died. He gave himself only one week of freedom.

We have the choice to make for ourselves. This is not a dress rehearsal, this is the only YOU you will ever get. Do you want to purposefully risk cutting it short or live a long life full of excitement, freedom and loved ones?

It CAN happen to you. You always think it's on the other side of the fence, but not this time. Cigarettes do not kill a specific group of people. No one is immune to the hazards of tobacco...not celebrities, the young or the old. Even non-smokers exposed to second hand smoke are at risk.

Love this life you've been given. Love yourself. Appreciate the fact that others love you and don't play Russian roulette with yourself.

~Kerri~

More from Kerri:
Kerri's Quit Story
5 Months and a Sock
Kerri's 6 Month Milestone
Kerri Reaches One Year Smoke Free
Kerri's 2 Year Smoke Free Milestone

Last Updated: 2-5-2006

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Zyban as a Quit Smoking Aid

Zyban® and Wellbutrin® are both brand names for the generic drug, bupropion hydrochloride. While bupropion is not for everyone, it does have the advantage of lessening the discomforts associated with nicotine withdrawal. This can make cessation much more manageable for those people who haven't been able to successfully quit smoking using other methods.

Originally marketed as an anti-depressant drug, bupropion is available by prescription only. Its effectiveness as a quit smoking aid was discovered when smokers using it to treat depression also lost interest in smoking. People not planning to quit smoking found themselves stopping with relative ease. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms usually associated with quitting smoking were minimal.

In 1997, the FDA approved Zyban to be used as a quit smoking aid, and since then, bupropion has become a popular method to help smokers kick the habit. Bupropion, when used in combination with other nicotine replacement therapies (NRT's), such as the nicotine patch or nicotine gum, increase the chances for long term success with smoking cessation. dry mouth dizziness insomnia change in appetite agitation headachesMore serious side effects, such as seizures, while rare, can occur.

Bupropion is not for everyone. Listed below are conditions under which taking this drug would not be recommended. You are taking Wellbutrin or Wellbutrin SR (both are bupropion HCl) You are taking any other medicine containing bupropion HCl You have or have had a seizure disorder You have or have had an eating disorder You are abruptly discontinuing use of alcohol or sedatives(including benzodiazepines) You are currently taking or have recently taken a monoamine oxidase inhibitor(MAOI) You are allergic to bupropion HCl You are pregnant or nursing.Note: It is important to have a thorough discussion with your doctor about using bupropion as a quit smoking aid. He/she will know your medical history and be able to help you make an informed decision about what is right for you.

Brand names for bupropion are: Zyban®
Wellbutrin®
Wellbutrin® SR
Wellbutrin® XLSee Also: Zyban Patient Information

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Will I Miss Smoking Forever?

I quit smoking seven months ago. I do feel better, and I don't struggle all of the time now, but I still have days when I find myself missing my cigarettes. I sometimes wish I could have just one now and then. At times, the urge to smoke is so intense. I wonder if I'll ever be free of this habit? Will I miss smoking forever?Answer: Think for a moment of your life as a tightly woven piece of fabric. Each thread represents your life events and experiences. And running alongside all of the many "life" threads are threads of a finer gauge. They are so fine in fact, they're impossible to see with the naked eye. Those threads are your smoking habit, and they've become so thoroughly interwoven in the fabric of your life, you find you can't do anything without thinking about how smoking will fit into it.

The associations that we build up over time between the activities in our lives and smoking are closely knit. Once you quit smoking, your job becomes one of unraveling those smoking threads, or associations, one by one. How does that happen? And how long does it take?

Recovery from nicotine addiction is a process of gradual release over time.

Every smoke-free day you complete is teaching you how to live your life without cigarettes. Bit by bit, you're reprogramming your responses to the daily events that trigger the urge to smoke. The more practice you get, the less cravings will plague you. Over the course of your first smoke-free year, you'll encounter and have a chance to clear most of the events and situations in your daily life that you associate with smoking.

Some smoking triggers are seasonal in nature and can create strong urges to smoke months into your quit program. For instance, if you quit smoking during the winter and you're an avid gardener, you could find yourself craving a smoke break the first time you're out digging dirt the following Spring. Thoughts of smoking may hit you with an intensity you haven't felt in months. Don't worry. Once you make your way through the trigger smoke-free, you'll move on with ease.

The first year is all about firsts...experiencing the many daily events in your life smoke free for the first time. And it's all about practice. You built your smoking habit through years of practice. Now, build the nonsmoking you the same way. Practice is a necessary part of recovery from nicotine addiction, so try to relax and let time help you. The more of it you put between yourself and that last cigarette you smoked, the stronger you'll become.

There's another step in finding permanent freedom from nicotine addiction that is just as important as practice and time. It involves your attitude. I'm sure you've heard about people who still struggle years and years after quitting. They're the ones who say they "still miss smoking" 20 years down the road. That's a frightening thing to hear, but don't let it throw you. The reason they are in that position has to do with the fact that they never did the work to change what cigarettes meant to them.

Along with using patience and time to help you reprogram your associations with smoking, you must also alter the way you think about your cigarettes. The path to permanent freedom has to do with changing the relationship you have to smoking, and the way to make that mental shift is through education.

As the saying goes...

...and it's the truth when it comes to recovering from nicotine addiction. Educate yourself by reading everything you can find about how tobacco harms us from head to toe. It will open your eyes, but more importantly, it will help you start to change the meaning that cigarettes have for you. Once you do that, the mental chains of this addiction will begin to break down for good. You'll truly be free, and believe me, it's a great place to be.

I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever - I will never smoke again. How can I be so sure? I've changed what cigarettes mean to me. Tobacco is now synonymous with death and slavery in my mind. Smoking has lost its luster completely.

Be patient with yourself and allow for as much time as you need to heal from this addiction. There is no set formula for recovery; we're all unique in how we move through the process. Read about nicotine addiction and do the work to change the way you perceive cigarettes. They are instruments of death. They deserve nothing more than your disdain.

Don't look at quitting tobacco as a sacrifice. You're not giving up anything of value. Your quit program is a gift. Change your attitude and you'll find your freedom.

Cessation is doable, and your precious life is worth the work it takes to achieve.

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10 Tips to Quit Smoking

Leo, a member of the About.com Smoking Cessation forum, wrote these tips up to share with the readers from his excellent blog, Zenhabits. Geared toward helping people help themselves, Leo's site does a fine job of inspiring a person to try, and the quit tips below reflect his ability to motivate. Thanks for sharing, Leo.

I recently celebrated my 2-year anniversary of quitting smoking. Well, of finally quitting. Like most smokers, I had tried to quit smoking many times and failed. But this quit attempt stuck, and I'd like to share the top 10 things that made this quit successful when the others failed.

Looking back on the quits that failed, I know I was only half into it. I told myself I wanted to quit smoking, but I always felt in the back of my mind that I'd fail. I didn't write anything down. I didn't tell everybody (maybe my wife, but just her). This time, I wrote it down. I wrote down a quit plan. I blogged about it. I made a vow to my daughter. I told family and friends I was quitting. I went online and joined a smoking cessation support forum. I had rewards. Many of these will be in the following tips, but the point is that I fully committed, and there was no turning back. I didn't make it easy for myself to fail. You can't just up and say, "I'm gonna quit today." You have to prepare yourself: Plan it out. Have a system of rewards, a support system, a person to call if you're in trouble. Write down what you'll do when you get an urge to smoke. Print it out. Post it up on your wall, at home and at work. If you wait until you get the urge to figure out what you're going to do, you've already lost. You have to be ready when those urges come. When the urge comes, your mind will rationalize. "What's the harm?" And you'll forget why you're doing this. Know why you're doing this before that urge comes. Is it for your kids? For your wife? For you health? So you can run? Because the girl you like doesn't like smokers? Have a very good reason or reasons for quitting. List them out. Print them out. Put it on a wall, and remind yourself of those reasons every time the urge to smoke hits. The mind is a tricky thing. It will tell you that one cigarette won't hurt, and it's hard to argue with that logic, especially when you're in the middle of an urge. And those urges are super hard to argue with. Don't give in. Tell yourself, before the urges come, that you will not smoke a single puff, ever again. Because the truth is, one puff will hurt. One puff leads to a second, and a third, and soon you're not quitting, you're smoking. Don't fool yourself. A single puff will almost always lead to a recession. Do not take a single puff! One of the things that helped the most in this quit was an online forum for people quitting tobacco. You won't feel so alone when you're miserable. Misery loves company, after all. Go online, introduce yourself, get to know others who are going through the exact same thing, post about your crappy experience and read about others who are even worse than you. Best rule: Post before you smoke. If you set this rule and stick to it, you will make it through your smoking urge. Others will talk you through it, and they'll celebrate with you when you make it through your first day, day two, three, four, week one and beyond. It's great fun.

