To those who smoke

[Trossi3389]

"Smoking Less Won't Decrease Risks, Study Says"

While, one may think cutting back on the number of cigarettes you smoke can improve your health, according to new research, that is not the case. Simply smoking less will not significantly lower your health risks.

According to new research, even if you stop smoking half of what you usually do, you may not be reducing your risks.

Scientists in Norway followed over 50,000 men and women for over a decade. Heavy smokers, or those who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day, were compared to people who reduced that amount by 50% or more. Both groups were screened for heart disease, lung cancer, and other smoking-related cancers. Long-term...

...results showed men who cut back had only a slightly reduced risk of death compared to heavy smokers.

Surprisingly, women who cut back were found to have a higher rate of death than heavy smokers. Those who quit smoking altogether, however, had significantly lower risks.

Overall, the study shows reducing the number of cigarettes you smoke does not lower your risk of heart disease or smoking-related cancers.

According to researchers, to truly benefit your health, the best option is to put down the whole pack and quit.

[Trossi3389]

Heavy smokers 'must quit totally'

Tobacco is linked to a range of health problems

There are no half measures for heavy smokers wanting to minimise the risk that their habit will lead to their early death, research suggests.
Scientists found no evidence that heavy smokers who halve their daily cigarette intake cut their premature death risk.

The long-term Norwegian study, of more than 51,000 men and women aged between 20 and 34, found stubbing out was the only way to cut the risk.

The study is published in the journal Tobacco Control.

There is only one safe way out: To quit smoking entirely

Dr Kjell Bjartveit

The participants were assessed for cardiovascular risk factors at the start of the study, and then monitored for an average period of more than 20 years.

They were classified into various groups, including non-smokers, moderate smokers (up to 14 cigarettes a day), and reducers, who smoked more than 15 cigarettes a day at the start of the study, but who had cut back by more than half by the second check.

Men who had cut back had slightly lower death rates from all causes than heavy smokers during the first 15 years.

However, after that death rates were comparable.

Women who cut back actually had higher death rates from all causes combined than heavy smokers - although the researchers said this could simply be a chance finding.

Light smoking impact

Researcher Dr Kjell Bjartveit said there was evidence to show smoking just one to four cigarettes a day increased the risk of dying from heart disease dramatically.

He said: "It is widespread to offer smokers a last resort: 'If you are unable to quit, cut down'.

"In our opinion, this advice may offer people false expectations. There is only one safe way out: To quit smoking entirely."

Amanda Sandford, of the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health, said: "This study reinforces the evidence that simply cutting down does not alter the risk of premature death from smoking.

"However, there is good evidence to show that cutting down while using nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) significantly increases the chances of successfully quitting smoking.

"For smokers who are not yet ready to quit but want to cut down, we recommend that they use NRT, otherwise there is a danger that their cigarette consumption will quickly return to previous levels."

Simon Clark, director of the smokers' lobby group Forest, said it was important to take into consideration the fact that many smokers tended to lead a generally unhealthy lifestyle, eating a poor diet, and not taking exercise.

He said: "Unfortunately, campaigners prefer to emphasise the 'quit or die' message, which is a gross exaggeration, but if you are a heavy smoker it is surely better to reduce consumption, combining that with a healthy diet and plenty of exercise, than not cut down at all?"

Pregnancy

A separate study in the same journal found that pregnant smokers may "programme" their children to take up the habit.

The Australian study of more than 3,000 mothers compared the smoking patterns of their children when they reached the age of 21.

Children whose mothers had smoked while pregnant were almost three times as likely to start smoking regularly at or before the age of 14, and around twice as likely to start smoking after this age, than those whose mothers were non-smokers.

Smoking patterns among children whose mothers stopped smoking while pregnant, but then resumed the habit, were similar to those whose mothers had never smoked.

[Trossi3389]

A Hard Habit

For all the intense efforts to reduce smoking in America over the past two decades, the progress has not been stellar. Today one in four men and one in five women still smoke.

For those who never smoked, this is a befuddling fact. Don't smokers understand that cigarettes are the number one killer in America, that they dramatically increase risk for heart disease, stroke, cancer, high blood pressure, and almost every other health concern, small or large? How could any habit be worth this?

Truth is, most smokers do understand. They also understand the huge financial toll of smoking, with a pack of 20 cigarettes costing $7 in some areas (imagine: $2,500 spent a year on cigarettes by pack-a-day smokers -- often people of only modest resources).

