Not surprisingly, research shows that the smoking patterns and quitting experiences of men and women are often quite different. Women smoke fewer cigarettes per day, usually smoke lower nicotine cigarettes, and do not inhale as deeply as men.Men are more likely to attempt a cold-turkey quit. Nicotine replacement products like the patch or gum do not appear to reduce craving as effectively for women as for men, and withdrawal may be more intense for women.Weight gain is also more of an issue for women. Some interesting studies have shown that husbands may provide less effective support to women who are trying to quit than wives give to husbands.
Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a pregnant woman can do to ensure a healthy baby. Women who smoke are 3x more likely to have difficulty getting pregnant and are more likely to lose their baby to spontaneous abortion and stillbirth . Smoking has been estimated to cause as many as 140,000 miscarriages each year.Smoking during pregnancy also causes premature labor and delivery, cleft palate and cleft lip, low birth weight, and numerous childhood cancers. Smoke inhaled by young children of mothers who smoke is associated with an increased risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), asthma, pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses, and ear infections.Quitting early in the pregnancy provides the greatest benefit to the fetus. This is the time when the most important developments are taking place – the heart and lungs are forming and the brain is beginning to develop. However, a woman and her baby will still benefit greatly even if she quits late in pregnancy.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Monday, December 15, 2008
Reasons For Quiting Smoking
Almost every smoker both likes and dislikes certain aspects of smoking. Once you begin to identify the things you dislike about smoking, and the reasons you want to quit, it gets easier to set a quit date and develop a plan you can stick to. Listed below are a few of the most common reasons why QuitNet users have decided to quit. Take some time to really think about why you want to quit. Make your own list. Let us know if there are reasons we should add to our list.
. Freedom from nicotine urges and cravings
. Reduced risk of lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, stroke, and lots of other
diseases
. Fewer colds and missed days of school for my kids
. Fewer stomach problems
. Being a good role model for my children
. Fewer sore throats
. No more thick phlegm
. Improved sense of taste and smell
. Sleeping better
. Not needing as much sleep
. Saving money
. No more "smokers’ headaches"
. No more smokers cough
. Having more energy
. Not having to worry about offending or bothering others with smoke
. No more stains on my fingers
. Being able to walk farther and breathe more easily
. No more complaining from my friends and family about my smoking
. Being able to exercise harder and longer
. Being able to breathe more easily
. Longer and healthier life
. Feeling proud
. Feeling good about myself!
. Freedom from nicotine urges and cravings
. Reduced risk of lung cancer, heart disease, emphysema, stroke, and lots of other
diseases
. Fewer colds and missed days of school for my kids
. Fewer stomach problems
. Being a good role model for my children
. Fewer sore throats
. No more thick phlegm
. Improved sense of taste and smell
. Sleeping better
. Not needing as much sleep
. Saving money
. No more "smokers’ headaches"
. No more smokers cough
. Having more energy
. Not having to worry about offending or bothering others with smoke
. No more stains on my fingers
. Being able to walk farther and breathe more easily
. No more complaining from my friends and family about my smoking
. Being able to exercise harder and longer
. Being able to breathe more easily
. Longer and healthier life
. Feeling proud
. Feeling good about myself!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Quiting Guide To Make The Decision
This section provides information about smoking and helps you understand your own smoking habit. Even if you’re not thinking about quitting right now, it can be helpful to understand the reasons that you smoke and the effects that smoking has on you and your family. There are state-of-the-art self-assessment questionnaires on QuitNet that you can use to better understand your own personal smoking experience.
Health Risks of Smoking:
Cigarettes are one of the few consumer products that aren't regulated.
[1] So, in order to determine the chemical makeup of cigarettes, we rely on the Federal Trade Commission’s studies of tobacco smoke.
[2] More than 40 of the chemicals the FTC found in cigarette smoke cause cancer in humans. The most dangerous components of tobacco are described below.