Page 2: Leo's Quit Tips 6 to 10

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101 Ways to Avoid Smoking

61. Make a puzzle.
62. Organize your boxes of pictures.
63. Alphabetize your CD rack.
64. Come here and read and post.
65. Go to miniclip.com and PLAY GAMES.
66. Do your nails. Hard to smoke with wet nails. I've tried.
67. Take a shower.
68. Take a candle-lit bath.
69. Clean out a messy drawer.
70. Take a day trip.
71. Try making home-made candles or soap.
72. Run in place.
73. Do some jumping jacks.
74. Start a reward fund - put away the amount you spend on smokes every day and use it to treat yourself once in awhile.
75. Write a poem.
76. Go antique shopping.
77. Go plant a flower for every negative thought.
78. Go to church/talk to God.
79. Let your husband cook supper for you.
80. Call your Grandmother!
81. Paint a room.
82. Eat a hot fudge sundae.
83. Go play mini-golf.
84. Clean the basement or garage.
85. Wax the car.
86. Make love with your significant other.
87. Scrub the floor.
88. Treat yourself to a massage.
89. Chop up some veggies for a stir-fry - keep your hands busy!
90. Clean out the litter box.
91. Check your car's tire pressure.
92. Call a radio show and request a song.
93. Go ride a few rollercoasters.
94. Take a walk in nature.
95. Watch the sun set.
96. Write a goodbye letter to cigarettes
97. Donate blood.
98. Color your hair.
99. Make a greeting card.
100. Write a list of things you are grateful for.

The final suggestion in our list comes in the form of a story...

101. Run around in the sand in your socks!

From KERRIR: One of the things I couldn't do before was take the kids to the beach. I couldn't go long enough without smoking and there's nowhere to hide either!

My 3 year old asked me today if we could go to the beach...someone at his daycare had mentioned it. It was a really cold day, so I said no, we couldn't. Well, he asked me if it was really far and it dawned on me how much I had actually been depriving this child. We live 2 miles away from 2 miles of beautiful beaches. So, I scooped him up in just his jammies and socks and down to the beach we went.

I told him we couldn't get out of the car because he wasn't dress, but then said, what the heck. We got out and cuddled and listened to the waves and he just looked at me and said, "The beach is great, Mom." I put him down in the sand and let him run around in his socks.

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Cancer Treatments Side Effects

Side effects from lung cancer treatments vary from person to person, and are often temporary. The doctors and nurses can explain possible side effects of a particular treatment plan, and ways to alleviate discomfort during and after treatment. Lung cancer surgery is a major operation. Air and fluid tend to collect in the chest after surgery, so it is important to do things such as coughing, turning over, and breathing deeply to help remove the excess air/fluid. Soreness in the chest and arm and shortness of breath are common side effects of lung surgery. It takes weeks or even months to regain strength and energy after this procedure.

Lung Cancer Surgery Recovery from A.D.A.M.

Chemotherapy side effects depend on the types of drugs used and how much was given. Chemotherapy affects normal cells as well as cancerous cells. Common side effects include: nausea and vomiting hair loss mouth sores fatigueMore on Chemotherapy Side Effects Like chemotherapy, radiation therapy also affects normal cells. Side effects depend on what part of the body is being treated, and how strong the dose is. Side effects may include: nausea and vomiting hair loss difficulty swallowing dry, sore throat fatigue skin changes at the site of the treatment loss of appetitePatients receiving radiation treatments to the brain may experience: headaches skin changes nausea and vomiting fatigue hair loss problems with thought and memory processesManaging the Effects of Radiation Therapy Photodynamic therapy makes the person's eyes and skin very sensitive to light for 6 weeks or more after treatment ends. It is recommended that these people not go outside if possible, and to avoid bright indoor light as well. If they must go out, protective clothing and sunglasses are a must. Other side effects of this treatment may include: coughing difficulty swallowing painful breathing, or shortness of breath.
If swelling, redness, or blistering appears on the skin, people should consult with their doctors as to how to treat it.

Information for this article obtained from NCI, which is a division of The National Institutes of Health (NIH).

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Avoid Holiday Smoking

I quit smoking a month ago. I'll be going to a couple of holiday parties this month where there will be alcohol and I'm scared to death that I'll smoke when I drink. Smoking and drinking go hand-in-hand for me. What can I do to make sure I don't end up smoking at the parties I attend this year?Answer: You're smart to be concerned. Alcohol lowers inhibitions, and that's not a good thing for a person who is working to quit smoking. While under the influence of alcohol, it's common to think that smoking just one or just for tonight is okay and that we can resume our quit programs tomorrow...

Such has been the ruin of many a good quit.

There is no such thing as "just one" cigarette when it comes to nicotine addiction.

Look ahead at what you may be faced with when attending holiday events this year and plan a strategy to manage them smoke-free. Preparation fortifies resolve and will allow you to meet the challenges that come with confidence.

The obvious first choice is simple: Avoid alcohol entirely. Drink cranberry juice with seltzer water or another non-alcoholic beverage of choice. No one but you and the bartender will know the difference. If you do drink alcohol, be careful. Limit the amount of alcohol you consume and don't overdo it. Substitute every other drink with a glass of spring water and lemon. It will dilute the alcohol you've consumed, keep you hydrated, and will give you something to sip on while socializing. If people are smoking close by and it begins to bother you, have a plan of action in mind. Can you explain that you've recently quit smoking and ask them to refrain? If not, excuse yourself for a few minutes and go to the bathroom or step outside for some fresh air. When cravings to smoke hit, the key is to quickly change your focus. Interrupt your thoughts and you'll snap yourself out of junkie thinking. If you're worried about maintaining your quit program at the holiday party this year, consider simply not going. No, I'm not advocating avoiding life, I'm encouraging you to remember your priorities. Think of it this way...early on, smoking cessation takes a lot of effort and focus for most people. In order to succeed, your quit program must be in the top slot of your priority list for as long as it takes.

If you fear the temptation to drink will be more than you can handle, don't push yourself. There will be more parties next year. Give yourself the time you need to heal from this addiction. Do the work now to change your relationship to smoking, and the day will come when drinking alcohol no longer triggers the urge to smoke.

Quitting smoking is not a sacrifice, it's a gift. You're moving toward a better life, one that is free of addiction and all of the strife that goes with it. Smoking cessation is your path to a healthier and happier you, and the benefits awaiting you are beyond what you can imagine. Alcohol and early smoking cessation are not a good mix. It's important to maintain control of our senses when we're learning how to live a smoke-free life, and alcohol puts us at risk.

Provide yourself with the best possible environment for success that you can as you move through the holiday season. Keep your quit progam in focus and do whatever you need to do to protect and nurture it. Period!

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Carcinogen

Definition:

A carcinogen is defined as any substance that can cause or aggravate cancer.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer assigns carcinogens a rating by grouping them into one the following five standard classifications: Group 1: The agent is carcinogenic to humans.Group 2A: The agent is probably carcinogenic to humans.Group 2B: The agent is possibly carcinogenic to humans.Group 3: The agent is not classifiable as to its carcinogenicity to humans.Group 4: The agent is probably not carcinogenic to humans.See also: Cancer

Sources:

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Are Cigars Addictive?

I've never smoked cigarettes, but I do smoke the occasional cigar. Is it possible to become addicted to cigars when I smoke so infrequently?Answer: Yes, it's possible to become addicted to cigars, even if you are an occasional smoker. The addictive ingredient in any tobacco product is nicotine, and cigars pack a punch when it comes to quantity of both tobacco and nicotine.

A typical cigarette contains about a gram of tobacco and approximately one to two milligrams of nicotine. It takes 5 to 10 minutes to smoke a cigarette. In contrast, a cigar can contain anywhere from 5 to 17 grams of tobacco and widely varying amounts of nicotine - usually between 160 and 200 milligrams. Some premium cigars may have as many as 400 milligrams of nicotine in them. A cigar burns slowly and takes 2 hours or more to smoke.

Cigarettes and cigars differ primarily in how people use them. Cigarette smoke is inhaled into the lungs, and absorption of nicotine quickly follows. Cigar smoke is not usually inhaled because it is more harsh, but it's important to note that nicotine is still absorbed through the lining of the mouth in quantities sufficient to produce dependence. Also, cigarette smokers who smoke cigars are more likely to inhale the smoke from their cigars as well.

See Also:
The Dangers of Cigar Smoking
6 Fast Facts about Cigar Smoking

Source:
Questions and Answers about Cigar Smoking National Cancer Institute

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Carbon Monoxide

Photo © Stockxpert Carbon monoxide (CO) is a poisonous, colorless and odorless gas that is produced as a result of incomplete burning of carbon-containing fuels. Cigarette smoke can contain high levels of CO.When inhaled, CO quickly binds with hemoglobin in red blood cells in the lungs, creating COHb. This can affect the amount of hemoglobin available for the transport of oxygen throughout the body, which may in turn lead to symptoms of CO poisoning.Breathing low levels of CO can cause: fatigue increased chest pain in people with chronic heart diseaseIn otherwise healthy people, inhaling higher levels of carbon monoxide may cause flu-like symptoms (with no fever) such as: headaches dizziness weakness sleepiness nausea vomiting confusion disorientationAt very high levels, exposure to carbon monoxide will cause loss of consciousness and death.

