Cigarette Smoking And Tobacco Addiction

March 7th, 2010

Everyone knows that tobacco addiction is one of the hardest addictions to shake, but does this mean that you need to accept tobacco controlling your life? No, hundreds and thousands have quit and you too can gain control over tobacco. With some simple strategies, determination, and the knowledge that every time you use tobacco you are making a choice, you too can be tobacco free.

No ones life is untouched by tobacco addiction. Most everyone has someone in their lives fighting this addiction or someone in their lives who has died from tobacco related diseases. We all know that smoking or other wise ingesting tobacco is at best not good for us and at the worst might kill us with a long slow painful death, so why on earth do we do it? Smoking control is something that seems to totally allude most people. While many of us can be casual drinkers who have a glass of wine at a party or with dinner, but feel no need to always have a bottle on hand smoking control does not seem to be such an easy thing to achieve.

Since we all agree that smoking control is something that is not easy to attain, what can we do about tobacco addiction? How do we regain control of this part of our lives? The first and most important step in giving up smoking is to acknowledge how challenging what you are attempting is. Smoking is a life long addition that people go back to after years of being tobacco free. This information is not meant to depress you, or to discourage your efforts. You need to realize that you are about to fight a knock down drag out fight. This is a fight that can only be won by never giving up, never allowing your guard down and not allowing yourself to sabotage your own efforts. Respect your opponent and when you slip up, put it behind you and keep on fighting.

Use gum, or anything else you can find that you think might work for you and reward yourself for your successes. Many people like to save up the money they save not buying cigarettes to buy themselves trips, gifts, etc. The biggest reward that you will get from your determination to stick with your fight to gain control over smoking is the pride you will feel, the boost to your self esteem and knowing that you can do anything you set your mind to.

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Nicotine, Addiction, and Stopping Smoking

March 6th, 2010

Nicotine is an interesting substance. It is an alkaloid this is a bitter tasting poison manufactured by plants and stored in their leaves and stems to stop them being eaten by animals. It is a friendly warning from the plant world to the animal world saying ‘don’t eat this it will make you ill’.


Humans are well known for living out of harmony with their natural environment.


I’ve yet to treat a smoker who isn’t surprised when I tell them that nicotine is a highly toxic poison. They don’t know that they are smoking something that is three times as toxic as arsenic and more lethal than strychnine. They are also surprised that nicotine is used as a pesticide and is so toxic that a few drops of the pure substance on the skin can be fatal. This is quite important. Nicotine does not have to be ingested to kill you.

A lethal dose can be quite easily absorbed via the skin.


But of course it is obvious that nicotine can be absorbed through the skin because otherwise nicotine patches would be a waste of time wouldn’t they?


And of course there is that other favourite – the nicotine gum; so you can spend hours exercising your jaw muscles and get your poison absorbed through the lining of your mouth, throat and stomach.


The real problem is that smokers are treated like addicts who are so addicted that it is a complete waste of time even bothering to even attempt to wean them off the substance they are ‘addicted’ to. All that modern medical science can do for these poor addicts is to separate out the toxin from all the other nasty stuff in the tobacco leaf and give it to them in a pure form.

In its pure form it takes just 60mg of nicotine to turn a 150lb adult into a corpse.


And it does it very rapidly. So it seems like a really good idea to chew this stuff and stick it in close contact with your skin doesn’t it?


I get smokers coming to see me for help in quitting. A significant number have tried patches or gum. Quite often they tell me they ended up using the gum, or the patches, and smoking as well. That was when they realised they needed some real help if they were to succeed in stopping.


About 600 years ago the very best minds on this planet had no doubts at all that what we know as planet Earth was as flat as a pancake. They were mistaken. Those minds were just as intelligent as the minds we use today. We just have greater knowledge and more recorded history. About 500 years ago the very best minds on this planet thought the sun revolved around the Earth. They were mistaken too.


Some of the very best minds on the planet today believe that nicotine is addictive in the same way that heroine is addictive.

They are mistaken.


