7 reasons to quit smoking!!

You might know but smoking is bad for your health. The effects of smoking on the health are very serious - it can lead to very serious consequences such as lung cancer, bronchitis, pneumonia and more…In this article I’ll tell you 7(seven) reasons you have to quit smoking as soon as possible!

Quit Smoking Reason #1
Smoking causes the skin to age prematurely and fine lines and wrinkles to develop. Why?

Smokers tend to pucker their mouth when they puff on their cigarette. The constant contractions of the muscles around the area of the mouth cause wrinkles to develop around the mouth.

Quit Smoking Reason #2
This is another reason why smokers tend to develop fine lines and wrinkles. Smokers tend to close their eyes tight to avoid cigarette smoke in their eyes. Wrinkles may also develop around the eyes.

Quit Smoking Reason #3
Smoking causes the carbon monoxide levels in the blood to increase. This promotes the formation of age-inducing free radicals.

Quit Smoking Reason #4
Nicotine has adrenaline-like effects. It causes blood vessels to constrict. That reduces oxygen supply to the tissues. Heavy smokers have an almost five-fold increased risk of wrinkles compared to those who don’t.

Quit Smoking Reason #5
Smoking also delays wound healing. In a study of 120 women undergoing laparotomy (exploratory surgery), women who smoked had poorer scars compared to non-smokers.

Quit Smoking Reason #6
Smoking causes many health problems, some of which are serious and life threatening. Smoking has been known to cause lung cancer.

Quit Smoking Reason #7
Smoking also depletes the body’s stores of Vitamin C. In one study, smokers with similar intake of Vitamin C had consistently lower blood Vitamin C levels compared to non-smokers. Vitamin C is involved in the synthesis of collagen and is a powerful anti-oxidant in itself.

quit smoking, start remembering and don't forget it

I bet you know that when you get older your memory is not what it used to be when you were young, this is normal. Yes but do you know exactly why? Don’t you want to know how to help you retain or increase your memory? Did you know there are 4 main reasons for this degeneration?

1. Reduction in Neurotransmitters, especially acetylcholine causes decline in your brain function.
2. Reduced blood circulation. The brain uses a significant proportion of all blood. Any impediment to blood flow therefore has a huge impact on brain function.
3. Effects of Cortisol. Cortisol is produced in your brain when you are stressed and damages your Hippocamus which basically converts short term memories to long term ones. The damage in the hippocampus also triggers further production of cortisol setting off a ever increasing cycle of cell damage.
4. Free radical damage. Free radicals are atoms that have an electron imbalance and are constantly seeking to steal an electron to make itself whole. This process of stealing electrons from cells causes cell damage. Brain cells are no exception and brain cell damage also occurs due to free radical activity.

“Ok, these are the reasons, show me how to increase my memory!”. There are many ways to limiting and preventing brain degeneration:

1. Limit alchohol intake and quit smoking will help you reduce the free radical damage and brain damage.
   
2. Limit your intake of salt, fat and cholesterol. Eat plenty of fresh fruits and foods high in antioxidants.
3. Do exercises, don’t become overweight.
4. Control your blood presure.
5. Don’t stress to much!
6. Eat fish. They contain Omega 3 fatty acids which helps you in the battle with the free radical damage.
7. Limit the depression, it affect the way your brain processes information and retrieves it.
8. Do mental exercises like playing board games.

Timeline of quit smoking health benefits:

