This item is absolutely hilarious. I grew up watching Dave Allen on TV and he was brilliant then as he is now. A bit of foul language but bloody funny. Enjoy!
Showing posts with label quit smoking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label quit smoking. Show all posts
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Best way to stop smoking - does one exist?
In short the answer to the question: "Is there a best way to stop smoking" is yes. There is a best way to stop smoking for everyone but the method that may work for you may not work for others. What you need to do is find out which way is best for you.
There are several methods you can employ to stop smoking. The main ones are behavioural therapy, hypnosis, drugs, nicotine replacement therapy, will power and 'alternative' methods. I will give a brief description of each approach along with its pros and cons.
Is cognitive behavioural therapy the best way top stop smoking?
Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the most successful methods to help smokers stop with success rates well above 50%. This is not the same as the standard literature you find all over the place. It is not the 'set a stop date', 'write out a stop plan', 'stay in and avoid alcohol' etc. etc. That doesn't work.
Cognitive behavioural therapy breaks smoking down into twenty or so component parts and changes the way you think about smoking, component by component. The end result is that all the reasons you think you smoke for are destroyed and you lose the will to smoke.
It is not a magic bullet. It is just one particularly effective approach to stopping smoking that uses no drugs whatsoever and leaves smokers feeling liberated the moment they stop smoking, rather than being fraught with anxiety. It is cheap when compared to other systems (less than $50) and is normally sold with a no quibble money back guarantee.
Is hypnosis the best way to stop smoking?
Studies suggest that hypnosis is successful to the tune of 30% of smokers in single sessions. Using multiple sessions, success rates of 60% plus have been reported. There is some evidence that women struggle to stop as readily as men using hypnosis.
It works by changing a person's mental attitude toward smoking using powerful visualisation techniques. Hypnosis is similar to neuro-linguistic programming or NLP. Both use similar relaxation and meditation techniques to overcome cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. It is far from suitable for everyone but it is non-chemical and there are no drugs to use.
Hypnosis products can be bought over the internet for around $50 but one to one sessions with hypnotherapists can be considerably more expensive, to the tune of several hundred dollars.
Are drug therapies the best way to stop smoking?
The pharmaceutical industry seems to think so! Zyban is found to work in about 16% of smokers and Chantix has been found to be about 22% effective. It is not 44% effective as claimed by Pfizer, its manufacturer.
Drug therapies are almost always used alongside counselling to help smokers achieve their aims of becoming non-smokers. Drug therapies can be provided by health authorities or may be included within medical insurance. They generally cost in excess of $300 to complete the courses if bought privately.
The downside to drug therapies aside from cost is that you may suffer from side effects which can be serious enough to stop you using the drug.
Another downside is that you do not get a money back guarantee with them, unlike my own book (which uses cognitive behavioural therapy) and most hypnosis products available on the internet.
Is nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) the best way to stop smoking?
Studies show that NRT can increase you chances of stopping smoking when compared to people trying to stop cold turkey taking it from around 5% to around 10%. It comes in the form of 'transdermal' patches, which deliver nicotine through the skin into the bloodstream. It also comes as gum or pills (lozenges and microtabs) or plastic cigarettes or nasal sprays.
Nicotine replacement therapies work on the assumption that smoking consists of nicotine 'addiction' and the 'habit' of smoking. Smokers are expected to overcome the 'habit' whilst still getting their nicotine hit from the NRT product and then they are expected to reduce their nicotine intake until they are free from cigarettes and nicotine all together.
The downside of NRT is its expense in relation to the success rate it achieves. It is just as expensive as smoking and can leave people still needing the nicotine in the form of gum or lozenges for many months or even years after stopping smoking. NRT is often used in conjunction with Zyban to enhance both NRT and Zyban effectiveness. This makes it twice as expensive of course!
Is willpower the best way to stop smoking?