Then why do millions still smoke? In good part, because the nicotine in cigarettes is highly addictive. In good part, because smoking provides psychological comfort to some people. Perhaps most of all, because quitting is so hard.

Researchers and businesses have responded strongly to the last point. Never have there been so many tools, systems, and programs available for quitting smoking. And with every month that passes, there is more research showing the benefits of quitting, and the drawbacks of not quitting.

So if you smoke, consider again whether it is time, finally, to quit. If yes, you'll need to think through the best approach, perhaps working with your doctor or an expert. But the following 25 tips will help you succeed.

1. Make an honest list of all the things you like about smoking. Draw a line down the center of a piece of paper and write them on one side; on the other side make a list of all the things you dislike, such as how it can interfere with your health, work, family, etc., suggests Daniel Z. Lieberman, M.D., director of the Clinical Psychiatric Research Center at George Washington University Medical Center in Washington, D.C. Think about the list over time, and make changes. If you are brave enough, get feedback from family and friends about things they don't like about your use of cigarettes. When the negative side outweighs the positive side, you are ready to quit.

2. Then make another list of why quitting won't be easy. Be thorough, even if the list gets long and discouraging. Here's the important part: Next to each entry, list one or more options for overcoming that challenge. For instance, one item might be: "Nicotine is an addictive drug." Your option might be: "Try a nicotine replacement alternative." Another reason might be: "Smoking helps me deal with stress." Your option might be: "Take five-minute walks instead." The more you anticipate the challenges to quitting, and their solutions, the better your chance of success.

3. Set a quit date and write a "quit date contract" that includes your signature and that of a supportive witness.

4. Write all your reasons for quitting on an index card and keep it near you at all times. Here are some to get you started: "My daughter, my granddaughter, my husband, my wife..." You get the idea.

5. As you're getting ready to quit, stop buying cartons of cigarettes. Instead, only buy a pack at a time, and only carry two or three with you at a time (try putting them in an Altoids tin). Eventually you'll find that when you want a smoke, you won't have any immediately available. That will slowly wean you down to fewer cigarettes.

6. Keep a list of when you smoke, what you're doing at the time, and how bad the craving is for a week before quitting to see if specific times of the day or activities increase your cravings, suggests Gaylene Mooney, chair of the American Association for Respiratory Care's Subcommittee on Smoking and Tobacco-Related Issues. Then arrange fun, unique things to do during those times, like some of the ones we recommend here.

7. Prepare a list of things to do when a craving hits. Suggestions include: take a walk, drink a glass of water, kiss your partner or child, throw the ball for the dog, wash the car, clean out a cupboard or closet, have sex, chew a piece of gum, wash your face, brush your teeth, take a nap, get a cup of coffee or tea, practice your deep breathing, light a candle. Make copies of the list and keep one with you at all times so when the craving hits, you can whip out the list and quickly do something from it.

Reduce and Replace

8. When your quit date arrives, throw out anything that reminds you of smoking. That includes all smoking paraphernalia -- leftover cigarettes, matches, lighters, ashtrays, cigarette holders, even the lighter in your car.

9. Instead of a cigarette break at work, play a game of solitaire on your computer. It takes about the same time and is much more fun (although, like cigarettes, it can get addictive). If your company prohibits games like that, find another five-minute diversion: a phone call, a stroll, or eating a piece of fruit outdoors (but not where smokers congregate).

10. Switch to a cup of herbal tea whenever you usually have a cigarette. That might be at breakfast, midmorning, or after meals. The act of brewing the tea and slowly sipping it as it cools will provide the same stress relief as a hit of nicotine.

11. Switch your cigarette habit for a nut habit -- four nuts in their shell for every cigarette you want to smoke. This way, you're using your hands and your mouth, getting the same physical and oral sensations you get from smoking.

12. Carry some cinnamon-flavored toothpicks with you. Suck on one whenever a cig craving hits.

13. Make an appointment with an acupuncturist. There's some evidence that auricular acupuncture (i.e., needles in the ears) curbs cigarette cravings quite successfully, says Ather Ali, N.D., a naturopathic physician completing a National Institutes of Health-sponsored postdoctoral research fellowship at the Yale-Griffin Prevention Research Center in Derby, Connecticut. You can even do it yourself by taping "seeds" (small beads) onto the acupuncture points and squeezing them whenever cravings arise.

14. Swing by the health food store for some Avena sativa (oat) extract. One study found that, taken at 1 milliliters four times daily, it helped habitual tobacco smokers significantly decrease the number of cigarettes they smoked.

