Stop Smoking Pages

Why is smoking so bad for you? Why all the fuss?

Well, it is sobering to realise that smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any single disease, as shown by the World Health Organisation. According to their figures, smoking is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide every year, and is a known or probable cause of approximately 25 diseases.

UK studies show that smokers in their thirties and forties are five times more likely to have a heart attack than non-smokers. This is because tobacco contributes to the hardening of the arteries, which can then become blocked and starve the heart of bloodflow, which then causes the attack.

Smoking also increases the risk of having a stroke, which can leave you unable to talk properly.

Another primary health risk associated with smoking is lung cancer, which kills more than 20,000 people in the UK every year.

US studies have shown that men who smoke increase their chances of dying from this disease by more than 22 times, and women who smoke increase this risk by nearly 12 times. Lung cancer is a difficult cancer to treat, and the long term survival rates are poor.

Smoking also increases the risk of oral, uterine, liver, kidney, bladder, stomach, cervical cancer, and leukaemia.

Another health problem associated with tobacco is emphysema, which, when combined with chronic bronchitis, produces chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

The lung damage which causes emphysema is irreversible, and makes it extremely difficult to breathe.

It is a horrible thought that if you smoke over your entire adult lifetime, there is a 50% chance that your eventual death will be smoking-related. Half of all these deaths will be in middle age – a time of life that most healthy people are enjoying, as their children have grown up, they have greater financial security, and they are looking for new interests, along with a good social life.

So, still fancy a cigarette?

Filed under: Health Effects | No Comments »

In French fashion smoking is still a major prop and models regularly appear smoking, even on the front cover of magazines, looking frighteningly chic and alluring, a juxtaposition that the British press is trying hard to avoid, and which would not be acceptable in the USA. In fact about 38% of French people smoke as opposed to 25% of English people, and smoking has somehow always been seen as a particularly French trait.

It is only from January 1st 2008 that France has become subject to a ban on smoking in cafes, nightclubs and restaurants.

As far as French cafes are concerned, it seems that since the ban smokers are now all out on the terraces, where proprietors can create smoking areas, providing the structures are neither permanent nor completely enclosed. This is reminiscent of the fact that, as soon as the smoking ban came in in England, a lot of pubs created a little “pavement cafe” on the street outside, where patrons could sit and puff away, which seemed to work quite well in streets that had been pedestrianized, where there is space for the tables. In France, there are even smoking tables set outside within cellophane walls. In both France and the UK, life has been made a bit easier for the smokers now reduced to puffing outdoors by the provision of outdoor heaters, so that they don’t completely freeze to death in the wintertime.

In terms of France’s capital, apparently eighty per cent of Parisians approve of the ban, and people are taking it quite well, with no signs of smokers being inclined to flout the law.

So it looks as though the smoking ban may well hasten some changes in French cultural attitudes towards smoking. Let’s hope so!

Filed under: Smoking bans | No Comments »

The late Allen Carr wrote a number of books on how to stop smoking, having stopped smoking himself after 31 years as a 100-cigarette-a-day chain smoker.

Born in London, he started smoking at the age of 18, while doing National Service, and finally managed to quit at the age of 48, after seeing a hypnotherapist. Carr always maintained that it was not the hypnotherapy itself that enabled him to quit – it was just that seeing the hypnotherapist helped him to realise that it was not going to be difficult to stop.

Carr always argued that smokers do not receive a boost from smoking – it just relieves the withdrawal symptoms from the previous cigarette, and in turn creates more withdrawal symptoms once it has been finished. In this way the drug addiction perpetuates itself. However, he believed that smoking is much less addictive than is commonly believed, and that the withdrawal symptoms are to some extent caused by feelings of doubt and fear in the mind. If these feelings can be removed, then quitting smoking is not as difficult as people think.

This book has received a high number of rave reviews, and it seems that a significant number of people have been able to quit as a result of reading it. Naturally, if people are reading a book about giving up smoking, they are already finding the motivation to give up – nevertheless this book in particular seems to be highly rated.

One of the key points of the book is that it does not require you to actually give up smoking until just before the end, and some claim that by that time you reach the end, you have quit smoking anyway. Some reviewers claim that reading the book actually stops you enjoying cigarettes. There are some criticisms that the book is quite long, and repetitive in parts, but readers also feel that the repetition serves a purpose, and that it works.

So, if you are looking for a book that will help you to quit smoking, this one could be worth a try.