Will power has a very low success rate and smokers generally need to make several attempts over several years before they successfully stop smoking. The benefits of the willpower method are that the long terms success rate is very high. Chantix, Zyban and NRT approaches to stopping smoking can be more effective in the short term, but in the longer term, willpower quitters stay off the smokes for good.
The financial benefit of this method is very good of course because it doesn't cost a penny! This is however a false economy because it takes so long to successfully stop, there are a lot of packs of cigarettes bought between attempts and the final, and successful quit.
Are alternative methods the best way to stop smoking?
Alternative methods include herbal remedies, acupuncture and laser treatments amongst many others. Anecdotally, these methods have been found to be successful but the scientific evidence is not available. TV programs showing how 'successful' each of these treatments can be rely on interviewing one or two individuals - hence the anecdotal support.
These methods are frequently expensive and rarely come with a money back guarantee. They are virtually all supported by counselling in the form of book, audio tapes or one to one sessions.
So what is the best way to stop smoking?
My advice is to start by accepting there is going to be a cost to stopping smoking. There is going to be a higher cost to continue smoking, not only in terms of cash, but most significantly in terms of health.
If you want to stop smoking be prepared to accept that you may need to try several methods before you find your very own best way to stop smoking. The one that works for you will not be 50% or 30% or 22% effective - the one that works for you will be 100% effective and that is what really matters.
Start by considering products that come with money back guarantees so you can try it and if you fail, you can get your money back. Then move onto the next system until you come to those solutions that do not have money back guarantees.
As ever, my advice to any smoker trying to stop is to never stop trying to stop. Fall down seven times, get up eight!
There are several methods you can employ to stop smoking. The main ones are behavioural therapy, hypnosis, drugs, nicotine replacement therapy, will power and 'alternative' methods. I will give a brief description of each approach along with its pros and cons.
Is cognitive behavioural therapy the best way top stop smoking?
Cognitive behavioural therapy is one of the most successful methods to help smokers stop with success rates well above 50%. This is not the same as the standard literature you find all over the place. It is not the 'set a stop date', 'write out a stop plan', 'stay in and avoid alcohol' etc. etc. That doesn't work.
Cognitive behavioural therapy breaks smoking down into twenty or so component parts and changes the way you think about smoking, component by component. The end result is that all the reasons you think you smoke for are destroyed and you lose the will to smoke.
It is not a magic bullet. It is just one particularly effective approach to stopping smoking that uses no drugs whatsoever and leaves smokers feeling liberated the moment they stop smoking, rather than being fraught with anxiety. It is cheap when compared to other systems (less than $50) and is normally sold with a no quibble money back guarantee.
Is hypnosis the best way to stop smoking?
Studies suggest that hypnosis is successful to the tune of 30% of smokers in single sessions. Using multiple sessions, success rates of 60% plus have been reported. There is some evidence that women struggle to stop as readily as men using hypnosis.
It works by changing a person's mental attitude toward smoking using powerful visualisation techniques. Hypnosis is similar to neuro-linguistic programming or NLP. Both use similar relaxation and meditation techniques to overcome cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. It is far from suitable for everyone but it is non-chemical and there are no drugs to use.
Hypnosis products can be bought over the internet for around $50 but one to one sessions with hypnotherapists can be considerably more expensive, to the tune of several hundred dollars.
Are drug therapies the best way to stop smoking?
The pharmaceutical industry seems to think so! Zyban is found to work in about 16% of smokers and Chantix has been found to be about 22% effective. It is not 44% effective as claimed by Pfizer, its manufacturer.
Drug therapies are almost always used alongside counselling to help smokers achieve their aims of becoming non-smokers. Drug therapies can be provided by health authorities or may be included within medical insurance. They generally cost in excess of $300 to complete the courses if bought privately.
The downside to drug therapies aside from cost is that you may suffer from side effects which can be serious enough to stop you using the drug.
Another downside is that you do not get a money back guarantee with them, unlike my own book (which uses cognitive behavioural therapy) and most hypnosis products available on the internet.