Symptoms of Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

Cigarette smoke can contain high levels of carbon monoxide, and smokers generally have COHb levels in the blood that are many times greater than those who do not smoke. Because secondhand smoke may also contain high levels of CO, nonsmokers who breathe in ETS have increased levels of CO in their blood as well.Secondhand smoke is a toxic cocktail of over 4,000 chemical compounds, 200 of which are known to be poisonous and upwards of 60 that have been identified as carcinogens. if(zSbL

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Chantix as a Quit Smoking Aid

Varenicline tartrate was discovered and developed by Pfizer, Inc. specifically to help people quit smoking. Marketed as Chantix™, this prescription medicine works on two levels. First, Chantix partially activates sites in the brain known as nicotinic acetylcholine receptors that are affected by nicotine. This gives the person quitting mild nicotine-like effects and eases symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Second, Chantix has the unique ability to neutralize the effects of nicotine if a person smokes while using this drug. Let's take a closer look. Nicotine provides its user with an almost immediate "kick" of euphoria that is the result rapidly changing brain chemistry beginning within 7 seconds of the first puff on a cigarette. Nicotine attaches to nicotinic receptors which affect functions such as breathing and heart rate. That process in turn triggers the release of dopamine, the neurotransmitter thought to be responsible for reinforcing the pleasure/reward associations people have with smoking. The nicotine molecule is very similar in shape to the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which affects many bodily functions, including breathing, heart rate, learning and memory. Acetylcholine also affects other neurotransmitters that have influence over appetite, mood, and memory. In the brain, nicotine binds with nerve cell receptor sites in places where acetylcholine would, creating the same effects. Chantix works by partially activating a specific type of nicotinic receptor called alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptors. The effect of this on the user is similar to a low to medium dose of nicotine. In this way, Chantix helps to relieve symptoms of nicotine withdrawal that people experience when they quit smoking. Nicotine activates the same reward system as do other drugs of abuse such as cocaine or amphetamine, although to a lesser degree. Research has shown that nicotine increases the level of the neurotransmitter dopamine, a chemical in the brain responsible for feelings of pleasure and well-being. The acute effects of nicotine wear off within minutes, so people continue dosing themselves frequently throughout the day to maintain the pleasurable effects of nicotine and to prevent withdrawal symptoms. Once in place, Chantix blocks nicotine from activating alpha4beta2 nicotinic receptors, which in turn prevents dopamine stimulation in the brain. This gives the person quitting a critical advantage. Should he/she decide to smoke while using this drug, there is no nicotine "feel good" rush, and the smoking experience is flat; dull. Smoking then becomes unfulfilling, and quitting hopefully, easier to accomplish. Six clinical trials involving 3659 chronic cigarette smokers were used as a basis for the effectiveness of Chantix as a therapy for smoking cessation.

Five of the trials were randomized, placebo-controlled studies, and showed that Chantix was more effective than a placebo to help people quit smoking. In two of the five trials, people using Chantix therapy (22 percent) were more successful at quitting smoking than those using Zyban (bupropion hydrochloride) (16 percent) as a quit smoking aid. For those taking a placebo, abstinence at the one year mark was approximately 8 percent.

While a 22 percent success rate may not seem like great odds, keep in mind the sheer number of people who are addicted to nicotine and dying because of it today. Globally, smoking-related disease causes 4 million deaths every year. Put another way, tobacco claims a human life every 8 seconds somewhere in the world. A drug that has the potential to help 22 out of every 100 people using it quit smoking is impressive indeed.

We are fortunate to live in a time when advances in medicine offer smokers more choices than ever before to quit smoking successfully. Nicotine addiction kills, plain and simple, and drugs like Chantix give hope to those who might not have been able to quit smoking otherwise.

Sources:

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Health Effects of Smoking

Smokers have a harder time healing from surgeries, and have more overall health issues than do nonsmokers. This results in more time away from work, and more doctor and hospital visits. Smoking compromises a person's health in so many ways. Smokers are more likely to be absent from work than nonsmokers, and their illnesses last longer. Smokers tend to incur more medical costs, to see physicians more often in the outpatient setting, and to be admitted to the hospital more often and for longer periods than nonsmokers. Smokers have a lower survival rate after surgery compared to that of nonsmokers because of damage to the body's host defenses, delayed wound healing, and reduced immune response. Smokers are at greater risk for complications following surgery, including wound infections, postoperative pneumonia, and other respiratory complications. Periodontitis is a serious gum disease that can result in the loss of teeth and bone loss. Smoking is causally related to periodontitis. This may be because smoking affects the body's ability to fight infection and repair tissue. Peptic ulcers, which are located in the digestive tract (stomach and duodenum), usually occur in people with an infection caused by the Helicobacter pylori bacterium. Among persons with this infection, smokers are more likely to develop peptic ulcers than nonsmokers. In severe cases, peptic ulcers can lead to death. Although only a small number of studies have looked at the relationship between smoking and erectile dysfunction, their findings suggest that smoking may be associated with an increased risk for this condition. More studies are needed, however, before researchers can conclude that smoking is causally related to erectile dysfunction.U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. if(zSbL

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Gaylene's Quit Story

My story starts 36 years ago. Still to this day, I have trouble believing I became a smoker. Both of my parents smoked. I hated that, and was continually waving away the smoke, hiding their cigarettes, and complaining. Finally, when I was in college, my roommate and I decided we'd add smoking to our weight loss plan. We'd eat a very small amount, then choke down a cigarette or two. It certainly did cut down on our eating...UNTIL we became used to smoking, and didn't get sick every time we lit up! Before we knew it, both of us NEEDED to smoke. We were addicts.

I managed to keep my habit a secret (or so I thought) from my family for a year or so. Finally, Mom told me that Dad was pretty sure I was smoking because there were always dirty ashtrays in my house. The final unrobing of my "secret" was the day Grandpa arrived at my home bearing a small gift. It was the cutest little boot shaped cigarette lighter! How do you suppose he knew I smoked!!??

The next thing I knew, I was married and had two sons. I'm ashamed to say they went through the exact same suffering from my smoking that I went through with my parents. I braved their anti-smoking assaults just like Mom and Dad had braved mine.

Then came a grandchild who hated smoking. One thing that proved the power of addiction was both my husband's and my disregard for our (at the time) four year-old grandson's fears. One day out of the blue, he said, "I don't want Grandpa to die." When asked why he was worrying about this, his answer was, "He smokes cigarettes." I get tears every time I think about not giving up our "enjoyment" and letting this little boy's mind be at rest.

I had been smoking for about twenty-four years when I started developing a cough. This cough started out as occasional and progressed to very often. Not wanting to admit that maybe the cause of the cough could be smoking, I decided I must have allergies to the chemicals I use every day while working in my hair salon. This led me to purchase all kinds of cough syrups, over the counter allergy meds, and throat lozenges. I bought machines to clean the air and stopped using aerosol sprays. Funny thing, the cough didn't go away or even diminish.

I started getting slightly short of breath, then progressed to VERY short of breath. I could no longer climb mountains, water ski, or play sports with my boys. I used to walk for miles daily. My boundless energy was gone. At night I would lie in bed and feel my heart pounding while my chest ached. I began to suspect COPD. Denial made me hope that I had something wrong with my heart. I felt something could be done to help me if I had heart troubles. COPD sounded too scary, too final. I went to a heart clinic to get checked out. After a treadmill test, ultra sounds, etc., it was determined that my heart was fine. This left me no choice but to admit I had a serious lung problem.

Gaylene learns she has emphysema

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Emphysema as a Lifestyle

TANGLES

The tubing (which looks like aquarium air line) can become kinked and tangled after a day of going back and forth and can actually become kinked to the point of nearly shutting off your air. Where you were at 2 liters before, you are now down to below one. Now you'll need to find the kink and un-kink it. As you do, you'll see the level on your concentrator return to 2. You'll need to check your concentrator as you go by to be sure you are getting the air you need. The concentrator machine is a bit noisy, so you might want to keep it away from your living room and sleeping areas.

When sleeping, you never know if you are going to wake up with your nose hose still in your nose, or if it's to be found atop your head where you pushed it in the night while asleep, or it may be lost on the floor. Aghast, you wonder if you got enough oxygen during the night. You must also remember to take your medicine, including any inhaler prescriptions nightly.

THE PET THING

If you have dogs or other pets at home, they will react to it in different ways. One of mine hates the hose and avoids it like the plague. It's taken him a year to even accept it. The other seems to think it links us together like Siamese twins, and she sits or lays on it every chance she gets. She's responsible for some of my ear tugs, let me tell you! Cats, as you know, love to chase moving "strings". Keep her nails trimmed.

OXYGEN LEVELS

Power failures are worse for you than your computer dying from power failure. If the power goes off, you need to plug into your bottle oxygen, which only lasts a short time, so it's a good idea to have at least 4 filled bottles around continuously. Vacations are planned around your oxygen provider's nationwide or worldwide reach and availability of oxygen wherever you go and when you need it. Trips into town or to the grocery store have to be planned by how much oxygen is in the tank you are taking with you. If it's not enough, you will have to change the tank, removing the regulator and putting it on a full tank before going shopping.

