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Farah

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Join Date: Aug 2008

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Quit Smoking Advice, Facts, Products and News part 1 - >>

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Email this Page 08-31-2008, 05:28 AM

information taken from http://www.quitsmokinghub.com/

It’s simple: physical harm will come to your body if you do not quit smoking now or in the near future. As you may know by now, there is a threshold or point of no return where physical harm will occur even if you decide to stop smoking. Areas of your body affected by smoking include the genito-urinary, digestive, musculoskeletal and reproductive systems.

For example, you may experiences irritation to the eyes, nose, throat and gums if you are a long-term smoker. The tissues in these areas typically thicken and undergo cellular changes that can eventually lead to cancers of the mouth, throat and esophagus. If you don’t Quit Smoking, you could also experience gum disease and tooth loss, both very common health effects. You can also experience relaxing of the facial muscles – a look comparable to partial facial paralysis.

On the other hand, if you quit your smoking habit, the chance that you could get cancers of the mouth and esophagus during the first 5 years after smoking cessation decrease by 50%. However, as in most cases, ex-smokers always face the risk that cancers may appear when compared to those that have never smoked cigarettes.

Cigarette smoking also affects the larynx tissues and the outward manifestation of this is a noticeable deepening and/or hoarseness in the voices of chronic smokers. Other health effects you may experience if you do not stop smoking include vocal cord polyps that rarely disappear without surgery.

Quitting Cigarettes is a Two-Part Process

A cigarette habit is composed of two variables: there is the nicotine craving and there is also the habit of smoking. People, places (house, yard, balcony, car), foods and other things might trigger a mental need to have a cigarette. Quit smoking products will assist you in eliminating the craving to smoke a cigarette and some will work further to purify and restore your organs. But, in the end, you must face your habit. That is, eliminate the stimuli associated with smoking. You begin with the intention to quit smoking then you work to change your behaviors and surroundings, i.e., vacuuming and deodorizing your car.

There are myriad quit smoking products and services on the market today, i.e., herbal supplements, lozenges, gums, patches, hypnotherapy, acupuncture, etc. Some contain nicotine. Some don’t. Some use drugs. Some use herbs. Some are pill or capsule based. Others are gelatinous or hard candy look-a-likes. Choose the product that appeals to you, to your senses, to your taste, to your timeframe. If one doesn’t work to curb your cigarette habit, then move to another product or service. You will find a product right for you and most of all, your will or intention to quit smoking perseveres.

Quit Smoking Philanthropists Focus on Russia, India, China and Africa

Philanthropy is a wonderful act of altruism that typically supports the less fortunate. At the same time, philanthropy is a well designed concept by the government to ease its burden of having to expand the welfare state. Philanthropy is also a way for citizens to create their own domestic policy. If, say, there is not enough money allocated by the government to support a needy cause, citizens can step forward and address it on their own.

Philanthropists are rich people or groups that donate vast sums of money to an array of altruisitc not-for-profit organizations whose mission again is to improve lives. Philanthropists want to do good with their donations and, at the same time, increase their tax deductions and in some cases, gain a PR boost that will sell more of their widgets. This is not a skeptical comment - the more widgets a company sells, hopefully the more money it will donate to their cause the next time around.

The issue is the PR boost that comes with philanthropy - well, not really the PR boost but the charitable programs that yield the PR boost. For example, giving millions to the homeless in Appalachia is not going create the type of headline that a donation to, say, the American Humane Society or Climate Control will. So, what do you do when you want to make your charitable idea acceptable to the mainstream and to make it "ok" and "trendy" to give to it? You get the idea on TV, radio, in newspapers and on the Internet. And you then corral highly regarded, powerful, relevant (read: newsworthy) and rich people together for the official As-Seen-On-TV pledge.

Last week, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg did just that. They got together and told the world that it was time that smoking was just as important an issue as AIDS, Animal Protection, Blindness, Cancer, Child Protection, Civil Rights, Consumer Rights, Crime, Environment, Gun Control and Health (Diabetes, Heart, etc.).