• After 20 minutes - Both your blood pressure and your pulse rate will have stabilised at a more natural level. As your circulation improves, the temperature in your hands and feet increases to a normal level as the arteries recover.
• After 8 hours - The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops as the amount of oxygen carried throughout the body increases. Smoking hinders both brain and muscle functions by reducing the amount of oxygen available to inadequate levels. The levels of carbon monoxide will now be reduced to a level about 50% of what they used to be when you smoked. Another benefit, probably more noticeable to people other than the ex-smoker themselves, is that “smoker’s breath” becomes less pronounced.
• After 24 hours - Not only is your body now functioning more efficiently, the chances of enjoying your improved health are also increased. Not smoking for a day is all it takes to reduce your statistical chances of suffering a heart attack and improve your chances of surviving one. It also takes about 24 hours for the last of the extra carbon monoxide from smoking to be eliminated from your body.
• After 48 hours - Your senses of taste and smell have become much keener compared to their previously dulled state. Excess mucus and toxic debris that has collected over time will begin to be cleared from the lungs. Although there will initially be an increase in the amount of mucus dislodged from the lungs, breathing will gradually become easier. Amazingly, those nerve endings that were damaged by the smoking habit will begin to regenerate once you quit.
• After 72 hours - Your bronchial tubes become more relaxed and less constricted, making it easier to breathe. The risk of thrombosis is reduced as the blood’s clotting agents return to normal.
• After 2 to 3 weeks - Your lung capacity will have increased by up to 30%. In combination with improved circulation, this means that you will find it easier to engage in physical exercise.
• After 1 to 9 months - You will experience less coughing, wheezing, sinus congestion and shortness of breath. The fatigue associated with these symptoms will decrease as your overall energy levels continue to rise. As the microscopic, hairlike cilia regrow, they increase the lung’s ability to purify the air by once again filtering out impurities and clearing mucus. This also reduces the chances of developing an infection, especially in the sinuses.
• After 1 year - The excess risk of coronary heart disease is now approximately half that of a smoker.
• After 2 years - The risk of a heart attack drops to a more normal level.
• After 5 years - The risk of developing cancer of the mouth, throat or oesophagus will now be half that of a smoker. Abstaining from smoking for between 5 to 15 years will mean that you have reduced your risk of having a stroke to the equivalent of a non-smoker.
• After 10 years - Your lung cancer death rate will now be equivalent to that of a non-smoker. The risk of developing other cancers, such as cancer of the kidneys, pancreas or bladder, is decreased. Healthy cells gradually replace pre-cancerous cells in the body.
• After 15 years - Your risk of developing coronary heart disease will be the same as that of a life-long non-smoker.

* The timeline may be different for different people, just as some people are naturally healthier to begin with, the fact remains that your body will be better off once you quit smoking.

There is Easy Way To Stop Smoking - Be Brave!!

always an easy way to stop smoking. The question is how. Changing your mindset is the simplest thing to do to quit smoking. But often, simple things in life seem the toughest.

Years of smoking make your brain believe that smoking is an integral part of you. You become emotionally attached with cigarettes and the question is to severe the emotional links. Smoking habit is a psychologically addictive habit rather than a nicotine habit and the easiest way to quit it, is to shake up those beliefs associated with smoking.

Smokers never claim that their habit is a healthy one. They would say that smoking helps them to relax. Start with listing all the positives smoking brings to your life and then detach your self and question them. You would see those positives are nothing but illusions.
Every New Year people make resolutions to quit smoking but finally they fail. So you need something to assist you to make your resolution come true and find an easy way to stop smoking.

There are various aids, some of which are available in the market to help you to quit smoking:
- Nicotine patches, nasal sprays, gums, lozenges, inhalers are some of the stuffs to help you to reduce your nicotine craving.- Natural cures to give up smoking are calamas and chamomile. Chew the root of the first one to reduce your desire of smoking and take the second one 3 to 6 times a day to help yourself relax.- Hypnotherapy is one of the best ways to quit smoking. It is 60% to 70% successful to help you put off your bad habit. Hypnotherapy reaches your sub conscious to cleanse your mind from the cravings of nicotine. According to an analysis in 1992 by New Scientist Magazine, proved that hypnosis is 60% successful in helping people to quit smoke. Usually a single session may prove helpful or you may get a stop smoking CD to carry on with the session according to your time.- Acupuncture, aromatherapy, meditation and complete relaxation practices are other ways to put off the bad habit.- Sheer determination and will power are very important to quit smoking.- Counseling is a great support to boost your will power. Many private, governmental and charitable organizations provide stop smoking counseling.- Proper medication can also help you to quit smoking according to doctor's recommendation.

You just have to opt the best and an easy way to stop smoking. In the beginning you may feel anxious, irritable and craving for nicotine but in the long run a healthy and strong life awaits you.

pictures about effect of smoking

Quit smoking

Smokers who die as a direct result of smoking lose 16 years of life on average. Quitting smoking halves your risk of getting lung cancer or heart disease, stoke or chronic lung disease within a few years!. After 10 to 15 years, it is the risk of cancer and heart disease drops to the same as a non-smoker. Ex-smokers save thousands of dollars per year (or more if they are from Britain) to spend on holidays and luxuries they otherwise couldn? t afford! Quitting smoking sets a role model to your children, grand children, friends and family - gaining you respect and filling you with pride.

How does smoking affect your body?

What are the short term effects of smoking?

Brain - Increase in carbon monoxide and reduced oxygen may lead to sub-optimal brain functioning.