STARING MATCHES

Once outside either with your large tank with the wheels, or with the portable unit, you cannot elude the stares of both children and adults. The worst are the smokers whose minds you can just about read by the way they look at you in horror. "I wonder if that could possibly happen to me? Nahhhh! I'm not old enough yet!" they think. Well, I used to think the very same way! When you have an oxygen tank, you no longer have an "invisible" disease. It is all too visible to the whole world. And it becomes scary. Almost all emphysema is cause by smoking, did you know that?

PREVENTABLE, BUT NON-REVERSIBLE

Emphysema is not a reversible disease because of the manner in which the lung is damaged. You lose more and more elasticity within the lungs as time goes on, and it becomes harder to breathe. You can avoid getting emphysema by quitting smoking just as soon as possible. "Now" would be best. The other option is to never start smoking. Believe me, smoking is not worth going through this in any way, and I wish I had never started smoking as a teen. Guess I should have listened to my Dad, right?

GRATITUDE

The good thing about having this oxygen 24/7 is that my gratitude has grown because my life has been extended for a time by having oxygen to help my body operate as well as it can. Without it, who knows how short the time would be. I hope that my life will be extended long enough for a miracle to happen; medical or otherwise. Truly, I pray a smoking-related disease NEVER ever happens to you.

Christine Rowley

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Nicotine Inhaler Facts

The Nicotrol nicotine inhaler is a NRT that consists of a plastic cigarette-like tube that houses a replaceable nicotine cartridge and a mouthpiece. The cartridge contains 10mg of nicotine.

When one draws on the mouthpiece end of the nicotine inhaler over the course of about 20 minutes / 80 puffs, 4mg of nicotine is released and 2mg is absorbed through the membranes in the mouth and throat. Less than 5 percent of the inhaled nicotine reaches the respiratory tract. This can be repeated every 1-2 hours.

One Nicotrol cartridge delivers about the same amount of nicotine to the user as one cigarette.

Pros:

The nicotine inhaler reduces symptoms of nicotine withdrawal by allowing ex-smokers to quit using nicotine gradually.

Cons:

The nicotine inhaler reinforces smoking behavior.
When we quit smoking, it is counter-productive to use a NRT that mimics the cigarettes we are working so hard to break free of, both in looks and in how it is used.

Risk of re-addiction.
Because the nicotine inhaler is used on an as-needed basis, the potential to abuse this quit aid is significant. As mentioned above, it is critical to use this nicotine-based product exactly as prescribed, weaning off of it in the amount of time suggested.

The nicotine inhaler is a solid tool that can help you quit smoking, but remember that it is a quit aid, not a miracle worker. The magic for success with smoking cessation lies within you, not a product.

Work on developing the resolve to quit smoking one simple day at a time and be patient.

Time, determination and support will help you win this race. Believe that, believe in yourself and be willing to do the work it takes to quit for as long as it takes. You'll find that you can quit smoking, just as others have.

Sources:

National Institutes of Health. Nicotine Oral Inhalation. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a606021.html Accessed August 2010.

Smokefree.gov. Nicotine Inhaler Fact Sheet. http://www.smokefree.gov/mg-nicotine_inhaler.aspx Accessed August 2010.

Pfizer - Pharmacia & Upjohn Co. Nicotrol® Inhaler. http://media.pfizer.com/files/products/uspi_nicotrol_inhaler.pdf Accessed August 2010.

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One Week Smoke Free

I have made it one whole week without smoking and I am weak with disbelief. Although I feel a bit shaky at night lately, I've awoken with this new promise of a new day, and no cough! And sweeter breath! I hit a note singing along to the radio that I have not been able to reach in a long, long time. I am coughing, but not as much as I thought I would.

This morning was rough, however. I really wanted a smoke. I have a few left in a pack on top of the fridge. My friend Geo had wanted me to throw them out (he has been instrumental in this process, and quit smoking a month before me), but the thought of that was too much to bear.

I walked to the fridge and raised my eyes to the top of the very place I'd been avoiding for one week. The nico-lair. Where they lay nestled in their packet, seemingly harmless. Sure enough, there they were. All perfectly white and compact, standing at attention in their wee box, looking at once both stoic and vulnerable. They'd helped me through so much, I thought. They had enveloped me and hid me from all of the scary moments of life. Moments like meeting new people, helping me to looking defiant and cool when in reality I felt self-conscious and shy. The veritable smoke screen, the wall of toxicity that put an effective screen between myself and the world. I didn't realize how much of a screen it was putting between me and myself.

So there they were. We'd been through a lot together. I shakily held the pack and wondered if I really felt like I could smoke. One of the things I had thought I missed were the accessories to smoking. The gold cases of yore, the cigarette holders I remember my Aunt Olive (who looked like Joan Crawford) toting, as her ruby red lips blew the smoke lazily into the lamplight. I was conveniently forgetting her death at 51 from a smoking-related illness, I was too lost in my illusive fantasy. There were so many cool lighters out, too! Flourescent ones that lit up, silver ones with etchings, pigs whose nostrils spewed flames, gorgeous seascapes, sports themes, psychedelic colors. All designed by their beauty to make us inhale the most toxic and dangerous substance legally available to mankind.

Hmmm. I pulled one out and sniffed it. A mixture of desire and disgust. It had held me captive for so many years, forcing me outside in freezing temperatures, while those healthier stayed warmly indoors and looked on me with sympathy, and some with empathy. It had made me panic as snowstorms came for fear of having to go out and by more in the cold. I had lit my cigarettes on stove burners when I had run out of lighter fluid - leaving circlets of burnt ash on the elements. I had tried cigarettes all over the world, Turkish cigarettes, English and French, cigarettes in Australia, Italy and Spain. We had been around the world together.

I remember one incident in London when I was on a date. My date had a gas stove in his apartment. I needed a light and could not find any matches. I bent over in what I thought was a very sexy pose to light my ciggy on his burner...a second later there was this WHOOOSH and I felt heat on my face. My eyelashes felt stubby and I noticed blackened stringy things like webs were floating around my personage. My nostrils filled with the acrid scent and I realized then that I'd gotten a tad too close! I raced to the mirror to check how much hair had been burnt! Whew! Not much, thank goodness. My date was alas, in hysterics on the floor. So much for the vamp in me.

And now, I was back in my kitchen staring at my travel buddies. I brought one gently to my lips and I spoke to it. 'You suck!' , I said, 'I mean seriously...thanks for the memories, but you are really making me ill. You have to go now, because I want to live a long and healthy life. I am really tired of feeling ill, dizzy, embarrassed and fatigued. So, see ya!'...and then I crushed it. Then I took them all out, ripped them to shreds, placed them in the garbage, and poured water over the broken bits.

Who needs friends that try to kill you? They have deluded me for far too long, it is the addiction that makes me think their blue smoke is soothing, it is only relieving the craving, it does not, and has not ever calmed me down. It has only been a week, and already my heart beat slows instead of the racy, jerkiness I'd experienced in the evenings. Goodbye, friend.

More from Leslie:
The Seduction
The Smokescreen
Replacement Therapy
Not One Puff Ever (N.O.P.E.) - Part One
Not One Puff Ever (N.O.P.E.) - Part Two

View the original article here

How to Avoid a Smoking Relapse

"Quitting isn't so hard. I think I've got this thing licked and can handle smoking just one cigarette tonight. I'll get right back to my quit program tomorrow."

Otherwise known as romancing the cigarette, or junkie thinking, this kind of thought pattern gets us into hot water fast. Time away from smoking can blur the edges of the reasons we had for putting those cigarettes down in the first place. We forget the chronic cough and lose touch with the racing heart and breathlessness that came from climbing a flight of stairs.

As we gather a head of steam and start logging smoke-free time, it's easy to fall into thinking that we have control over our addiction. Make no mistake about it, though; as nicotine addicts, we will always be susceptible to dependence once again if we introduce nicotine back into our systems. The only way to maintain control for the long haul is to have a zero tolerance policy with nicotine. Remember that there is no such thing as just one cigarette, and adopt N.O.P.E. as your motto.

More:

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Hydrogen Cyanide

Cigarettes can contain up to 599 possible additives, all of which are approved for use by the U.S. government.

When the ingredients in cigarettes are burned, they produce a whole host of chemical compounds, many of which are poisonous and/or carcinogenic. Hydrogen cyanide, a colorless, poisonous gas, is one of the toxic byproducts present in cigarette smoke.

Under the name of Zyklon B, hydrogen cyanide was used as a genocidal agent during World War II. While no one would willingly breathe hydrogen cyanide into their lungs, smokers do it multiple times with every cigarette they inhale. And because hydrogen cyanide is present in secondhand smoke, nonsmokers are also at risk of breathing in this poison when they are exposed to cigarette smoke. Smoking cigarettes is probably a major source of cyanide exposure for people who do not work in cyanide-related industries.

In manufacturing, cyanide is present in the chemicals used to make numerous products such as paper, textiles and plastics. In gaseous form, cyanide is used in pesticides to exterminate rats and other undesirable vermin.