Most cigarettes are smoked in response to environmental stimuli e,g, a glass of beer, a cup of coffee, food (afterwards, not during), driving, getting off an aeroplane, telephone calls, sex (afterwards, not during), commercial breaks…

This is not an addiction it is training.


Hypnosis interferes with the automatic (i.e. without thought) responses that trigger lighting up.


Hypnosis makes giving up easier than it can be otherwise.

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Quit Smoking – the Addiction and the Habit

March 5th, 2010

If you want to quit smoking then there are two main obstacles that you will have to face and overcome. Firstly there is the physical addition you will have developed to nicotine over time. Secondly there is the actual habit of smoking itself. We are all individuals and we react to all kinds of situations in different ways but for me it was the habit that was the hardest to break.

I quit back in 2003 and I remember getting over the physical addiction quite quickly. Itâ??s been a while but if I remember correctly it only took about a couple of weeks. It was the habit that I found really tough to shake. It was about six full months after Iâ??d stopped smoking and I was still patting my pockets to make sure Iâ??d got my cigarettes with me when I left the house. I would be sitting at my PC and without even thinking about it, Iâ??d reach out for a cigarette.

Some people may say that this behaviour is all part of the physical addiction but I donâ??t define it in this way. My physical cravings for tobacco had long since disappeared. I was no longer on edge and I really didn’t feel the need to smoke. On the other hand I was still going through the motions of a smoker. This was understandable because Iâ??d been smoking for well over twenty years and was used to having a cigarette in my hand. This is the reason why I define this aspect as habit.

There is no getting away from the fact that if you make the decision to quit then itâ??s going to be tough whether itâ??s the addiction that you find hard to break or the habit. Just keep focusing on the benefits and keep on the right path. In time youâ??ll look back on the day you stopped and it will rank way up there as one of the best days of your life.

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Your Smoking Addiction can be Un-hooked and Un-trapped

March 5th, 2010

Hooked, trapped, desperate – Oh these words are so heart wringing. Are those that utter these soul-searing cries being tied up by their thumbs? Or have they fallen down an old mine shaft?


Well, umm, no, they have… well they have made a decision to become hooked, trapped and desperate.


See the news blog tumbling out… Scottish smokers, hooked on their smoking addiction have vowed to fight the smoking bans.


Read the Press Release from the pharmaceutical company announcing… Smokers trapped by their smoking addiction are offered a new drug.


Hear the media babbling… Britney Spears’ husband is desperate to quit smoking for the sake of their children.


I bet if you are a smoker, you don’t really use these strong words… more like, “I’d really like to quit, but I enjoy smoking, or, I’ve tried to quit but it’s too hard, or, I want to quit, but I’m so addicted I don’t think I can, or, I’m too scared, what if… ” and so on.


But are smokers totally at the mercy of their habit and spinelessly despairing of escaping its bonds? Would they describe their smoking addiction like that? Trapped? Trapped by a chemical and emotional fix? They’re not trapped by their decision, that’s for sure, because we all have the ability to make our own decisions, yes or no as we wish.


A person makes a decision to try smoking. For some that leads to more decisions to reach out and take more cigarettes maybe a week or so later. Then some more, then pretty soon as the nicotine gets its grips into the brain’s receptors, the person finds it becomes harder and harder not to go out of his or her way to acquire cigarettes to smoke… and hey presto, because of their decisions, they are now supposedly a hooked, trapped smoker, and if they want to quit, they are desperate.


But it still comes down to a decision to smoke. Every time a smoker lights up it is a decision they have made. A simple, personal decision, along with 1000’s of other decisions each day that make up that person’s character, lifestyle, mood, health and future.


A daily decision to get out of bed is made.


A decision not to have another helping of food is made.


You decide to clean the house, take the dog out in the rain, stack the dishes, and sort out your accounts for tax.


You don’t dwell on how you’ll miss lingering in your warm bed, or how you’ll suffer without more food, or how unpleasant it will be to walk the dog in the rain, do the dishes, tax etc.


No, with unpleasant decisions you simply do what needs to be done because the consequences not to would be worse.


