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.

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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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FDA: Chantix May Increase Risk of Cardiovascular Events

The U.S.? Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has issued a public advisory about the smoking cessation drug, Chantix (varenicline tartrate), saying that? for people who already suffer from heart disease,? Chantix may pose a slight increase in risk for? "certain adverse cardiovascular events".

FDA Advisory

This safety precaution will be added to the Warnings and Precautions section of physician labeling and the Patient Medication Guide for the drug.

The advisory is based on a review of a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial that looked at the effectiveness and safety of Chantix.? The study followed 700 patients between the ages of 35 and 75 with cardiovascular disease for a year.? For the first 12 weeks, patients received either 1 mg of Chantix twice a day or a placebo.? Drug treatment stopped at the end of 12 weeks and study participants were followed for the next 40 weeks.?? Smoking cessation counseling was also provided throughout the year.

The Good News

Between weeks 9 and 52,? the Chantix group were able were able to maintain abstinence from tobacco at a rate of 19% compared with 7% of those in the placebo group.

The Bad News

Adverse cardiovascular events, including angina pectoris, nonfatal myocardial infarction, need for coronary revascularization, and new diagnosis of peripheral vascular disease or admission for a procedure for the treatment of peripheral vascular disease appeared to occur at a slightly increased rate for the Chantix group over the placebo group.

Like all medications that require a prescription, there are risks associated with Chantix.? It is not suitable for everyone, but can be an effective quit aid for some.? If you have heart disease and are on Chantix currently, talk to your doctor about how to proceed.

Chantix Patient Information

How Chantix Works as a Quit Aid

Chantix Side Effects:? Is Chantix Safe to Use?

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Hookah Information

Hookah bars are popping up close to college campuses across the United States, and young adults are visiting them with increasing frequency.?? Many think that the flavored hookah tobacco is not addictive, but is that true?? Let's take a closer look.

Hookah Information

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Image ? Stockxpert

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Hookah Information

Hookah bars are popping up close to college campuses across the United States, and young adults are visiting them with increasing frequency.?? Many think that the flavored hookah tobacco is not addictive, but is that true?? Let's take a closer look.

Hookah Information

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Image ? Stockxpert

View the original article here