Is nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) the best way to stop smoking?
Studies show that NRT can increase you chances of stopping smoking when compared to people trying to stop cold turkey taking it from around 5% to around 10%. It comes in the form of 'transdermal' patches, which deliver nicotine through the skin into the bloodstream. It also comes as gum or pills (lozenges and microtabs) or plastic cigarettes or nasal sprays.
Nicotine replacement therapies work on the assumption that smoking consists of nicotine 'addiction' and the 'habit' of smoking. Smokers are expected to overcome the 'habit' whilst still getting their nicotine hit from the NRT product and then they are expected to reduce their nicotine intake until they are free from cigarettes and nicotine all together.
The downside of NRT is its expense in relation to the success rate it achieves. It is just as expensive as smoking and can leave people still needing the nicotine in the form of gum or lozenges for many months or even years after stopping smoking. NRT is often used in conjunction with Zyban to enhance both NRT and Zyban effectiveness. This makes it twice as expensive of course!
Is willpower the best way to stop smoking?
Will power has a very low success rate and smokers generally need to make several attempts over several years before they successfully stop smoking. The benefits of the willpower method are that the long terms success rate is very high. Chantix, Zyban and NRT approaches to stopping smoking can be more effective in the short term, but in the longer term, willpower quitters stay off the smokes for good.
The financial benefit of this method is very good of course because it doesn't cost a penny! This is however a false economy because it takes so long to successfully stop, there are a lot of packs of cigarettes bought between attempts and the final, and successful quit.
Are alternative methods the best way to stop smoking?
Alternative methods include herbal remedies, acupuncture and laser treatments amongst many others. Anecdotally, these methods have been found to be successful but the scientific evidence is not available. TV programs showing how 'successful' each of these treatments can be rely on interviewing one or two individuals - hence the anecdotal support.
These methods are frequently expensive and rarely come with a money back guarantee. They are virtually all supported by counselling in the form of book, audio tapes or one to one sessions.
So what is the best way to stop smoking?
My advice is to start by accepting there is going to be a cost to stopping smoking. There is going to be a higher cost to continue smoking, not only in terms of cash, but most significantly in terms of health.
If you want to stop smoking be prepared to accept that you may need to try several methods before you find your very own best way to stop smoking. The one that works for you will not be 50% or 30% or 22% effective - the one that works for you will be 100% effective and that is what really matters.
Start by considering products that come with money back guarantees so you can try it and if you fail, you can get your money back. Then move onto the next system until you come to those solutions that do not have money back guarantees.
As ever, my advice to any smoker trying to stop is to never stop trying to stop. Fall down seven times, get up eight!
Wednesday, August 01, 2007
The best give up smoking tip ever!
When I was a smoker, I was determined to find that one best give up smoking tip. I always thought that there was one that I could rely on and use to make me give up smoking. You see, smoking is incredibly difficult to give up until you have found your own solution, i.e. the best give up smoking tip ever for you. When you have found that, it becomes easy to give up smoking.
So what is the best give up smoking tip ever then I hear you say. Well, the bad news for you is that I don't know. It's not that I don't know a whole heap of give up smoking tips, it's just that I don't know which is the best give up smoking tip for you personally.
Let me clarify. When I gave up smoking, one thing that really changed things for me was the realisation that I could actually enjoy life without cigarettes. For me that was the best give up smoking tip ever, but it wasn't the only one and on its own it wasn't that powerful. There were a whole raft of things I had to understand before I could happily give up the smokes. Now this is a strange analogy but stick with me. It is a bit like the Whitehouse, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC.
The Whitehouse is a magnificent building, but it is a magnificent building because it appears to be greater than the sum of its parts. Its parts add up to 'x' but the whole thing put together is worth 'x' plus a whole lot more.
