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We scour the internet daily to find the best information to help you quit smoking. We believe that tobacco is dangerous to your health, and nicotine is an addictive drug. The sooner you quit smoking, the sooner your body can recover from the many toxins contained in tobacco.
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Most Smokers Want To Quit Smoking
A new report issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that the majority of smokers want to quit smoking. The study was reported in an article on Medicine Net Daily:
“Despite the known dangers of smoking, about 20% of Americans still light up, but almost 70% want to quit, a new government report shows.
‘This study is reassuring to us,’ Dr. Tim McAfee, director of the Office on Smoking and Health at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said during a noon press conference Thursday…
…McAfee noted that most smokers who manage to quit do so without the help of drugs or counseling…
…Smoking is still the leading preventable cause of death and disease, including cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and other lung diseases. Each year in the United States, smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke kill some 443,000 people, the report noted.
In addition, for every smoking-related death there are 20 people living with a smoking-related disease, the agency said.”
Read the full article here: Smokers Want to Quit
It is reassuring that most smokers want to quit smoking; it is also appalling that a substance that kills so many people every year is still legally available in this country. The argument for banning tobacco products would not be so strong if the only people suffering from the effects of tobacco smoke were those who chose to smoke tobacco. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Non-smokers, including children, who breathe secondhand smoke are also affected, and even die as a result of someone else’s choice to smoke tobacco.
Here are some facts from the CDC about secondhand smoke:
- Even brief exposure to secondhand smoke can be harmful to health.
- Secondhand smoke contains toxic and cancer-causing chemicals.
- Secondhand smoke causes heart disease and lung cancer in nonsmoking adults.
- Secondhand smoke causes sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and a number of health conditions in children, including middle ear infections, more severe asthma, and respiratory infections.
- About 4 in 10 nonsmokers in the US (40%, or 88 million people) continue to be exposed to secondhand smoke.
- Almost everyone who lives with somebody who smokes indoors is exposed to secondhand smoke. Children and teens are more likely than adults to live in homes where someone smokes indoors.
- About 54% of children (aged 3–11 years) are exposed to secondhand smoke. Children are most heavily exposed at home.
- About 47% of youth (aged 12–19 years) are exposed to secondhand smoke.
- About 56% of black nonsmokers are exposed to secondhand smoke compared with about 40% of white nonsmokers and 29% of Mexican-American nonsmokers.
You can find more information about the dangers of secondhand smoke on the website of the CDC, http://www.cdc.gov.
An estimated 88 million non-smokers have their health put at risk by exposure to tobacco smoke. That is an appalling number, and the fact that we tolerate it as a people with no public outcry speaks volumes about our civilization.
Quitting Smoking and Brain Stimulation
Quitting smoking can be a real ordeal for many smokers. I know when I quit, it took me three tries before I was finally successful.
The first two times I tried to quit, I spent many weeks struggling with cravings and nicotine withdrawal. Eventually, I caved in to the cravings, and began smoking again. Knowing that I was damaging my health and lowering my life expectancy were not enough to help me successfully quit smoking. I suspect there are many smokers in the same boat. I have recently come across a report about some new research using magnetic brain stimulation to reduce cravings.
The article was published on Medicine Net:
“In smokers, stimulating the brain in certain ways can manipulate their cravings for cigarettes, researchers have found.
The finding could lead to new treatments to help people kick the habit, according to the authors of the study published in the Oct. 15 issue of Biological Psychiatry.
Using brain imaging technology, researchers from Duke University Medical Center identified several regions of the cerebral cortex and the limbic system, which is involved in emotion, that are activated during cravings. Based on these studies, they used noninvasive magnetic stimulation of these areas of the brain in an attempt to manipulate these cravings.”
Read the full article here: Brain Stimulation
While the research is still in the early stages, it seems like a promising technique that may one day help smokers reduce their cravings for cigarettes, and quit smoking successfully. I especially like the fact that the brain stimulation was done with noninvasive technology, hopefully the research will develop effective treatment strategies to help turn smokers into ex-smokers.
I will try to keep on top of this research, and report developments that may help with quitting smoking, as I learn about them.
Quitting Smoking Is Best Treatment for Smoker’s Cough
A study reported on MedicineNet’s website says that smoking has a similar effect on the lungs as cystic fibrosis.
“Smoking seems to have a similar effect on the lungs as cystic fibrosis, a life-threatening genetic disease affecting the lungs and other organs, a new study reveals.
Researchers found that like cystic fibrosis, smoking leads to the production of sticky mucus that causes dry cough and infections. They concluded that cystic fibrosis treatments could potentially be used to treat smoking-related diseases — and vice versa.
Cystic fibrosis interferes with the movement of salt and water in the cells lining the lungs, trapping bacteria in thick mucus, resulting in potentially fatal infections. The researchers said that smoking has a similar effect, resulting in mucus that causes several health problems, including dry cough, chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
…cigarette smoke affects a protein that helps the lungs stay hydrated, known as CFTR. They found that smokers had a 60% drop in CFTR activity, compared to non-smokers.”
Read the full article here: Smoking’s Effects
(According to another article on the same website, one specifically about cystic fibrosis: “A defect in the CFTR gene causes cystic fibrosis (CF). This gene makes a protein that controls the movement of salt and water in and out of your body’s cells.“)
Basically, cigarette smoke is causing the same problem that a genetic defect causes in those suffering from cystic fibrosis. The big difference is that smokers are doing it to themselves, over and over again.
The article concludes with the statement that the best treatment for smoker’s cough is to quit smoking. I would like to echo that statement, and also suggest that the only way to prevent the many health problems associated with tobacco smoke is quitting smoking. And as I have said many times before, there is no safe way to use tobacco. Protect your health by quitting now!