Ears - Reduced blood flow causing deafness.

Eyes - Watery, sore eyes which may impair vision.

Mouth - Unpleasant sense of taste and sensation in lips, tongue, and throat.

- Bad breath and mouth infections.

Nose - Reduced sense of smell.

Skin - Decreased skin temperature

- Early wrinkles on the face.

Lungs - Difficulty in breathing and reduced athletic performance.

What are the long term effects of smoking?

• Cancers (e.g. of the Lung, Breast, Mouth-throat and Intestine).
• Heart diseases.
• Strokes.
• Lung diseases (e.g. asthma, bronchitis).
• Mouth and gum diseases.
• Ulcer (stomach, peptic).
• Osteoporosis (bone thinning).
• Infertility (unable to produce babies).
• Low sex drive.
• Impotence.

Smoking: What Are The Effects?

Effects of tobacco smoke
Tar in cigarettes coats the lungs and can cause lung and throat cancer in smokers. It is also responsible for the yellow brown staining on smokers' fingers and teeth.

Carbon monoxide in cigarettes robs the muscles, brain and blood of oxygen, making the whole body especially the heart — work harder. Over time this causes airways to narrow and blood pressure to rise, and can lead to heart attack and stroke. High levels of CO, together with nicotine, increase the risk of heart disease, hardening of the arteries and other circulatory problems. A first-time smoker will often feel dizzy and sick.

‘Light’ or ‘low tar’ cigarettes
Research has shown that there is little difference between the amount of chemicals inhaled by people who smoke ‘light’ or ‘low tar’ cigarettes and those who smoke regular cigarettes. People who smoke ‘light’ cigarettes have the same risk of developing smoking-related diseases as people who smoke regular cigarettes.

Immediate effects
Soon after smoking tobacco, the following effects may be experienced:

• initial stimulation, then reduction in brain and nervous system activity;
• enhanced alertness and concentration;
• mild euphoria;
• feelings of relaxation;
• increased blood pressure and heart rate;
• decreased blood flow to body extremities like the fingers and toes;
• dizziness, nausea, watery eyes and acid in the stomach; and
• decreased appetite, taste and smell.

Overdose
Although rare, it is possible to overdose on the nicotine in tobacco.

Very large doses of nicotine can result in an increase in the unpleasant effects, including feelings of faintness and confusion, and a rapid decrease in blood pressure and breathing rate.

In some cases, it can lead to convulsions and death from respiratory failure. 60 milligrams of nicotine taken orally can be fatal for an adult.

Long-term effects
It is estimated that more than 140,000 hospital episodes and 19,000 deaths in Australia can be attributed to tobacco use every year. The principal diagnoses are cancer, heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Passive smoking
Passive smoking can cause a number of health problems including heart disease, lung cancer and irritation of the eyes and nose. It involves breathing in tobacco smoke from other people's cigarettes: smoke that has been exhaled or smoke from the end of a lit cigarette.

50 Australians die every day from smoking, compared to 10 who die from alcohol-related conditions and 4 who die as a result of road accidents.

Tolerance and dependence
People who use tobacco tend to develop a tolerance to the effects of the nicotine in the tobacco very quickly. This means they need to smoke more and more in order to get the same effect.

With repeated use of tobacco, the risk of dependence on nicotine is high. Dependence on nicotine can be physiological, psychological or both.

People who are physically dependent on nicotine find their body has become used to functioning with the nicotine present and may experience withdrawal symptoms when they reduce their nicotine intake.

People who are psychologically dependent on nicotine may find they feel an urge to smoke when they are in specific surroundings, such as at the pub, or in particular situations such as during their lunch break or socialising with friends.

Research has shown that smoking is often associated with different roles and meanings for smokers, including the following.

• Social roles, such as enjoyment of the company of friends, the drinking of coffee or alcohol, and promoting social confidence and feelings of independence (particularly for young women).

• Emotional roles — caring for the self, such as helping to deal with stress and anxiety, weight control and providing ‘companionship’.

• Temporal roles, such as connecting the flow of events or time in the smoker's day, providing a break from work or activities and relieving boredom.

This may be why smoking is sometimes referred to as the most difficult drug to give up.

Withdrawal
If a person who is dependent on the nicotine in tobacco suddenly stops using it or reduces the amount they use, they will experience withdrawal symptoms because their body has to readjust to functioning without the drug.