Filed under: Books, Ways to Quit | No Comments »

One method that may help you to give up smoking is counselling. Counselling is not a specific technique of quitting smoking as such, but rather a method that can help you overcome a number of problems, and simply clarify your own ideas about how to deal with them. When you seek counselling, what happens is that you arrange to meet with your counsellor on a regular basis, usually once a week. At these sessions you talk through with your counsellor some of the methods that you might use to give up smoking. Also discussed will be things such as what led you to smoking in the first place, why you continued to smoke after that, what situations seem to lead you to smoking, as so on. There will be a significant amount of discussion about strategies and tactics for giving up smoking, and how you are managing as time goes on.

Your counsellor may ask you to do certain exercises such as keep a simple journal, or log the times when you feel like you need a cigarette. The counsellor will be able to advise you on different methods for giving up smoking, and which would work the best for you, as well as offering advice about group therapy, and group support.

Many people find that counselling can help them to give up smoking because it helps to be able to discuss the problem and their progress with a professional on a regular basis. The client does not feel like they are just struggling on their own.

If you decide to seek counselling make sure that you see a professionally qualified counsellor. You could try asking your doctor for recommendations, or try Quit for advice.

Here are some useful links:

British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy

American Counseling Association

Australian Counselling Association

Filed under: Ways to Quit | No Comments »

We are into February at last, and for those of you who made a New Year’s Resolution to give up smoking, now is a good time to take stock of the situation.

Christmas and New Year probably now seem like dim and distant memories. Many of us are living in the cold latitudes, and with the grey skies, snow and darkness, spring seems like a long way off. New Year’s Resolutions are starting to feel a bit forgotten.

If you made a New Year’s resolution to quit at New Year, there are three possible scenarios: either you managed to stay off the cigarettes and have just reached that significant milestone of one full month smoke free, or you “quit” at New Year but have been sneaking a few cigarettes here and there, or you have lapsed back into smoking at your usual rate.

If you fall into the first category, I have nothing but admiration for you. I congratulate you, and wish you all the best for February, hoping that it will be another smoke free month for you.

If you fall into the second, I still say well done. You may have had a few cigarettes, but on the whole you have managed to stay off them, and your smoking level is significantly down compared to your previous habits. Even though you have lapsed once in a while, you have still managed to get yourself back to the almost smoke free route.

And how about the third category? Well, a lot of people end up in this situation, and don’t let the fact that you have gone back to smoking put you off trying again. For most people it takes a few false starts before they manage to start seriously giving up. If you seriously want to quit, then plan again, make that appointment for the smoking cessation clinic, contact Quit, join a support group and give it another go. Remember – the important thing is to not give up giving up.

Filed under: General, Relapses | No Comments »

If the advertisements I see in the newspapers are anything to go by, the proponents of neurolinguistic programming, or NLP, make some pretty fantastic claims on its behalf. They claim that one session will make you smoke free for life, and they charge a pretty hefty fee too – one ad in my local paper offered NLP to stop you smoking forever for a one-off fee of £200 (about $400). So let’s examine the claims.

For starters, what exactly is NLP? Well, NLP is an alternative approach to psychotherapy based on the subjective study of language, communication and personal change, particularly in relation to being successful at things, with an emphasis upon how to change your life.

NLP came to prominence in the early 1980’s when it was heralded as an important advance in psychotherapy and counseling, but by the mid 1980’s it started to fall out of favour, as it was suggested that there was little evidence that it worked. So it still seems to be an unproven treatment. The models and tools of NLP have been used widely outside of psychotherapy in business communication, management training, teaching, executive coaching and motivational seminars.

My advice is, try it by all means, but only if the fee seems like a reasonable amount for the time offered. Don’t accept that one session will stop you smoking forever – chances are it won’t. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it will take time to wean yourself off nicotine.

Ask yourself this – is the NLP practitioner offering you any more than you can get from books, support groups, your doctor, and nicotine patches? If all you are being offered is a wild promise, hold onto your cash and spend it on some form of nicotine replacement. If, on the other hand, the fee seems reasonable, give it a go and then decide whether it seems like good value for money, and whether it is worth continuing with this method or not.

Filed under: Ways to Quit | No Comments »

Shiatsu is yet another treatment that uses the traditional Chinese concept of the flow of qi, or life force, within the body, yet without involving needles. Shiatsu actually originated in Japan, and the word shiatsu comes from the word shi meaning finger, and atsu meaning pressure, although hands, elbows, and even feet and knees can be used to appy the pressure to the body. The pressure can range from gentle to powerful, but always within the range of comfort of the person being treated.

Shiatsu is a traditional Japanese hands-on therapy which is based on anatomical and physiological theory, incorporating Japanese massage traditions, and ideas from Chinese traditional medicine. Shiatsu is widely practised in Japan, and to receive shiatsu is a very relaxing and calming experience. Many practitioners of acupuncture also practice shiatsu.