Some people make daily major decisions, sacrificing a lot because of a goal worth aiming for, such as a champion swimmer rising at 5am to practice 2 hrs before breakfast. Thus it is with smoking, or exercise, or getting out of bed in the morning. It’s a matter of making the decision and focusing on the outcome.


You know it’s absolutely pointless to try to worm your way out of getting out of bed. Who would you worm to anyway! But the point is it’s automatic, although for some people it’s an effort, to get up in the morning, but it has to be done. Has to… and your decision is made, because the day beckons and there’s a whole lot of living to do.


You’re in charge of your decisions. You are not trapped; your brain and body are resisting, but no-one is tying you to your bed, so up you get… no-one is forcing you to have your smoking addiction, although your brain and body crave a smoke, so decide to get help to control it and focus on something better.


It’s your decision and the consequences are not that crash hot if you don’t make the right decisions.

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How to Prevent yourself From Getting Back to Smoking Addiction? Here Lies the Answer-

March 4th, 2010

Addressing all my internet buddies who have not yet fallen in the grip of smoking addiction and all those friends who are die hard smokers, I would like to reveal a few notes. These pointers are specific anti-smoking instructions that help smokers to pass their life quietly and securely after they quit smoking. Hopefully, after paying attention to what I am going to state here, those guys who are not yet stricken by the vice of smoking would pass off these tips to their smoking addicted friends and kinsmen and enable them to induce smoking cessation with ease.

After a smoking addicted guy incorporates the quit smoking tips suggested by the doctor and gets rid of smoking addiction, there are considerable chances that he would get caught up with cigarette addiction for the second time. Buddy dear, NICOTINE CRAVINGS ARE NOT SO EASY TO VANISH FROM YOUR CONSCIOUS MEMORY! To make your way out of the quandary, you can take the help of hypnosis in the post quitting phase if the cravings for nicotine have become unbearable for you. If your doctor suggests hypnosis or you, you can receive treatment under the care of a practiced hypnotist. Through hypnosis, he can persuade the conscious part of your brain to forget the desire for nicotine and when it happens you will not at all feel the need for the dreaded substance. And then, who is there to stop you from quitting smoking?

Another easy way out is to stop visiting the shops that sell cigarettes and avoiding the company of smokers. When you move around with people who have never touched cigarettes, then there are fewer chances that you would again start to take tobacco containing substances.

Are you all sensing me right, guys or am I not sounding close to reality? Hold on your nerves for a few minutes and listen to what I am geared up to state here. If after inquiry and research you find my postulations utterly bullshit you are welcome to toss them into the wastebasket.

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Smoking Addiction – What Keeps People Smoking

March 2nd, 2010

There is no question that smoking is addictive. However not everyone is affected the same way. Some people are never able to kick the habit while others seem to be able to quit on a whim.


It is the nicotine in the tobacco that is addictive. This chemical is absorbed by the brain where it changes the brain chemistry and affects your mood. The interior of your lungs contains a very large surface area designed to absorb oxygen into the blood stream. This same area also absorbs nicotine very well giving the smoker a sudden rush of nicotine. The nicotine is carried directly to the brain with each puff.


The mid-brain is the area of your brain that controls your moods and emotions; it is this area of the brain that nicotine targets. The presence of nicotine causes a relaxing pleasant feeling, however the absence of nicotine causes mood swings including irritability, anxiety and cravings. A nicotine replacement system such as nicotine gum can help alleviate these feelings.


Every time a smoker smokes the rush of nicotine immediately affects the brain, this helps to reinforce the smoking habit. When a person is trying to quit smoking they have to deal with the physical nicotine addiction as well as the psychological addiction to the act of smoking. For most people it is the habit of smoking that is harder to break than the physical addiction to nicotine.


Most smokers have many psychological triggers linked to smoking. Some of the more common ones are driving, talking on the phone and right after a meal. These are so strong that people have been known to reach for a cigarette during these times up to several years after they have quit. Stressful situations will frequently trigger strong cravings as well.