Most of these symptoms will disappear within days or weeks of quitting smoking, but cravings may persist for years after stopping using tobacco.

Symptoms include:

• cravings;
• irritability, agitation, depression and anxiety;
• insomnia and disturbed sleeping patterns;
• increased appetite and weight gain;
• restlessness and loss of concentration;
• headaches;
• coughing and sore throat;
• body aches and pains; and
• stomach and bowel upsets.

Cigarette Ingredients

What is in a cigarette?

A cigarette (French) "small cigar", from cigar + -ette) is a product consumed through smoking and finely cut tobacco leaves and reconstituted tobacco, often combined with other additives, then rolled or stuffed into a paper-wrapped cylinder (generally less than 120 mm in length and 10 mm in diameter). The cigarette is ignited at one end and allowed to smoulder for the purpose of inhalation of its smoke from the other (usually filtered) end, which is inserted in the mouth. They are sometimes smoked with a cigarette holder. The term cigarette, as commonly used, refers to a tobacco cigarette but can apply to similar devices containing other herbs, such as cannabis. and manufactured out of cured

Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT.

Nicotine is highly addictive. Smoke containing nicotine is inhaled into the lungs, and the nicotine reaches your brain in just six seconds.

Cigarettes contain over 4,000 ingredients other than tobacco and cigarette smoke contains 69 carcinogens. In addition to common additives such as yeast, wine, caffeine, beeswax and chocolate, cigarettes contain various ingredients with other common uses:

Acetic Acid: vinegar

Acetone: nail polish remover

Ammonia: cleaning agent

Arsenic: poison, used as an insecticide

Butane: lighter fluid

Cadmium: found in batteries

DDT: insecticide outlawed by the US Government in the 1970’s because of human teratogenic (birth defect) properties

Ethanol: alcohol

Formaldehyde: substance used to preserve body tissue; a known carcinogen

Hexamine: barbecue lighter

Hydrogen cyanide: gas chamber poison

Methanol: rocket fuel

Naphthalene: moth balls

Nitrobenzene: gasoline additive

Toluene: an industrial solvent

Vinyl chloride: plastic piping

Tips to stop smoking

Some tips to help you quit smoking are listed. First and foremost, set a quit date and quit COMPLETELY on that day. To prepare for that day:

* Identify the times you are most likely to smoke. For example, do you tend to smoke when feeling stressed? When you are out at night with friends? While you are drinking coffee? When you are bored? While you are driving?
* Keep a diary to help you determine such risky times. Record each time you have a cigarette, including time of day and what you are doing.
* Make a plan about what you will do instead of smoking at those times that you are most likely to smoke. For example, drink tea instead of coffee -- tea may not trigger the desire for a cigarette. Or, take a walk when feeling stressed. Remove ashtrays and cigarettes from the car. Place pretzels or hard candies there instead. Pretend-smoke with a straw.
* Let all of your friends, family, and co-workers know of your plan to stop smoking and your quit date. Just being aware that they know can be a helpful reminder and motivator.
* Prior to your quit date, start reducing your cigarette use, including decreasing the number and strength of the cigarettes. However, DON'T do this simply to make your diary "look good!" Get rid of all of your cigarettes just prior to the quit date and clean out anything that smells like smoke, such as clothes and furniture.

Other tips that can help you quit and stay quit include:

* Enroll in a smoking cessation program (hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites frequently offer programs).
* Ask your health care provider for advice, including whether prescription medications (such as bupropion -- Zyban or Wellbutrin) are safe and appropriate for you.
* Find out about nicotine patches, gum, and sprays.
* Try hypnosis -- it works for some people.
* Avoid smoke-filled settings and situations in which you are more likely to smoke.
* Exercise to relieve urges to smoke.

Let's try those tips to stop smoking.

Ways to quit smoking

Welcome to my blog. In this blog you'll learn about how to stop smoking, ways to quit smoking, and effects of smoking. It is very hard to quit smoking. Everyone, including non smokers know this as a fact. Tremendous will power is required to quit smoking once and for all. The fact of the matter is that you actually need a lot of drive to say good bye to smoking once and for all.

There are some symptoms which become difficult to bear when you quit smoking. These symptoms are known as withdrawal symptoms. The withdrawal symptoms take the shape of anxiety, cravings, irritation and a lack of concentration. This happens because the body craves for Nicotine.

Now, here is some good news. The good news is that there are a number of ways to quit smoking. You only need to find the most suitable method to quit smoking. Try a particular method in case you find it is suitable.