February 28th, 2010

Despite the growing number of studies underpinning the dangers of cigarette smoking, there are still millions of smokers all around the world. And the number is constantly on the rise because a lot of children and teens are starting their habit of smoking cigarettes as caused by peer pressure or curiosity.

If you are a smoker, or you know someone who is, then it may be a good idea to know the reasons why you, your friend or your family needs to quit the habit now. So read on and pay attention.

1. To Get Rid of Bad Breath

Smokers usually have foul smelling breath, probably because of the nicotine that can be found in the cigarettes that they smoke. Sometimes, no amount of brushing and gargling with mouthwash can help minimize the stench from the cigarettes, especially for those who smoke several packs a day. Aside from bad breath, smokers also tend to have yellow or discolored teeth and dark gums and lips.

2. To Avert Formation OF Wrinkles

Based on studies, and probably even your own observation, long-time smokers develop facial wrinkles earlier than those who do not smoke. It is not surprising to see a 30-year old smoker to have facial wrinkles similar to that of a fifty or even sixty year old individual. Moreover, smoking deprives your skin of the nutrients and oxygen that it needs. Cigarette substances may also reduce the amounts of collagen and elastin produced by the body.

3. To Help Save Money For Other Things

When you smoke, you literally burn your money. If you put the money used to buy cigarettes and other smoking paraphernalia in a bank, you will already have enough dough in just a few years to bring your family to the Caribbean for a vacation. Just imagine the money you could save by just simply quitting. This does not include the money that you will be spending for your hospital bills and medications from the effects of smoking.

4. To Decrease Probability Of Impotence

According to a report from University of California, there is a link between smoking tobacco and erectile dysfunction. Numerous studies have shown that whenever you light up a cigarette, you inhale hydrocarbons that contribute to the formation of plaque in the lining of the arteries. If the artery that leads to the male sex organ is blocked, then there will surely be a problem with impotence.

5. To Decrease Your Family’s Health Risks

Many are not aware that smoking can also make the people around you, even your pets, sick.  Did you know that your cat could also get emphysema because of your nasty habit?

Aside from pets and plants, your baby or children can also suffer from your cigarette smoking. It seems that babies who have one or two parents who are smokers are more prone to getting ear infections as well as coughs, colds, and other respiratory problems. Furthermore, studies have also linked a strong connection between Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and smoking.

Lastly, your spouse or partner are also at a high risk of getting a heart attack, stroke, lung diseases and even certain cancers even if he or she has not puffed a single cigarette in his or her entire life. Just by living with you and inhaling secondary cigarette smoke, your family’s health is put at risk.

Quitting is not easy, especially if you have been smoking for years. However, there are gums, medications and products available in the market that can help you kick this habit out. To get the toxins from years of smoking out of your body, you may also want to try detoxification. One product that can help you with detoxification is Colopril. For more information, simply visit http://www.colopril.com/.

February 22nd, 2010

The thought of quitting smoking produces a paralyzing fear in some people. They know they want to quit, but the comforting effect of inhaling smoke along with the nicotine is not easily given up. Many people do want to quit smoking cigarettes for various reasons, although these reasons are not sufficient motivation to quit. Many who smoke will always find a reason to smoke if they want to. Listed below are five reasons to quit smoking.

The first reason to quit is that you may live longer and live healthier. This is absolutely true as the days string together and you have a successful recovery from using nicotine and/or other tobacco products. Although no one can forecast the future and truly know how long we will live, quitting smoking may give you the edge you need to live a longer and healthier life.

Your children wanting you to quit is seen as the second reason. Quitting tobacco products and smoking is actually one of the greatest things you could do for your family. You could be a role model to your children and your grandchildren; someone they would want to emulate. When an adult in the family does not smoke the children are much less apt to. If your children do not smoke as an adolescent or teenager they are much less apt to as an adult.

The third reason to quit smoking is that your breathing will become much easier and you will regain your lost energy. Both of these are true providing you follow a regime of psychological and behavioral changes throughout your quitting process.

The fourth reason is you will have a much greater chance of lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke, or cancer by quitting. This is all true, although you will never regain the pure body you had before you started smoking, stopping now significantly reduces these risks the longer you do not smoke.