Despite the fact that nicotine is always addictive the level of physical addiction can vary dramatically from one person to the next. There seems to be a genetic link to this. Some people metabolize nicotine far faster than others; these people will have a much stronger physical addiction than someone whose body metabolizes it slower. There is an enzyme created in the liver that breaks down the nicotine. People with lower amounts of this enzyme are less likely to smoke and if they do smoke they are more likely to be light smokers.


It is possible that there is even a genetic link to the psychological addiction. There is evidence that how you handle stress is at least partially controlled by genetics. Since smoking is often used to help people handle stress your genes could influence this side of the smoking habit.


Despite all of this it is possible to quit smoking, more and more people are kicking the habit every day. For some people it is fairly easy to quit where as others will find it very difficult and will probably try and fail several times before they are able to quit for good. There are medical treatments as well as counseling and therapy to help with all aspects of quitting.


Just like any other habit the longer you have been doing it the harder it is to quit. Young smokers may find it easier to quit since the habit is not as ingrained as in some one that has been smoking for twenty or more years. People who have been smoking longer though are frequently more aware of the cost of smoking and can be far more motivated to quit.

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Stop Smoking Cigarette – The Easy Way Out Of A Vicious Addiction

March 2nd, 2010

Herbal therapies have gained currency in a very large way in the world. These therapies, which have been used for thousands of years in the eastern countries, have just lately proved their effectiveness to the rest of the world. Herbs are being used in a major way in smoke cessation today. There are many ways of taking in these herbs into the body, and one of the most common and popular ways to do so is the stop smoking cigarette.


There are many kinds of stop smoking cigarettes that are popular among smokers wanting to kick the habit, but the herbal cigarettes are the most common. People who have used them do acknowledge the fact that herbs can help to cure the system. The main ingredient of the stop smoking cigarette is lobelia, or the Indian tobacco, which is quite similar to nicotine, but without its addictive properties.


So, the herbal cigarette can satisfy the smokers urge, but at the same time would not cause addiction. Also, lobelia is an antidepressant; so it would help the smoker to fight against any kind of stress pangs that might occur. Herbal stop smoking cigarettes can also contain a host of other herbs like St. Johns Wort, chamomile, Gotu Cola, Kava Kava and others.


These stop smoking cigarettes work in three major ways at curing the smoking habit. First, they help the person to overcome the urge for smoking and gradually take him or her away from the addiction. Secondly, they help the smoker to fight against the depression, anxiety and stress that may occur when the habit is recently given up.


In most cases, it has been seen that smokers who are on a cessation would succumb to the addiction once again because they cannot face the cold turkey-like situation that comes in. Thirdly, the herbs in the stop smoking cigarette will slowly repair the damage that the years of smoking have caused in the persons body. With herbal remedies, there is always the possibility of taking the body back to the normal state of functioning.


The stop smoking cigarette does have many detractors, though. There are some people who claim that the smoking habit cannot be kicked by smoking. But, such claims are born out of ignorance, actually. Normal cigarettes contain two main ingredients – tar and nicotine. It is the tar that causes all the harm in the form of various kinds of cancers in the human body. Even the carbon monoxide contained in the cigarette smoke is extremely dangerous.


Realistically speaking, nicotine does not actually harm the body, but it only causes the addiction. People keep returning back to the cigarette because of the nicotine in it. In the herbal stop smoking cigarette, tar is totally absent, and even nicotine is replaced with a similar substance. The result is, the body is protected from the harmful effects of tar and also there is no chance of an addiction.


The FDA is still to approve herbal remedies, including the stop smoking cigarette. But if one were to go by the testimonials of the users, they would understand how strongly the trend of using herbal medicines has caught on. The popularity of the herbal stop smoking kit, SmokeRX, is one indication of this. It is evident that the stop smoking cigarette is going to be used in a big way for smoking cessation in the near future.