15. Think of difficult things you have done in the past. Ask people who know you well to remind you of challenges you have successfully overcome, says Dr. Lieberman. This will give you the necessary self-confidence to stick with your pledge not to smoke.

16. To minimize cravings, change your routine. Sit in a different chair at breakfast or take a different route to work. If you usually have a drink and cigarette after work, change that to a walk. If you're used to a smoke with your morning coffee, switch to tea, or stop at Starbucks for a cup of java -- the chain is smoke-free.

17. Tell your friends, coworkers, boss, partner, kids, etc., how you feel about situations instead of bottling up your emotions. If something makes you angry, express it instead of smothering it with cigarette smoke. If you're bored, admit to yourself that you're bored and find something energetic to do instead of lighting up.

State of Mind

18. If you relapse, just start again. You haven't failed. Some people have to quit as many as eight times before they are successful.

19. Put all the money you're saving on cigarettes in a large glass jar. You want to physically see how much you've been spending. Earmark that money for something you've always dreamed of doing, but never thought you could afford, be it a cruise to Alaska or a first-class ticket to visit an old college friend.

20. Switch to decaf until you've been cigarette-free for two months. Too much caffeine while quitting can cause the jitters.

21. Create a smoke-free zone. Don't allow anyone to use tobacco in your home, car, or even while sitting next to you in a restaurant. Make actual "No Smoking" signs and hang them around your house and in your car.

22. Find a healthy snack food you can keep with you and use in place of cigarettes to quench that urge for oral gratification. For instance, try pistachio nuts, sunflower seeds, sugarless lollipops or gum, carrot or celery sticks. The last ones are best if you are concerned about weight gain.

23. Picture yourself playing tennis. Or go play tennis. British researchers found volunteers trying to quit smoking were better able to ignore their urges to smoke when they were told to visualize a tennis match.

24. Quit when you're in a good mood. Studies find that you're less likely to be a successful quitter if you quit when you're depressed or under a great deal of stress.

25. Post this list in a visible location in your house. Whenever you're tempted to light up, take a look at all the ways smoking can damage your health:

Increases risk of lung, bladder, pancreatic, mouth, esophageal, and other cancers, including leukemia

Reduces fertility

Contributes to thin bones

Affects mental capacity and memory

Reduces levels of folate, low levels of which can increase the risk of heart disease, depression, and Alzheimer's disease

Increases likelihood of impotence

Affects ability to smell and taste

Results in low-birth-weight, premature babies

Increases risk of depression in adolescents

Increases risk of heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure

Increases risk of diabetes

Increases your child's risk of obesity and diabetes later in life if you smoked while pregnant

[guzzi]

ah mein...posted on a friday night too...geesch.........................

im gonna go eat some fish...

[Deck]

trossi,

what are u getting at here? U looking out for us?

[Trossi3389]

Originally Posted by Deck

trossi,

what are u getting at here? U looking out for us?

Gotta look out for family...

I will bump this thread till every cappersmall member quits !!

[Deck]

u are starting to sound like my wife bro. quitting soon though. quit date is January 17th.

[NY Mane]

smoke a cuban and you will quit smoking cigarettes..i smoked for 5 years and then on my honeymoon i smoked a cuban r&j and then never touched a winston ever again.

July 31, 2000 was me last winston ultra light

[Trossi3389]

Originally Posted by Deck

quitting soon though. quit date is January 17th.

For me it's been almost a year smoke-free bro. Best thing i ever did !! These days i can breath and my great appetite,smell and taste are working on all cylinders. Went from a 27' waist to a 29.. Now i don't have to shop in the children's department anymore..

[Deck]

that is what scares me the most. Already a big man here don't wanna get bigger. 6 255.

[Trossi3389]

Originally Posted by Deck

that is what scares me the most. Already a big man here don't wanna get bigger. 6 255.

Thats the biggest excuse people use not to quit..

http://www.quit.org.uk/quitweight.htm

http://aolsearch.aol.com/aol/redir?s...cription=Image

[Deck]

it does slow down your metabolism when you quit bro. Scientifically proven but I have no evidence to back it up lol

[robertg]

i've quit smoking hundreds of times. its easy.

[dannyray]

today is 37 weeks for me....

[Romanowski]

Originally Posted by Deck

that is what scares me the most. Already a big man here don't wanna get bigger. 6 255.

just read a study that smoking cessation doesn not equate long term weight gain, only short term

so if you gained some weight while quitting youd lose it back