Recognizing the need to address the 1 billion smokers in the world, especially those in developing countries, Gates and Bloomberg pledged to contribute $375 million to anti-smoking initiatives across the globe. With a capital infusion of $250 million and $175 million respectively, Bloomberg and Gates will support tobacco and quit smoking campaigns in Russia, India, China, Africa, Indonesia and Bangladesh. The agenda of these campaigns is to raise tobacco taxes, support local quit smoking programs, ban cigarette advertising, and protect non-smokers from cigarette smoke.

The combined efforts of these two very well known and wealthy philanthropists is also designed to raise awareness among other philanthropists, hoping to not divert funds from other important charities and causes but to increase philanthropic support to include anti-smoking.

Video-coaching your way to quitting smoking

Over 10 million smokers and friends and family of smokers have purchased Allen Carr's Easyway to Stop Smoking book or DVD or have attended his clinics all over the world. if you visit Allen Carr's website, you'll see celebrities announcing that they quit smoking with his method: Ashton Kutcher, Sir Anthony Hopkins, Richard Branson, Ellen DeGeneres and Lou Reed.

Carr's belief is that a quit smoking program should be approached from the smoker's perspective, to change the smoker's mindset about cigarettes being enjoyable and a crutch to pass away stressful situations or thoughts. The Easyway method also eliminates the fear (also a crutch and the urges to follow) of stopping and the deprived feeling one gets when stopping. After one year, success rates are said to be 50%.

Since it's worked so well on DVD, in clinics and in published hardcopy form, Carr is teaming with Ubisoft and Nintendo to create a video game to help smokers quit smoking. The video game is said to combine entertainment, some sort of challenge (read: game and fun) and a quit smoking lesson or de-programming.

What we do know amongst the sketchy details thus far is that the video game is customizable to the smoker's cigarette habit. The smoker, also known as the video game player, selects a personal quit smoking coach and begins playing the game with assigned activities.

The Easyway to Stop Smoking video game by Ubisoft is planned for release on the Nintendo DS system late in 2008, just in time for the stress of the holiday season.

Relearn Life without Cigarettes - BecomeAnEx.org

There are millions of smokers in the United States – millions more worldwide. Newly updated smoking statistics state that over 45 million people smoke in the U.S. – about 21% of the population. That’s one in five people. So, it comes as no surprise that quit smoking education and products remains a growing market.

The latest to join is BecomeAnEx.org which focuses on teaching smokers to quit, why they smoke, and the lifestyle they lead that promotes smoking. BecomeAnEx.org is sponsored by the National Alliance for Tobacco Cessation and is pushing their agenda heavily on TV these days.

BecomeAnEx.org focuses on re-learning what is was like before smokers began to smoke. The quit smoking plan focuses on 3 distinct phases:

habit
addiction
support
The Quit Smoking Habit
The habit of smoking centers on triggers. What are the triggers in our every day lives that remind us or urge us to smoke? Does your body crave a cigarette when you wake up, when you drink your cup of coffee, while you’re driving, when you’re stressed at work or in a relationship? Do you crave a cigarette while you relax? Identifying the triggers that promote smoking, we get a clearer view of how our routine is focused on habit and thus, we can create a plan focused on that routine.

Cigarette Addiction
The habit of smoking is but one part of quitting smoking. The nicotine in cigarettes causes addiction, as well. Understanding how nicotine affects the brain is the 2nd way to understand the “habit” and how to rid yourself of it through pills, gums, lozenges or meditation.

Quit Smoking Support
Reach out to those you trust in order to gain support for your smoking addiction. Do not reach out to people that judge you or look condescendingly upon your habit. Look to people that will truly support you and sustain you in challenging times and celebrate with you in more triumphant times.

Quit Smoking with Cold Laser Treatment - The Followup

Not long ago I spoke about a new company that helped you to quit smoking with cold laser treatment. Well, I followed up on this company, called Quit By Laser.