Nicotine:
Nicotine is a drug produced naturally in tobacco leaves. It’s nicotine that hooks you to cigarettes. Studies have shown that nicotine can have as much power over your brain as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine gives your brain a quick sensation of pleasure and when it starts to wear off (usually within minutes after finishing a smoke) your brain starts wanting or craving more. Nicotine increases heart rate and blood pressure, and decreases circulation by constricting blood vessels- this makes nicotine a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Nicotine promotes peptic ulcers; releases hormones that affect the central nervous system; interferes with nerve-muscle communication; and is directly responsible for a host of other health risks related to sexual functioning, fertility, fetal development, miscarriages and neonatal deaths, and brain functioning. That’s why some Quitsters call it the Nicodemon.
Carbon Monoxide:
Cigarettes produce carbon monoxide, the same deadly odorless, colorless gas that comes out the tailpipe of your car or a faulty gas heater. In high enough concentrations it is deadly; in lower doses it causes shortness of breath and increased heart rate. Fortunately, the body is able to eliminate most of the carbon monoxide fairly quickly once you quit smoking. Most people who quit feel more energetic and less short of breath within just a few days of quitting.
Cyanide, Arsenic, and Other Nasty Stuff...
like Formaldehyde, Benzene, Radon, and the radioisotope Polonium 210. The Environmental Protection Agency could arrest you for putting these poisons into the ground, yet tobacco advertising urges you to breathe them! When you smoke, small amounts of these awful chemicals are spread around and stored in every tissue and cell in your body where they can speed up the growth of cancer cells and degenerative diseases.
Tar:
comes from the burning of cigarettes and is one of the main components of cigarette smoke. In a solid form, tar is a sticky brown substance that causes yellow-brown stains on fingers, teeth, clothes, and furniture. If you smoke in your car, try cleaning the inside windshield sometime. Imagine what all that tar must look like in your lungs.
Risks for smokeless tobacco users:
Chewing smokeless tobacco puts many of the same chemicals and poisons into your body. That’s why people who chew tobacco for many years are 50 times more likely to get oral cancer, gum disease and lose their teeth than people who do not chew. The risk of other cancers, heart disease, and ulcerative colitis is 50-70% higher among chewers.
About Secondhand Smoke:
Cigarette smoke hurts many more people than just the smoker. Children under the age of one whose parents smoke are more than 2 times as likely than children of nonsmokers to suffer asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory tract illnesses. A child’s lung tissue is especially vulnerable to damage, even when the concentration of secondhand smoke is relatively low.
This means that smoking in a car, even with the windows open, is still dangerous to a child. The younger the child, the more vulnerable the lung tissue.
Fertility and Sexual Potency:
Cigarette ads try to make smoking sexy, but the opposite is true. The fertility rates of smoking women are at least 30% lower than those of non-smokers, and these women are up to 3 times as likely to miscarry when they do become pregnant. The children of smoking mothers are at significantly higher risk of premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects, and the development of childhood allergies and learning disabilities. The risk of impotence among smoking men is at least twice that of nonsmokers. Smoking also reduces sperm density and motility, which can increase the risk of infertility.
Wrinkles, discolored skin:
The models in the ads probably don’t smoke because many smokers in their 40s have facial wrinkles similar to those of nonsmokers in their 60s . Smokers are almost 5 times more likely to develop more, and deeper, wrinkles than are nonsmokers.
Health Risks of Smoking:
Cigarettes are one of the few consumer products that aren't regulated.
[1] So, in order to determine the chemical makeup of cigarettes, we rely on the Federal Trade Commission’s studies of tobacco smoke.
[2] More than 40 of the chemicals the FTC found in cigarette smoke cause cancer in humans. The most dangerous components of tobacco are described below.
Nicotine:
Nicotine is a drug produced naturally in tobacco leaves. It’s nicotine that hooks you to cigarettes. Studies have shown that nicotine can have as much power over your brain as heroin and cocaine. Nicotine gives your brain a quick sensation of pleasure and when it starts to wear off (usually within minutes after finishing a smoke) your brain starts wanting or craving more. Nicotine increases heart rate and blood pressure, and decreases circulation by constricting blood vessels- this makes nicotine a major risk factor for heart disease and stroke. Nicotine promotes peptic ulcers; releases hormones that affect the central nervous system; interferes with nerve-muscle communication; and is directly responsible for a host of other health risks related to sexual functioning, fertility, fetal development, miscarriages and neonatal deaths, and brain functioning. That’s why some Quitsters call it the Nicodemon.