While it is unlikely that a person would suffer cyanide poisoning from cigarette smoke, breathing in small amounts of hydrogen cyanide may cause: headache dizziness weakness nausea vomitingLarger amounts may cause: gasping irregular heartbeats seizures fainting rapid deathGenerally, the more serious the exposure, the more severe the symptoms. Similar symptoms may be produced when solutions of cyanide are ingested or come in contact with the skin.

Treatment for hydrogen cyanide poisoning includes breathing pure oxygen, and in the case of serious symptoms, treatment with specific cyanide antidotes. Persons with serious symptoms will need to be hospitalized.

See Also: Pesticides in Cigarette Smoke

Source:

Facts About Cyanide. 27 January, 2004. Centers for Disease Control.

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Smoking and DDD

Ex-smoker Michelle Boisvert suffers from degenerative disc disease (DDD). Diagnosed at the age of 33, she has since learned that cigarette smoking is a leading risk factor for degenerative disc disease.

From Michelle:

As someone who is very grateful to have found freedom from nicotine addiction and as someone who suffers from a smoking-related illness, I have been prompted to research and offer my findings about the relationship between smoking and degenerative disc disease.

I was diagnosed with severe DDD in 1998 when I was 33 years old and still a smoker. My orthopedic surgeon discovered the DDD while he was performing surgery after I ruptured a disc in my lower back. Discs are the pliable “cushions” found between the vertebrae, which serve as shock absorbers for the bones in the neck and back.

The term “degenerative disc disease” has met with criticism by some because all discs do degenerate naturally over time. It is a normal part of the aging process, but in some younger adults the discs degenerate more quickly than in others, causing the discs to lose fluid, become less pliable and less able to protect and support the vertebrae. The result can be chronic and debilitating pain.

Although genetic predisposition is the #1 risk factor, a growing number of studies indicate that smoking is a leading risk factor for DDD, both in the lumbar discs (lower back) and cervical discs (neck). Research suggests that smokers have a 3-4 times higher risk of developing DDD and that smoking can exacerbate pre-existing disc degeneration.

Nicotine deprives disc cells of vital nutrients. In addition to nicotine, smokers introduce carbon monoxide into the blood stream and from there into body tissues. These poisons inhibit the discs’ ability to absorb the nutrients they need from the blood. The result can be prematurely dehydrated, less pliable discs – degenerated discs.

As the discs become more and more malnourished, there is a greater risk of a ruptured disc. This occurs when the disc contents break through the outer layer of the disc, often impinging on nerves and causing great pain, numbness, and in some cases nerve damage in the legs or arms. These same poisons also interfere with the absorption of calcium, leading to a compromised vertebral structure.

Coughing, which is more prevalent among smokers, can also add to the risk. Coughing causes increased pressure between discs. This puts added strain on the spine and discs, creating greater risk of disc bulges and ruptures, especially in a spine already weakened because of smoking-related toxins.

Inactivity, which is also frequently associated with the smoker’s lifestyle, can result in a higher frequency of back pain in general, and unfortunately pain associated with DDD can make an active lifestyle more difficult to enjoy.

Treatment for DDD and disc ruptures range from doing nothing to major surgery, including spinal fusion. This surgical procedure involves removing disc material and fusing the vertebrae together with bone grafts and sometimes metal plates, rods and screws.

Anyone who is still smoking by the time this surgery is required is strongly advised to quit smoking prior to surgery. Many surgeons will not perform the surgery until the patient has been smoke-free for several months. Smoking impedes new bone growth, which is instrumental in the success of spinal fusion. Researchers have determined that nicotine is a bone toxin and as a result, the failure rate for many types of fusions can be 3-4 times higher for smokers.

More research is being done to study the relationship between smoking and DDD, but there is ample evidence already to suggest that quitting smoking now may reduce the risk of developing or exacerbating DDD.

To those who might be contemplating quitting and wondering if you have another 10, 20, or 30 years to smoke before you do any real or lasting damage, please think again and don’t take the gamble. It’s so risky, and I urge you to think about what you’re putting on the line. For every warning actually listed on a pack of cigarettes there are many more illnesses, diseases, and complications that smoking can cause. Quit now, and at least know that from this day forward you are doing all you can to protect your health and well-being.

Please take advantage of the wealth of knowledge to be found at the About.com Smoking Cessation web site and check out the Smoking Cessation Forum for the best support on the web.

~Michelle Boisvert~

Sources:

Effect of Nicotine on Spinal Disc Cells. Akmal M, Kesani A, Anand B, Singh A,et al. 1 March, 2004. National Center for Biotechnology Information.

Lumbar Degenerative Disc Disease. Rajeev K Patel, MD. 3 August, 2009. EMedicine.com.

Degenerative Disc Disease and Low Back Pain Thomas G. Lowe, M.D. Spine Universe.

Cigarette Smoking and its Impact on Spinal Fusions. Larry Davidson, M.D. 13 August, 2007.

Spine Surgery and Cigarette Smoking. The Burton Report.

More from Michelle:

]Michelle's Quit Story
Michelle's 1 Year Milestone
Michelle's 2 Year Milestone
Michelle's 3 Year Milestone
Michelle's 4 Year Milestone
Michelle's 5 Year Milestone
Patience With the Process
A Perspective on Using NRT's
There is No Substitute for Time
Managing Quit-Related Depression

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Quit Aids and Weight Gain

I'm so afraid I'll gain weight when I quit smoking. I've heard that Zyban or Wellbutrin will help me avoid weight gain. Is this true?Answer: Bupropion hydrochloride, better known as Zyban or Wellbutrin, has a side effect for some people of a reduced appetite, which can be a nice benefit for people who want to quit smoking. Bupropion is a prescription drug though, and must be used under a doctor's direction.

Nicotine lozenges may also help curb appetite to some extent early on in a person's quit program. A year long study looking at the efficacy of nicotine lozenges was conducted in 2002. It followed approximately 1800 people who quit smoking using either nicotine lozenges or placebos. Indications were that those participants using 4-mg nicotine lozenges had 45 percent less weight gain 6 weeks after quitting than those using the placebo. At 12 weeks quit, weight gain was 21 percent less, and at 6 months, the difference in weight gain between the two groups wasn't enough to be of significance.(1)

Medications to Help You Quit Smoking:

Some of the above medications are available without a prescription, however, do check in with your doctor and discuss your options in order to choose a quit aid that's right for you.

See Also:
The Chubster
Minimizing Weight Gain When You Quit Smoking
Maia's Thoughts on Weight Loss at 6 Months Smoke Free

(1)Arch Intern Med. 2002;162:1267-1276

Updated: 2-20-2006

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Replacement Therapy

One of the Smoking Cessation forum's spunkiest and most determined quitters has got to be Kerri (aka Wonder Woman). Kerri has an outstanding quit story on our site quitsmoking.about.com, and has always been a source of inspiration for myself and many other forum members. One of the things she has been very open about, is that at around three or four months, she experienced a real wall in her process. She realized that it had to do with the extra time we have that smoking takes up, something we don't always realize from the start.

When you think about it - it took me about 7- 10 minutes to smoke a sickorette, depending on whether I was in a rush, or lounging at home writing in my journal. I smoked about a pack a day, and was getting to the point of smoking more. There were 25 sicks in a pack. Times that by 30 and thats 300 minutes, or about 5 hours a day. So let's give some leeway and say you don't smoke as much, we'll even give more time and round it down to 3.5 hours a day. Three hours a day!! Spent feeding our addictions. OH what we could do with that precious, precious time. Not to mention the incredible life force and energy the poison sucks out of us (and we think we're the ones inhaling!).

So what does one do when one quits? For Kerri, it was discovering new hobbies and interests. First it was knitting, then it was running, now she's a marathon runner. Now that's finding a constructive way to fill your time. For Maria it was cycling with her husband and getting fit at the gym, after just over a year, she has a stomach you could slice bread on.

For me unfortunately, it's been food! But as mentioned earlier, that is definitely changing. I did start to crochet earlier on, but never really could stick to it. When we were kids, we always found time to play, time to explore, time to create. We never thought about smoking or missing a crutch. Perhaps this is like a second childhood in a way, an opportunity to re-discover new things, pour our energies into something we want to build, make or discover.

In the Nicotine Withdrawal Category of About.com Smoking Cessation is a list of 101 things to do instead of smoke. It's an excellent list, and I've copied some of my favourites below. If you're about to quit, start researching things you've always wanted to do (I really want a karaoke machine - now that I can hit those notes again, I used to love to sing!), and if you've already quit, keep exploring. There's a whole huge healthy world out there with tons to do and learn, and now you've got the money to do it, and the most precious commodity of all, time. Do a jigsaw puzzle, or work with clay. Go for a run or a swim, or even the best excercise of all...go for a walk. Write a poem, a short story, a love letter. Go outside and take pictures of your favourite park, building or statue. Take an exotic cooking class. Learn a new language. Organize your boxes of pictures, create memorable and interesting captions for them. Visit the SPCA and adopt a pet, or go get a fish - aquariums are loads of fun. Go to a Karaoke place and sing, sing, sing!Find something you love. Make a list of your interests; it can even be things you wanted to do when you were a child. Anything goes, just rediscover what it was that brought you happiness and find ways to implement it into your life. Take the time you have and spend it on yourself.