I spoke with Dr. Tabak in Glendale, California. He was a nice guy and enetertained my questions for a good 20 minutes. He explained to me that he was new at treating a smoking habit with cold laser and that I should refer back to him in a few months once he got all the kinks worked out. I was a bit disappointed that I couldn't be treated right away but I understood his points and appreciated his candor. He believes in cold laser and says that the New York office has reported excellent success in treating not only smoking addiction but also alcohol addiction, weight control issues and gambling addiction.

So, readers and smokers alike, give Dr. Tabak a few more months to perfect his cold laser techniques in the treatment of smoking addiction. I will report back to you and tell you whether everything they report on their website is true, i.e., that post-laser treatments of smoking addictions leaves one euphoric, are long lasting, painless, and effective.

Quit Smoking with Cold Laser Treatment

There is a new way to quit smoking and according to Quit by Laser – offices in New York, New Jersey and now Los Angeles – it does not involve pills or capsules, patches, gums, lozenges, hypnosis, aromatherapy, or music. There is nothing to ingest and there is no prolonged program.

Quit by Laser is as it implies: a cold laser helps you to quit smoking. It is a one-time, 30 minute treatment that is not painful or invasive. It is said to be very safe.

Here’s how it works:
No medications or anaesthetics are required or needed with cold laser therapy to quit smoking. The cold laser used is an infra-red laser, double diodes with a maximum power of 6 watts which they say provides optimum skin penetration and nerve stimulation. Their success rate in helping clients quit their addictions is 90%.

The cold laser treatment targets energy points all over your body. Light receptor cells absorb the infrared light, convert it to biochemical energy and then gradually release the energy over a 2 month timeframe. The energy released causes the body to release endorphins. Endorphins are natural chemicals - natural narcotics actually - that give the body a sense of euphoria and relaxation. Endorphins also relieve pain and stress.

So as you can imagine, a cold laser that prompts the energy points in your body to release endorphins will leave you – at least temporarily – a bit ecstatic, even euphoric. And this is what commonly occurs. Patients report that they leave the Quit by Laser offices on a “high”. This “high” or sense of euphoria reduces nicotine cravings, urges and withdrawal symptoms. Concurrently, the body is stimulated by the cold laser to detoxify itself of the unhealthy nicotine – a natural cleansing if you will.

Reading testimonials on the Quit by Laser website provided a bit more insight. It seems that this cold laser quit smoking treatment is a one-time treatment that takes only 30 minutes. The program includes a consultation, cold laser treatment, and another cold laser treatment within 6 months if desired. According to one patient, because of the daily stress of a Wall Street job, he schedules monthly treatments just to relieve his stress and to revisit that high. He apparently successfully quit smoking after his first laser treatment.

The cost of the Quit by Laser program is $295.00. There is a $50 discount per person for a group of 2 or more.

Quit by Laser purports to help you quit not only your smoking addiction but your alcohol addiction, gambling addiction and weight problem.

Will the Smoke-free Workplace lead to Smoke-free Employees?

You're company accountant would say yes, absolutely!

Quit smoking has evolved from passive ad campaigning to legislation banning smoking in eating and drinking establishments to businesses and corporate establishments partitioning select outdoor places for smoking. It's becoming more difficult to smoke in public. Now, businesses are going a step further and are proactively trying to help their employees to quit smoking. About 33% of companies with at least 200 employees now offer quit smoking programs to their employees in an effort to improve their employees health but skeptically, there's a better reason: to reduce their insurance premiums. With large enterprise corporate entities, it is believed that up to 67% offer quit smoking programs.

The new corporate quit smoking programs are the latest in improving employee health and reducing insurance costs following wellness programs such as weight loss and diabetes.

The cost savings for these programs is significant and seemingly a no-brainer for companies. Quit smoking pills and capsules, programs, patches, lozenges, gums et al cost about $900 per employee whereas medical costs in the long run cost upwards of $16,000 per employee.

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"

Last edited by Farah; 08-31-2008 at 05:32 AM..

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