Carbon Monoxide:
Cigarettes produce carbon monoxide, the same deadly odorless, colorless gas that comes out the tailpipe of your car or a faulty gas heater. In high enough concentrations it is deadly; in lower doses it causes shortness of breath and increased heart rate. Fortunately, the body is able to eliminate most of the carbon monoxide fairly quickly once you quit smoking. Most people who quit feel more energetic and less short of breath within just a few days of quitting.
Cyanide, Arsenic, and Other Nasty Stuff...
like Formaldehyde, Benzene, Radon, and the radioisotope Polonium 210. The Environmental Protection Agency could arrest you for putting these poisons into the ground, yet tobacco advertising urges you to breathe them! When you smoke, small amounts of these awful chemicals are spread around and stored in every tissue and cell in your body where they can speed up the growth of cancer cells and degenerative diseases.
Tar:
comes from the burning of cigarettes and is one of the main components of cigarette smoke. In a solid form, tar is a sticky brown substance that causes yellow-brown stains on fingers, teeth, clothes, and furniture. If you smoke in your car, try cleaning the inside windshield sometime. Imagine what all that tar must look like in your lungs.
Risks for smokeless tobacco users:
Chewing smokeless tobacco puts many of the same chemicals and poisons into your body. That’s why people who chew tobacco for many years are 50 times more likely to get oral cancer, gum disease and lose their teeth than people who do not chew. The risk of other cancers, heart disease, and ulcerative colitis is 50-70% higher among chewers.
About Secondhand Smoke:
Cigarette smoke hurts many more people than just the smoker. Children under the age of one whose parents smoke are more than 2 times as likely than children of nonsmokers to suffer asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, and other respiratory tract illnesses. A child’s lung tissue is especially vulnerable to damage, even when the concentration of secondhand smoke is relatively low.
This means that smoking in a car, even with the windows open, is still dangerous to a child. The younger the child, the more vulnerable the lung tissue.
Fertility and Sexual Potency:
Cigarette ads try to make smoking sexy, but the opposite is true. The fertility rates of smoking women are at least 30% lower than those of non-smokers, and these women are up to 3 times as likely to miscarry when they do become pregnant. The children of smoking mothers are at significantly higher risk of premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, birth defects, and the development of childhood allergies and learning disabilities. The risk of impotence among smoking men is at least twice that of nonsmokers. Smoking also reduces sperm density and motility, which can increase the risk of infertility.
Wrinkles, discolored skin:
The models in the ads probably don’t smoke because many smokers in their 40s have facial wrinkles similar to those of nonsmokers in their 60s . Smokers are almost 5 times more likely to develop more, and deeper, wrinkles than are nonsmokers.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Get Ready To Quit Smoking
At first glance quitting seems simple… all you have to do is never smoke again, right? Unfortunately, for most people it never quite works that way. On average, it takes smokers about 7 times to quit for good. The good news is that our Quitting Guide can help you end your nicotine addiction once and for all!
It's great that you're planning to stop smoking soon! Many smokers wonder whether they'll be able to quit. In fact, many ex-smokers once had these same doubts, too. What makes ex-smokers successful is that they stay determined and focused throughout the cessation process.
A good place for you to start in the Quitting Guide is our Getting Ready section. It reviews the importance of combining a positive attitude with expert advice and practical quit smoking tips.
The Quitting Guide provides the latest information that can help you make it through the quitting process. It explains why quitting can be so tough and offers tips on planning the best quitting strategy and staying tobacco-free for good. Although it won’t make quitting painless or easy, the Quitting Guide will make it possible when you’re ready!
It's great that you're planning to stop smoking soon! Many smokers wonder whether they'll be able to quit. In fact, many ex-smokers once had these same doubts, too. What makes ex-smokers successful is that they stay determined and focused throughout the cessation process.
A good place for you to start in the Quitting Guide is our Getting Ready section. It reviews the importance of combining a positive attitude with expert advice and practical quit smoking tips.