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Unable to Break Free of Smoking Addiction! Here is the Blueprint for You

February 28th, 2010

The unavailability of any effective anti- smoking measure to boost up your war against nicotine may ultimately result in your failure to induce smoking cessation. Medicines as well as a proper approach are the ultimate requirement which would further pave your way out of the vicious circle of smoking addiction. In order to adopt any form of anti-smoking treatment it is essential for you to figure out whether you re a smoking addict or not? When all your repeated attempts to accelerate smoking cessation fail and you experience withdrawal symptoms like headache, upset stomach, diarrhea, craving for tobacco at specific places and moments you can be sure of the fact that the time has arrived for you to rush off to your doctor and formulate your anti-smoking regimen in accordance with his instructions and recommendations.

But while you are on your way home from the doctor’s clinic, if a fellow approaches you and hands over a medicine rumored to be effective in helping you combat smoking addiction then not by any means you should procure it and endanger your own health and hygiene. Bogus medicines are highly advertised by their manufacturers as effective medications for inducing smoking cessation in adults and so a person unaware of the prevalence of illegal medicines in the market is likely to fall into the trap.

But ignoring the high-pitched false claims of the fake drug sellers, if you stick to the regimen instructed by your doctor and administer Chantix, the FDA (Food and Drugs Administration) approved anti-smoking medicine to your body then all the hindrances preventing you from quitting the habit of smoking would ultimately melt away. The medicines approved by FDA are safe and effective to accelerate smoking cessation as well as to treat diseases such as erectile dysfunction, obesity and various others.

In spite of attempting all these measures to quit smoking your anti-smoking regimen may still be crammed with loopholes. For instance, it is not possible to quit smoking overnight. Patience and perseverance are the key requirements and along with it if you don’t have the strength and enthusiasm to carry on `with your regimen for at least a short period of time then no fruitful results can be expected.

The physician who has prescribed you the tablet Chantix should be consulted throughout your Chantix regimen and especially when you suffer from occasionally side-effects due to the administration of the drug, without wasting a moment you should immediately rush towards his clinic.

Finally, it is your health only which is at risk of a range of disorders and as such any single unwarranted activity may land you into trouble. Smoking induced ailments like insomnia, lung cancer, erectile dysfunction and other disorders are easy to gain but difficult and on certain occasions impossible to get rid of. So, plan your schedule properly so that you can get rid of the hazards of smoking at the earliest.

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Smoking And Addiction

February 28th, 2010

Psychologists define addiction as something that refers to the state of being dependent on something. It could either be psychological or physical, but whatever it is, addiction insinuates a neurotic or persistent urge to repeat everything that caused the person’s dependency on something.


Normally, the onset of addiction is triggered by the formation of cravings or desire. When these cravings are answered, another craving would rise with more intensity than the first one. This cycle will go on and on and, without knowing it, you are already an addict.


Smoking and addiction this is now the question of the decade: “Why do people get addicted to smoking?” How come experts now connect smoking and addiction?


A lot of people are also asking whether cigarette manufacturers include a certain amount of marijuana in them just to trigger an addiction in people, in the 1800’s they put opium in the cigarettes so it’s not as far out as it sounds. Of course they don’t have to they have something much better it’s called nicotine, nicotine has a deadly addictive power it is more addictive than heroine, the cigarette manufacturers know this and have been increasing the levels of nicotine since 1998 up as much as 20%.


How does smoking and additions work? Basically, when a person smokes, the nicotine level is directly infused into the brain. This will, in turn, have more of a direct effects as compared to “intravenous injections.” That’s why people who smoke contend that they just want to release some tension.


The problem is they don’t know that after several tension-free minutes, the anxiety sets back in with greater intensity and demands for more doses of stress-relievers. This is where addiction starts. People who use smoking as an outlet of their anxiety or as a way to release tension are already addicted to it. Little by little, they will continue to use 5 cigarettes a day, then 10 , and increases to a packs each day or more. This manifests the person’s dependency on cigarettes. This can be traced to where the addiction starts.


On average, people these days are stressed out. This could be a result of numerous problems that are being encountered in society today. And so, people will usually find an outlet where they can release their tension and start to depend on it.


A person gets dependent on something whenever that something normalizes all the nerves in his or her body and brings about instant relief.


This is where the brain chemicals are directly affected by the elements in smoking. Once smoking provides a “calming effect” upon a person, it will give them more reason to repeat the process. In the long run, the process becomes a habit, and the habit leads to addiction.