It's your gift to you!

More from Leslie:
One Full Week
The Seduction
The Smokescreen
Not One Puff Ever (N.O.P.E.) - Part One
Not One Puff Ever (N.O.P.E.) - Part Two

View the original article here

The Will to Quit Smoking

A part of me desperately wants to quit smoking, and I know I should quit smoking, but do I feel I must quit. Truthfully, I love smoking, and know that I'll be miserable without my cigarettes. They've become a part of me, and I almost can't bear the thought of giving them up. Yet I know I have to...

Sound familiar? Does your mind bounce back and forth on the issue of smoking cessation? Or do you quit, only to find yourself smoking again within days, or at most, a few weeks? Does your smoking habit make you feel weak? Powerless? Do you wonder if you'll ever find a way to quit smoking for good?

You're not alone.

Nicotine addiction is powerful, and smoking cessation involves a lot of work for most people -- it's not handed to us on a silver platter. You can, however, quit smoking successfully, and the good news is that thousands of people do just that every year. They've found their way out of the prison of nicotine addiction. And most of them thought, just as you do, that they couldn't quit.

How did they do it?

How did they turn a feeling of should into the certainty of must? How did they turn dreams of quitting into a reality in their lives?

While there is no magic bullet that makes smoking cessation easy and pain free, there are steps you can take to develop the commitment necessary to quit smoking permanently.

As smokers, we often think of lighting up as an enjoyable pastime. Cigarettes offer comfort, entertainment and companionship -- or so we think. At the same time, we relate smoking cessation to feelings of pain, misery and sacrifice, and for most of us, these opposing feelings exist and are reinforced on a subconscious level. They're below the surface of our thoughts, and the result is that we adopt unhealthy and inaccurate beliefs as facts of life when in reality they are only our distorted perceptions of the truth.

It’s been said that the average person has approximately 60,000 thoughts a day; a significant percentage of those thoughts are negative and usually directed at ourselves. We're almost always our own worst critics. A first step in successfully developing the will it takes to quit smoking involves learning how to pay attention to what we tell ourselves and correct false statements as soon as they occur. It takes practice and patience, but if you keep at it, listening in consciously on the thoughts that go through your mind on a daily basis will become second nature, as will correcting those that don't serve you.

Just as we condition our bodies to build strength and endurance, conditioning our minds is an exercise in building new associations that will help us put smoking permanently in the past.

Work with the thoughts that don't serve your best interests, and do it as soon as they crop up. Change the language. Restructure your thoughts in terms that will help you. For instance, if you tell yourself: "I won't enjoy the party, because I can't smoke. I'll be miserable and hate every minute of it. In fact, I'm already miserable just thinking about it."What will be the result? At a minimum, you'll feel deprived and unhappy at the party. The stage is set for a smoking relapse, because on a subconscious level, you are giving yourself the message that smoking cessation is a sacrifice. Shift your focus and correct the language by countering with something, such as this: "Going to the party smoke-free will be a challenge, and I may feel uncomfortable, but it will provide me with the practice I need to learn how to live my life without leaning on cigarettes. After all, practice makes perfect. I know these discomforts are a temporary stage of healing from nicotine addiction."Positive self-talk is a stepping stone to positive action. Once you manage the event without smoking, you'll find it easier to believe the positive corrections you're making the next time around.

When you say: "My friends get to smoke; why I can't I?"Remind yourself that your friends don't get to smoke, they have to smoke because they're addicted to nicotine. Give yourself a positive mental cue by counteracting your feelings of self-pity with: "My friends wish they could quit smoking like I have. I remember how desperately I wanted to quit every time I lit up. It was a vicious cycle that I'm free of now."Or when you start reflecting fondly on your old smoking habit with thoughts, such as: "I'm bored without my cigarettes. Life isn't fun without them."Adjust your mind-set by looking at it from another angle: "At 10 minutes smoking time per cigarette, I used to waste nearly 3 hours every single day smoking! It's no wonder I feel a little fidgety and empty. I'll take up a hobby and do something productive with the time I used to spend smoking."And, when you're feeling the discomforts of nicotine withdrawal, be careful to reinforce that the pain you're feeling is because of smoking, not quitting: "I feel so irritable without my smokes. I'm impatient and angry without cigarettes."Reinforce this way: "Cigarettes did this to me. Once I’m free of this addiction, I’m never going back to the slavery that nicotine forced me in to again."Or if you say: "I think about smoking nonstop! My day feels like one long, incessant craving!"Add this statement: "I know that nicotine withdrawal is a temporary phase of the recovery process. The discomforts won't last forever. I'm growing stronger with every smoke-free day."You get the idea. Replace thoughts that don't help you with ones that do. Train yourself to change the way you think and feel about smoking. If you persist and work with yourself enough, consciously trained thoughts will ultimately lead you to a new set of beliefs, and from there, you can make changes that will stick -- permanently.

Quit Aids and Support

Fortify the resolve you're working to build by considering one of the many quit aids available today and by connecting with like-minded people at the About.com Smoking Cessation support forum.

Smoking cessation is a gift that will reward you with benefits far beyond what you can probably imagine, so be patient and do the work to change your mind about smoking. Believe in yourself. You can do it!

View the original article here

Oral Cancer Personal Story

From your Guide to About.com Smoking Cessation, Terry Martin:
I feel fortunate to have met and helped Marlene share her story. Throat cancer is a horrible disease, and one that most smokers fear. I cannot imagine losing my voice, let alone going on to "speak" before groups of children, using my disease as a powerful example to help them avoid smoking. This is just what Marlene does today though, every chance she gets. She is a remarkable woman, and is nothing short of inspirational. I hope that her story touches you as it has me.

I am writing this story about my life as a smoker in hopes it will not only entertain whoever should read it, but maybe prevent someone from using tobacco or entice someone to quit using tobacco.

I tried my first cigarette at the age of 11. The preacher's son gave it to me behind the church, where a lot of us kids went after church services on Sunday morning. I was a bashful and timid girl, and just wanted to be included in the group. I did not actually start smoking then, full time that is. I would sneak one here and there with the other kids, but by the time I was 12, I was hooked.

Now that I've analyzed this I realize tobacco turned me into a sneak, a liar, and a thief, right off the bat. I'd sneak to catch a "drag" here and there, then I graduated to stealing cigarettes from anyone who happened to leave a pack around. When asked about it, I lied and said, "No, I haven't been smoking" and "No, I didn't take any cigarettes." I started stealing money to support my habit. I did it so I could hang out with the kids and be part of their group.

I moved in with my dad, step mom, and step sister when I was 12. My step sister, who was 10, took me to the backyard where a old trailer was sitting. She crawled under it and came out with her cigarette stash, a "stolen pack of daddy's cigarettes." That's when I really started to smoke. Stealing from my dad was easy. He never seemed to miss them, until one day when he caught me. I knew I was going to get the beating of my life; my dad had a bad temper when pushed to his wits end.

He ordered me into the house, where he sat me down at the dining room table. He made me roll 20 cigarettes from the old roll; your own "strong, stinking tobacco" with the papers, remember those? Does anyone still use that stuff? When I finished rolling them, he made me sit there and smoke every one of them. No supper, nothing to drink. I had to just sit there and smoke. Well, even a surprise to me today, I did it. It took me a few hours, but I did it. You see, I inherited his stubborn streak.

When I finished the last one, he said, "Well, you proved you can handle it, so you have my permission to smoke, but if I ever catch your sister smoking, I'll give you the beating that you thought you were going to get today." I got up from the table, feeling rather sick, went into the bedroom and told my sister, "If daddy ever catches you smoking, I'll beat you to death!"

I have since thought of that time and truly wish he would have give me the beating of my life instead of handling it like he did.

So,with my dad's permission to smoke, I smoked all the time and everywhere, except grandma's house. Forget the beating, she would have killed me.

Over the years, cigarettes caused a lot of turmoil in my life. Smoking put me in the hospital 3 times that I can remember. I had severe bronchitis and breathing problems. I was put on breathing machines and breathing medications several times. As soon as I would get to where I could breathe freely again, I would light up. Is that insane or what?

This went on for 39 years, at which time I was smoking 2-plus packs per day and still lying about it. I lied to the doctor that diagnosed me with cancer. "No doctor, I only smoke less than a pack a day." Lies, Lies, and more lies for 39 miserable years.

In 1996, I developed a sore throat that would not go away. I tried everything over the counter -- cold medicines, lozenges, throat sprays. Nothing worked.

I went to the doctor, who put me on one antibiotic after the other from October until December. Still, the sore throat wouldn't go away. Finally, he sent me to an oncological ear, nose and throat specialist, who ran a scope down my nose and throat. He saw something and suggested I go to the hospital and have a biopsy.