The fifth and final reason to stop smoking is that the cost of cigarettes is becoming too expensive. This is very true and you can see it on a daily basis. One more cost of smoking relates to the medical costs associated with usage. Quitting may cut the medical costs significantly over time. Add the two together and there is quite a sum to pay if you continue smoking.

Do you really want to quit or are you ambivalent about it? Deciding that you want to quit smoking and making a commitment to stop will provide motivation to follow through. The five listed reasons are just a few known for quiting smoking. You can use any reason that means something to you to quit. The road can go uphill for only so long, then the process of quitting will become easier. Make your commitment to stop today—you will be happy you did.

 

February 16th, 2010

Five Popular Wellness Ideas for the Workplace

Smoking – 8 Tips

Weight Control
Nasal Allergies
Migraine
Depression Treatment

Modern society, with its emphasis of looking well, eating well and being well, is all too aware of the connection between illness and disease and maintaining a healthy lifestyle.  It’s fairly well understood there is a connection between smoking and cancer; obesity and diabetes; eating the wrong foods and cardiac disease, high blood pressure and lack of exercise.  Most people make the connection between maintaining a healthy lifestyle and a healthy immune system.  Worker-related injuries and illnesses heal faster the healthier the worker is overall.

In like manner, workplace injuries can be aggravated and recovery from them delayed by poor lifestyle habits.  Much in the same way a pre-existing condition such as spinal stenosis can delay and aggravate a back injury.

Employers constantly search for ways to reduce workers’ compensation costs.  Instituting wellness programs in the workplace benefits both the employer and employees.  So, let’s begin with one of the most popular topic people are concerned about.

Remember, before starting a stop smoking program see your primary care giver to be sure you have no health restrictions not allowing you to follow a program including medication.

Smoking

Everyone knows for most people quitting smoking is very difficult.  “Cold turkey” works for very few people.  Having a formal quit smoking program in the workplace can provide the help and support smokers need to kick the habit.  Let’s look at some suggestions that may make smoking more aggravating than the pleasure derived from the nicotine.

First establish a smoking/non-smoking policy.  Most workplaces ban smoking in the building and provide an outdoor smoking area.

Second, set specific times and length of smoking breaks.  Nothing causes more workplace uproar than smokers freely running in and out on smoke breaks (workersxzcompxzkit) while non-smokers are limited to one or two coffer breaks.

Third establish a program aimed at helping smokers to quit, medically supervised and include self-help meetings to measure progress.  Participants should have medical permission from their primary care physician before beginning a quit smoking program.

Some discussion points

1.  For most smokers,  only five or six cigarettes are fully smoked. The rest of the time, they light up and take a few puffs out of habit.  Cutting back to the few cigarettes actually smoked at a time most enjoyed is a good starting point.

2.  Keep cigarettes in an inconvenient place; one the smoker can get to, but forces the question: “Do I relly want/need this cigarette?  Can I wait an hour?  At home, keep them in the freezer and go outside to smoke.  In the car, keep them in the back seat.   “Can you picture yourself pulling over, stopping, getting out of the car to get a cigarette?”  (Anyway, smoking while driving is dangerous.)

3.  Temporarily consider switching to a pipe or cigars because the smoker does not have to inhale.  However, switch back to cigarettes if inhaling starts.  A pipe, in particular, gives smokers something to do with their hands –  light it, take a few puffs, tamp the tobacco, relight it, clean the bowl.  Caution:  if you smoke while watching TV, you can wind up chain-smoking.

4. Try this:  Light up, take three puffs, put it out.  Relight the same cigarette the next time there is an urge to smoke.  (Is it possible the same cigarette could last all day?)

5.  Once smoking is reduced as far as a person can go, encourage them to pick a date to quit and go for it.  It is easier to quit if everyone quits at the same time.  However, each smoker picks the date to quit when ready.

6.  Using nicotine gum or patches can help.  Consult with a physician for the latest in medications to assist in quitting smoking.

7.  Keep a Sense of Humor!

Next: Weight Control


Do not use this information without independent verification.  All state laws are different so do not implement any cost containment procedures until you have discussed them with your corporate counsel. Your individual doctor must treat medical issues. We are not giving medical advice; this is an overview of wellness topics, not medical advice. 

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