Moreover, some experts contend that a person who lights up a cigarette from the end of his or her previous one is already an addict. This is because they cannot compel themselves to stop smoking. They have this intense feeling to continue lighting one cigarette after another.


What’s even more alarming with the situation is that there had been some reports that experts insist that nicotine, along side with marijuana, are the hardest type of drugs to treat and eliminate out of our system.


Health experts say that nicotine is the hardest chemical to beat. The satisfaction a person gets whenever they inhale nicotine is totally rewarding for them. This is because the discharge of the “pleasure hormone” known as dopamine is very brusque and immediate. That’s why people who are tensed get immediate relief whenever they smoke.


Studies even revealed how nicotine is even more powerful than the other drugs. They said that when a person injects heroin into his or her body, they may only burst up four times a day and may experience unstable conditions. On the other hand, when a person smokes at least one pack a day, that’s about 200 doses of nicotine a day, meaning the effect is even more intense when smoking.


So, the bottom line here is that smoking from the very beginning should be stopped. People should be aware that once they get hooked up with smoking, chances are it would be very hard for them to stop.


And so, what does Smoking and addiction mean for us? Smoking is, indeed, a faster way to kill yourself. Nicotine in tobacco is a highly addictive drug that affects nearly every organ in our body with the increased levels of nicotine in cigarettes it makes it more difficult to quit smoking. Smoking is a very powerful addiction, and it can take multiple attempts to quit smoking but you must keep trying, you can successfully quit smoking.

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The Way To Addiction

February 25th, 2010

Nicotine, in its organic form, is not addictive; but it is the primary factor responsible for releasing dopamine. It is a neurotransmitter associated with the points of pleasure and reinforcements inside the brain; this way it induces addictive tendencies in human beings. Nicotine is largely found as a chemical present in tobacco leaves which happens to be the main ingredient in cigarettes. It is believed to cause addiction and certain harmful diseases in cigarette smokers around the world, says a health report of the World Health Organization. Nicotine simulates the activities of acetylcholine. It is a naturally occurring neurotransmitter present in the human central nervous system and in the nerve-muscle seam of the skeletal muscles. This substance is responsible for stimulation which can result in an increase in the heart rate, alertness of the mind and reaction speed. Since acetylcholine and nicotine are said to be chemically similar, they set off the same cholinergic receptors inside the brain.

The nicotine-acetylcholine receptors comprise nerve endings that can release dopamine when they get bound with nicotine or acetylcholine. Receptors simulate the look of cups and have the exact dimensions that can fit a neurotransmitter molecule including acetylcholine. The receptors are lined with nerve endings that release dopamine when acetylcholine binds with acetylcholine receptors. The dopamine that is sent from the nerve endings induces a feeling of pleasure in the individual’s brain. The strengthening mechanism gets initiated as the brain gets addicted to the pleasure caused by the dopamine released from the cholinergic receptors. This really means that the human brain is constantly seeking ways and means to be incited. So, in the case of cigarette smokers, they will continue to smoke cigarettes as the nicotine in the cigarettes induces the release of dopamine in the brain causing them to feel satisfied and happy every time they take a puff of a cigarette.

As a beginner, only a few cholinergic receptors would be made available because, for the natural action of acetylcholine to take place, only a minimum amount of receptors is needed. However, the increased concentration of nicotine available desensitizes the cholinergic receptors. This desensitization will again result in the production or growth of more cholinergic receptors. The extra cholinergic receptors soon become desensitized due to the excess nicotine made available. Such a cyclic process continues until a stage of equilibrium is reached. Equilibrium level is said to be reached when cigarette smokers decide on the number of cigarettes they smoke afterwards in a given day. At this time also, a certain amount of receptors will be present there for the addiction to stay dormant. Some hard core smokers usually smoke one or two packets a day. They have to do so because they have the required amount of receptors present in their system to accommodate two packs a day. This is the main reason why hard core smokers have a difficult time quitting the habit of smoking. The best approach would be to gradually cut back on the number of cigarettes one smokes in a given period of time.

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