The Quitting Guide provides the latest information that can help you make it through the quitting process. It explains why quitting can be so tough and offers tips on planning the best quitting strategy and staying tobacco-free for good. Although it won’t make quitting painless or easy, the Quitting Guide will make it possible when you’re ready!
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
How To Quit Smoking Naturally
Many times a person who decides to quit smoking will experience stress and of course the temptation to "just have one", or they tell themselves "Just one won’t hurt me". Of course if you follow this trail long enough you will never kick the habit
Numerous scientists indicate that people who undergo the challenge to quit smoking without medication literally get into the toughest ordeal of their existence. There are 2 ways this can be achieved. So, allow us to have a closer look at these two quit smoking naturally ways and see how efficient they end up. Smokers who would like to quit smoking naturally are generally against other replacements or are absolutely unwilling to expose themselves to other symptoms such as dizziness, sleep disorders or headaches that are usually related with them. For the cold turkey as the best way to quit smoking, probability of succeeding are lower and I’ll show you why.First of all, the best way to quit smoking naturally and progressively it’s worthwhile to form a plan and persist with it by all means. By this I mean that you will need to constantly decrease the amount of cigarettes you smoke a day. In order to quit smoking without medication, you will have to assist your body
by other means, making up for the lack of nicotine. For instance, minimize stress, and you won't experience the desire to smoke so often. You can quit smoking naturally by increasing the amount of sweet fruit you eat each day, since reduced nicotine equals reduced sugar in the blood. The fructose you will get from this plan should atone for the depletion of nicotine, without exposing you to overweight risks. Then you may also assist your quit smoking naturally determination by plenty of physical exercises and good body hydration, since this assists you eradicate toxins from the system.Alternatively if you decide to stop smoking naturally cold turkey, you should better be prepared for some rough times lying ahead. Unless you master yourself very well and stick to your choice to quit smoking, you may not be successful. As well, research show that this method to quit smoking naturally is likely to be distressful for your system since the nicotine redcuction produces a whole range of cravings and is not generally thought of as the best way to quit smoking. The battle to quit smoking naturally will take you through anxiety, depression, increased stress, headaches, sweating, low energy levels, irritability and more. You can reduce the cravings whilst you try to quit smoking naturally, by lots of water, alternative relaxation methods, lots of physical exercises and even quit smoking support groups.
Numerous scientists indicate that people who undergo the challenge to quit smoking without medication literally get into the toughest ordeal of their existence. There are 2 ways this can be achieved. So, allow us to have a closer look at these two quit smoking naturally ways and see how efficient they end up. Smokers who would like to quit smoking naturally are generally against other replacements or are absolutely unwilling to expose themselves to other symptoms such as dizziness, sleep disorders or headaches that are usually related with them. For the cold turkey as the best way to quit smoking, probability of succeeding are lower and I’ll show you why.First of all, the best way to quit smoking naturally and progressively it’s worthwhile to form a plan and persist with it by all means. By this I mean that you will need to constantly decrease the amount of cigarettes you smoke a day. In order to quit smoking without medication, you will have to assist your body
by other means, making up for the lack of nicotine. For instance, minimize stress, and you won't experience the desire to smoke so often. You can quit smoking naturally by increasing the amount of sweet fruit you eat each day, since reduced nicotine equals reduced sugar in the blood. The fructose you will get from this plan should atone for the depletion of nicotine, without exposing you to overweight risks. Then you may also assist your quit smoking naturally determination by plenty of physical exercises and good body hydration, since this assists you eradicate toxins from the system.Alternatively if you decide to stop smoking naturally cold turkey, you should better be prepared for some rough times lying ahead. Unless you master yourself very well and stick to your choice to quit smoking, you may not be successful. As well, research show that this method to quit smoking naturally is likely to be distressful for your system since the nicotine redcuction produces a whole range of cravings and is not generally thought of as the best way to quit smoking. The battle to quit smoking naturally will take you through anxiety, depression, increased stress, headaches, sweating, low energy levels, irritability and more. You can reduce the cravings whilst you try to quit smoking naturally, by lots of water, alternative relaxation methods, lots of physical exercises and even quit smoking support groups.
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