It is probably because of its ability to induce feelings of calmness that shiatsu has come to be used in smoking cessation, and the anecdotal evidence is that there seems to be some degree of success, although, to my knowledge, no formal scientific research has been done into whether shiatsu is seriously effective or not in helping people to give up smoking.

So, as with many methods that may or may not help you to quit smoking, the answer probably is to give it a try, and see if it helps you personally or not. Much of the efficacy of shiatsu may well be down to the fact that it just helps you to relax, and accept life without cigarettes.

Filed under: Treatment Options | No Comments »

If you want to take advantage of some of the ideas of Chinese health philosophy, which postulates that the health of a person is dependent on the energy known as qi, and that disturbances in this flow can be rectified by traditional Chinese medicine, and yet you don’t like the idea of needles, perhaps you could try a technique known as moxa, which can also be used to stimulate healing responses and restore the natural balance of the body.

So what is this thing known as moxa? Moxa is practised by acupuncturists as a supplement to, or an alternative to the needle treatment. With moxa, a smouldering herb is used to warm the acupuncture points and to encourage the body’s energy to flow smoothly. Moxa is also sometimes called moxibustion.

Moxa generally uses the mugwort herb, which is from where it takes its name, the word moxa coming from the Japanese pronunciation of the word for the herb, mogusa. The mugwort is aged, and ground up into a fluff; which can be further processed into a stick which is then burnt on the patient’s skin – entirely painlessly, and leaving no marks.

It seems that moxa can improve the overall relaxation of the body, helping the individual to have a better sense of wellbeing, and to give up smoking.

Other methods of stimulating the acupuncture points also include the use of lasers or electro-acupuncture. There are also techniques of massage or tapping with a rounded probe.

So, burning a little mugwort on your skin may help to stop you burning tobacco.

Filed under: Ways to Quit, Treatment Options | No Comments »

Let’s face it – a lot of people are put off acupuncture due to fear of needles. But, if that’s the way you feel, then maybe it’s time to think again – having acupuncture done is nothing like having an injection or a blood test, and in fact many people find the experience surprisingly relaxing, almost akin to having a massage.

So how does acupuncture work, and how can it help you to stop smoking?

The principles of acupuncture are based on a holistic approach to health, which, amazingly, have been refined over two thousand years in the East, and is as much about the maintenance of health as the management of disease, through improving the overall wellbeing of the patient.

According to traditional Chinese philosophy, our health is dependent on the motivating energy of the body known as qi, which moves in a smooth and balanced way through channels beneath the skin. This flow of qi can be disturbed by many factors, including the physical, mental and emotional. By inserting fine needles into these channels of energy, the acupuncturist can stimulate the body’s own healing response and help to restore its natural balance.

Part of the approach taken by acupuncturists in the treatment of smoking, is to understand what imbalance in the body has driven the patient towards smoking in the first place. It could be that smoking was initiated as a response to stress, for example. Acupuncture aims to remove the causes of smoking, such as stress and dysfunction, and prepare and strengthen the body for doing without nicotine.

But does acupuncture really help you to give up smoking? It seems that the jury is still out on this one, and there does not seem to be any conclusive evidence one way or the other, although, anecdotally, many people say that receiving acupuncture has helped them to give up. In this case, it seems that the only thing to do is to give it a try, and see if it works for you.

Make sure that the acupuncturist you consult is properly accredited, for example, in the UK this will be The British Acupuncture Council, in the US The American Academy of Medical Acupuncture, and in Australia The Australian Medical Acupuncture College.

Filed under: Ways to Quit | No Comments »

To keep you motivated in your quest to give up smoking, let’s think about some of the health benefits that you are about to enjoy as a result of quitting. Firstly, you are reducing your risk of developing illness or disability caused by cancer, heart or lung disease – and of course you are extending your life by giving up. Just think how much nicer it is to be fit and enjoying life, instead of having to be in hospital!

You are reducing your risk of gangrene or amputation which would be caused by circulatory problems related to smoking.

You will be protecting the health of those around you by not exposing them to secondhand smoke – so your family and friends will immediately notice the benefits. Your non-smoking friends won’t feel that they need to avoid you because you are filling their air with so much smelly smoke.

If you and your spouse are thinking of having a family, then you will improve your fertility levels, and, if you are female, you will improve your chances of a healthy pregnancy and baby.

The chances of your children ever suffering from asthma or glue ear will be much reduced. Healthier children means happier children.

You will no longer smell of stale tobacco smoke, and the appearance of your skin and teeth will improve.

Your home will smell fresher, and it will be less likely to catch fire.

Your breathing and general fitness will improve no end. Your friends will start to notice that you look healthier.

You will discover that food has suddenly become much tastier, and so you will enjoy your food more.

Now with such great benefits, giving up smoking is something to really look forward to!

Filed under: Health Effects | No Comments »