I had the biopsy on Thursday. After it was over, the doctor didn't stay to talk to me. Instead, he left instructions for me to go home, rest my voice, not to talk to anyone, and left a prescription for a rather strong pain medication. He told the nurse to instruct me to be in his office the next day at 5 p.m. I knew he did not take appointments that late in the day. I also knew you do not get pain medication like that, with refills unless something is really wrong. Also, I wondered, "Why can't I use my voice?" I knew the news was going to be bad.

I went home and waited for 5 p.m. Friday to come. I didn't talk to anyone. I just waited, and it seemed like a long time. When the time finally arrived for me to leave, I wanted to run in the opposite direction. I dreaded that trip to his office, but I went and he said right out, "You have cancer, and it's the worst kind; it spreads rapidly. I suggest we operate as soon as possible. I want to perform a complete laryngectomy on you. There's good news and bad news; the good is I think I can get it all. The bad... you will never talk again."I told him I'd get back with him on what I wanted to do.

Marlene's Surgery and Beyond

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Two Years Free - Couldn't Be Happier

I'd like to introduce you to Kevin, a member of the About.com Smoking Cessation forum.? Kevin recently celebrated the anniversary of his second smoke-free year and had plenty to say about it.

Couldn't Be Happier -- Kevin's Story

Congratulations, Kevin!? The benefits you've set in motion will only continue to grow with time away from smoking.

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Oral Cancer Overview

Imagine sitting across the desk from your doctor receiving the news that you've got oral cancer. It's a scary thought, but one that upwards of 31,000 people have to face every year in the United States alone, according to the American Cancer Society.

Approximately 90 percent of those diagnosed with oral cancer or pharyngeal cancer (including cancer of the mouth, tongue, lips, throat, parts for the nose, and larynx) are tobacco users.

Tobacco
All forms of tobacco increase a person's risk of oral cancer. In fact, smokers are six times more likely to get an oral cancer than nonsmokers.Alcohol
Heavy, regular alcohol consumption is a risk factor for oral cancer. It's estimated that 75 to 80 percent of those with oral cancer drink alcohol frequently. Like smokers, people who drink a lot of alcohol on a regular basis are also six times more likely to get an oral cancer than nondrinkers.Tobacco and Alcohol
The risk for oral cancer that each substance represents is compounded when they are used together.Gender
It appears that men contract oral cancer at twice the rate of women, due to the fact that they are more likely to smoke and drink heavily for longer periods of time than females.Age
After the age of 40, the risk of oral cancer increases, with 60 being the average age of diagnosis.Exposure to ultraviolet light (responsible for many cases of cancer to the lips)Certain occupational exposuresIt's important to note that survival rates for oral cancers are 50 percent five years after diagnosis. The earlier oral cancer is detected, the better a person's chances for survival are. Sores in the mouth or on the lips that don't heal and/or bleed easily.A white or red patch of skin in the mouth or under the tongue that doesn't go away.A lump in the mouth, throat, or tongue.A sore throat that doesn't go away within a normal period of time.Swallowing and/or chewing is difficult or painful.If you have any of these symptoms, please see your doctor immediately.

Oral cancer screening is a normal part of dental checkups, so visit your dentist on a regular basis to get your teeth cleaned. It's one of the best ways to catch oral cancer early.

Diagnosed with Oral Cancer - Marlene's Story

Oral and Head and Neck Cancer

Oral Cancer Photo Gallery

Most oral cancers could be avoided by not using tobacco and/or drinking heavily. If you fall into this risk category, use the information here as a springboard to help you get serious about quitting. Tobacco is a toxic killer and offers you nothing more than disease and ultimately, death.

Sources:

"FAQ Cancer of the Oral Cavity and Pharynx." NOHSS. 23 May 2006. Centers for Disease Control.

"Oral Cancer." 2006. American Cancer Society.

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Rationalizations

Rationalization: It's too hard to quit. I don't have the willpower.
Response: Quitting and staying away from cigarettes is hard, but it's not impossible. More than 3 million Americans quit every year. It's important for you to remember that many people have had to try more than once, and try more than one method, before they became ex-smokers, but they have done it, and so can you.

Rationalization: I'm worried about gaining weight.
Response: Most smokers who gain more than 5 - 10 pounds are eating more. Gaining weight isn't inevitable. There are things you can do to help keep your weight stable.

Rationalization: I don't know what to do with my hands.
Response: That's a common complaint among ex-smokers. You can keep your hands busy in other ways; it's just a matter of getting used to the change of not holding a cigarette. Try holding something else, such as a pencil, paper clip, or marble. Practice simply keeping your hands clasped together. If you're at home, think of all the things you wish you had time to do, make a list, and consult the list for alternatives to smoking whenever your hands feel restless. Take a look at this list of 101 Things to Do Instead of Smoking for more ideas.

Rationalization: Sometimes I have an almost irresistible urge to have a cigarette.
Response: This is a common feeling, especially within the first 1-3 weeks. The longer you're off cigarettes, the more your urges probably will come at times when you smoked before, such as when you're drinking coffee or alcohol or are at a cocktail party where other people are smoking. These are high-risk situations, and you can help yourself by avoiding them whenever possible. If you can't avoid them, you can try to visualize in advance how you'll handle the desire for a cigarette if it arises in those situations.

Rationalization: I blew it. I smoked a cigarette.
Response: Smoking one or a few cigarettes doesn't mean you've "blown it." It does mean that you have to strengthen your determination to quit and try again--harder. Don't forget that you got through several days, perhaps even weeks or months, without a cigarette. This shows that you don't need cigarettes and that you can be a successful quitter.

*Adapted from Clinical Opportunities for Smoking Intervention-A Guide for the Busy Physician. National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. NIH Pub. No. 86-2178. August 1986

Updated: 12-5-2005

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Quit Smoking Monday Messages

Quit and Stay Quit Monday Messages

Beginning today, we will be featuring a tip each Monday in the spotlight above to help you keep the quit.

Part of the Healthy Monday Campaign, Quit and Stay Quit Monday? offers ex-smokers a chance each week to take stock of their progress or get back on track if they've had a smoking relapse.

Monday is a great day to renew our resolve to make the improvements we're working on a reality in our lives.? Believe in your ability to quit smoking and be willing to make it happen....one Monday at a time.

*************

Take The Quit Smoking Monday Pledge

Healthy Monday encourages us to think of every Monday as a day that we can begin work anew on goals that we have for ourselves. If you're still smoking, put your cigarettes down and get started on your quit program today.

We all have the ability to quit smoking successfully, and we all deserve a life that is free of addiction. Honor your life by choosing Monday as the day to start and reinforce your quit program.

You can quit smoking ... and we're here to help you, one simple Monday at a time.

Image ? healthymonday.org

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Quit Smoking Today Without Gaining Weight

"If you weren't born with a cigarette in your mouth, you had to train and condition yourself to smoke -- and if you learned it, you can unlearn it."
~Paul McKenna, PhD

Born in 1963 in England, Paul McKenna is a hypnotist and self-improvement author who has written a host of books aimed at helping people overcome problems with issues like weight control, finances, self-esteem and smoking.

Mr. McKenna never smoked, but lost an uncle prematurely to a smoking-related disease. His father was a smoker who quit successfully and as of this writing, is living a healthy, smoke-free life.

Compelling and motivational, Quit Smoking Today Without Gaining Weight delivers exactly what a self-help book should: hope and inspiration.

From the introduction by Mr. McKenna to the final thoughts he offers at the end of the 7 sessions included in the book(plus bonus weight loss session), he teaches us how our minds work and offers simple techniques to reprogram and correct behaviors that don't serve us.

Mr. McKenna refers to generalization as a learning principle employed by our minds. Once we learn a new skill or create an association, our minds generalize about it, telling us that it is true for all things, even though it might not be. He uses the example of learning how to open a door, saying that once learned, our minds generalize the technique to be true for all doors. In practical terms, this allows us to learn and move on. Without the ability to generalize, we'd be stuck learning the same thing over and over.

As smokers, we quickly learn to associate stress with smoking. Physically, our bodies are stressed because of smoking. When the nicotine level in the blood drops, it makes us feel anxious, and when it's topped off with a cigarette, we're relieved. This is addiction to a drug, but the mind generalizes the association to mean that smoking = stress relief.

Emotionally, we learn to use smoking to control our feelings. We smoke when we're angry, sad, happy, and so on. Over time, the generalization becomes powerfully ingrained that cigarettes help us cope, again reinforcing the idea that smoking = stress relief.

Each chapter(session) in the book begins with some discussion about the topic at hand, and ends with a visualization exercise that helps readers begin to make the mental shift that will break down the generalizations we all have built up around smoking over the years. With session headings such as A Healthy New You, Never Again!, and An End to Cravings, Paul McKenna offers practical tips about how to calm our minds on command, and later, how to imagine in great detail the smoke-free life we want for ourselves.

By changing how we respond to stress, and what we associate with stress, we can, with practice, reprogram ourselves to automatically react to stress with healthy choices. At the same time, we can teach our minds to automatically respond negatively to smoking.

Periodically, Mr. McKenna offers what I think of as troubleshooting advice for those of us who are not having success with the techniques offered in the book. They are helpful checkpoints that add to the usefulness of this quit smoking primer.

A guided hypnosis CD is included with Quit Smoking Today Without Gaining Weight. Paul McKenna's voice soothes and relaxes, taking the listener into a state of self-hypnosis quite easily.He suggests listening to the CD daily for at least two weeks while practicing the visualizations in the book.

The Pros

Quit Smoking Without Gaining Weight is engaging and a quick read. The visualizations provided are easy to follow and are useful in changing the destructive relationship we all had with smoking. The cd is a valuable companion for the book, reinforcing the path to creating new associations with smoking that, if used faithfully, can help readers kick tobacco to the curb for good.

The Cons

Paul Mckenna's book would benefit from a mention about the importance of including some support in a person's quit program.

As a former smoker who found the key to long-term release from nicotine addiction through an online support forum, I know how critical it is to have a group of like-minded people in your corner as you move through smoking cessation. I found the change of mindset that Paul teaches in this way, and know that for those who are trying to quit smoking, support will solidify the concepts he shares.

A word about smoking cessation and weight gain...

With the exception of a few remarks throughout the book, the topic of avoiding weight gain while quitting tobacco is not tackled until readers reach the bonus weight loss session at the end.

That said, I don't feel this should deter anyone from reading Quit Smoking Without Gaining Weight, because the cessation information is top-notch and certainly the first priority. The weight control section of the book is simple but decent, and if you follow the principles, you should be able to manage the ups and downs of cessation with minimal weight gain.

If you want to change your life, change your mind.

As someone who knows how critical a change of attitude is for lasting freedom from nicotine addiction, I fully endorse Paul McKenna's approach to smoking cessation. His guided visualizations and audio cd are solid tools that, along with the support mentioned above, can yield a change of perspective that will transform the reader's relationship with smoking.

Smoking cessation is not out of reach for any of us. If you have a strong desire to quit, Mr. McKenna's book will help to fuel that fire within you.

Remember: Once you change what cigarettes mean to you, you can truly leave them behind and move forward with your life, happily smoke-free.

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Smoking Cessation and Stress

While smoking cessation will eventually reduce the amount of stress in your life, initially it creates a bit more.

The Stress of Quitting Tobacco

Physically, our bodies are reacting to the absence of the chemicals in the cigarettes we used to smoke.? Emotionally, we are beginning the work of letting go ... and facing down the associations we've built up with smoking over the years.

Thankfully, the discomforts are all temporary and with some education and support, we all have what it takes to leave tobacco behind permanently.

More Reading:

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Quit Tips from Dr. Gilchrist

Remember, 90% of smokers would like to quit and know it is unhealthy. However, with some people, your quitting might just remind them of what they aren't yet strong enough to make happen. However, remember, that is not your fault and that is not your problem. Therefore, you shouldn't have to be the one to suffer for it. Commit to being healthy and smoke-free irregardless of the support-or sabotage-of other people. You can do this because you have to do this. In the past, smoking very much had become a regular habit and routine within your days and nights. You became used to smoking at certain times, places, circumstances, or mood states. Now, because you are quitting smoking, it can be helpful to identify these old triggers and cues to smoke, and then come up with alternative plans of what you can do in these instances.

Take out a piece of paper and write out all of the main situations that used to be followed by smoking: including times of day, places you'd go, circumstances that may arise, and moods you might feel. Now, write out at least 3 different alternate behaviors that you can do during each of these times to replace how smoking played to help you cope with these circumstances.

Then, commit strongly to yourself for each situation, "I will NEVER again smoke when____ happens. Repeat this several times. Finally, in the future, track on a piece of paper whenever these situations arise and which alternate behavior you actually ended up substituting for the situation. Be consistent and write down all of your efforts. Self-awareness, planning, and experimentation will soon make you very good this.

Eventually, after these better alternative behaviors become natural and automatic, smoking will cease to be triggered when these situations arise. Keep in mind, there are some old unhealthy smoke-triggering situations that are best just avoided altogether, such as designated "smoking sections" of any sort, casinos, bars, bowling alleys, or any other place highly populated by smoke and smokers. Also, minimize contact with certain smoking individuals that you aren't that close to.

In short, you are retraining yourself to respond differently than by smoking. For instance, if you used to smoke just before arriving to work or school, plan several other activities that you could do then, such as calling a friend on your cell phone, eating a healthy snack, or reading a favorite book.

In order to stay confident and to reinforce the positive messages you will hear in your hypnosis sessions in the "Smoker's Edge" program, it can be helpful to write out and repeat a number of "confidence statements" about yourself and your goal to stop smoking. Confidence statements are positive, true statements that you can repeat to yourself daily to stay focused, motivated, and in control.

To do this exercise, take out a piece of paper and list out at least 20 positive, true statements concerning how and why you will stop smoking. After making your list, it can be helpful to post your list somewhere convenient where you can read it once a day to stay sharp. Examples of confidence statements you may wish to use include: I can stop smoking I will stop smoking I love myself too much to smoke I want to get healthier and live longer I will enjoy breathing easier I will be so proud of myself Others will look up to me Millions before me have quit and I can too I can handle this This will get easier over time I can always get support and help from others when I need it I've dealt with harder things than this I can do whatever I put my mind toIn order to stay focused on why you are quitting to remain strong, it can be helpful to write out and repeat a number of "why I am quitting statements" about yourself and your goal to stop smoking. These statements are reminders of what you want to change, avoid, and move away from by quitting smoking. You can repeat these statements to yourself as often as needed to stay focused, motivated, and in control.

To do this exercise, take out a piece of paper and list out at least 10 reasons you want to quit smoking by starting off your sentences with "I am quitting smoking because I want _____." After making your list, review it from time to time if you find you are forgetting why you wanted to quit in the first place. Examples of "reasons to quit" statements you may wish to use include:

I am quitting smoking because I want: healthier lungs to save money my family and friends to respect me to smell better to taste my food again to live longer to be healthier to be happier to feel good about myself to conquer my addiction and bad habit

© Copyright 2005, Randy A. Gilchrist, Psy.D. All Rights Reserved www.hypnosisnetwork.com

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Healing the Body and Mind When We Quit Smoking

There are two important steps involved in recovery from nicotine addiction: physical and psychological, or body and mind. Physical recovery, while intense, is over within a relatively short period of time.

Will I Miss Smoking Forever?

Psychological recovery from nicotine addiction is achieved bit by bit as we learn new ways to cope than don't involve smoking. Understanding this distinction and gaining wisdom about the mind games the habit of smoking puts us through helps us win over nicotine addiction, once and for all.

More Reading:

Photo ? Jeff Prieb

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A Change of Mindset and a Whole New Life

At 3 months smoke-free, Ploprof, a member of the About.com Smoking Cessation Support Forum has some pearls of wisdom to share about what it took for him to quit smoking:

"I think the most important thing with any difficult decision or significant change in what you do must be mental preparation. If you're mentally strong and prepared to deal with the unavoidable adversity that will sooner or later hit you, you'll be on your way to success. I find this is true in many aspects of life and not only in the one that brings us here."

How I Quit Smoking - Ploprof's Story

Do you have a quit story to share?

Why I Quit Smoking - Share Your Story

Please add it to our ever-growing library of personal accounts.

Photo ? Ploprof

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Cigarette Health Warnings Makeover

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today that the 9 new required? health warnings and associated color graphic images that will soon grace cigarette packaging and tobacco advertisements in the United States have been selected.?? Narrowed down from 36 possible choices, these 9? deliver powerful messages about the hazards of smoking, and they speak to everyone.? If you pick up a pack of cigarettes, the risk you're taking will be right there, staring you in the face.

View the 9 New Cigarette Health Warnings/Images

This is the first time in 25 years that cigarette health warnings have been changed.

The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act requires that the new health warnings? and color images be implemented on the upper half of both front and back of cigarette packages, and in the top 20%? of cigarette ads.

Beginning on September 22, 2012, cigarettes can no longer be manufactured or advertised without the new warnings.? October 22, 2012 will mark the removal of any cigarettes from store shelves that do not have the new packaging.

While images of diseased lungs and rotting teeth? may be tough to look at, they are realistic examples of the stark reality behind cigarette smoking.? Tobacco is a killer, pure and simple, and it steals? human life at the rate of one precious soul every eight seconds worldwide.

Ready to Quit?

If you're ready to stop smoking, use the resources and support below to set the foundation for long-term success.

You have every bit as much ability to quit as anyone else.? Believe in yourself and be willing to go the distance. You won't regret it.

Quit smoking today.

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Tobacco in the News

Bill Gates in China Push Against Secondhand Smoke -- Associated Press
BEIJING -- Microsoft founder and philanthropist Bill Gates was in China on Saturday to raise awareness of the dangers of secondhand smoke in the country with the world's largest smoking population.

Women Who Smoke are at Tenfold Risk for PAD -- CNN Health
Women who currently smoke or have a history of smoking are at a greater risk for developing peripheral artery disease (PAD), and stopping smoking produces a dramatic reduction in PAD risk, but doesn't completely eliminate it. The findings are published in the Annals of Internal Medicine on Monday, and were presented last year at the European Society of Cardiology meeting.

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