The Whitehouse wouldn't look very good with just the huge entrance and no building. The building itself wouldn't look very impressive without that portico. The lamp under the portico wouldn't look good without the portico and the portico wouldn't look as good without the lamp. The gardens wouldn't be set off as well as they are without the house and the house wouldn't look as magnificent if it didn't have the gardens.
Do you see what I mean? One thing in itself may not be that impressive but when contrasted or complimented with something else or a number of other things, it becomes greater than it really is. It is always possible for something to be greater than the sum of its parts.
There are lists and lists of give up smoking tips available. I have two articles that I did just recently available at the following locations:
Quit Smoking Tips - 10 of the best and Quit smoking Tips - 10 more pearls of wisdom!
You can read them and others all over the internet, but they tend to follow different ideas about smoking and how you can overcome its grip on your life. If you read give up smoking tips all day long you could easily get no nearer finding a simple way to give up smoking without the anguish and stress and normal need for willpower.
So if you are really keen to give up smoking, I suppose the best give up smoking tip I can tell you is this. You are killing yourself. You know that but it doesn't make it any easier to give up smoking. You need to find a solution, so keep looking. They do exist but it may be different for you than it was for me. Lots of people succeed with cognitive behavioural therapy, others with hypnotherapy and others with drugs, although I take a pretty dim view on drugs to help you give up! See this article: http://quit-smoking-motivator.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html
For me, it was cognitive behavioural therapy. That sounds serious and scary but it's not. It is a set of instructions to change the way you think about your relationship with cigarettes. Once I understood why I smoked, it was really easy for me to give up. As they say in the military, "know your enemy!"
My final piece of advice that I suppose is the other 'best give up smoking tip' that I can think of is always, never give up trying to give up smoking.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Varenicline: A Cure for Smoking -Or a Smokescreen?
I read this article and I tend to agree with the author. Aside from my opinions on nicotine replacement therapy (read this post), I am not a fan of the miracle pills we hear about. Why? Well, smoking is not only about your physical nicotine addiction, it is also about your psychological 'addiction' to smoking. I say 'addiction' because it is more to do with a warped sense of stimuli and response than addiction! If you want to know more, buy my book!
OK, here's the article:
OK, here's the article:
One of the holy grails of the pharmaceutical industry is to design a drug that would cure or, otherwise significantly reduce nicotine cravings i.e. cure smoking. There are 48 million smokers in the U.S. and 45 million of them would, surely, give anything to quit. So, to conquer that market would mean immeasurable wealth to the victor. With this in mind, there is a potential blockbuster drug currently making its way through the regulatory hurdles that shows promise: Varenicline.
There are as many treatments for smoking as there are brands of cigarettes. These include patches, gums, lozenges, hypnosis, acupuncture and even an anti-depressant, Zyban. Zyban wasn't originally developed as a smoking cessation drug but as a treatment for depression. A side effect was observed- people on this drug smoked less. It has been moderately successful.
Most over-the-counter treatments involve the slow weaning of the patient from nicotine, while this new drug, Varenicline, attempts to block the receptors in the brain that trigger the cravings in the first place. A novel solution, it seems, to a perplexing problem.
As a smoker and having tried everything, I am currently most satisfied with my Commit lozenges. Ultimately though, these lozenges merely replace smoking as my preferred method of ingesting nicotine - something my lungs, but not my pocketbook are quite appreciative of. Now, I would have no problem continuing with these lozenges, but they are quite expensive and do nothing to end my addiction. I was hoping that this new drug, Varenicline, would allow me to kick the habit for good.
Well, the study results are in and here they are:
22% -- smoking abstinence rate after 1 year of patients given Varenicline
16% -- smoking abstinence rate after 1 year of patients given Zyban
8% --- smoking abstinence rate after 1 year of patients given a placebo
Hardly earth shattering numbers was my initial response. There barely seems a difference between Zyban and Varenicline – 1 out of 6 quitting for Zyban vs. 1 out of 5 for Varenicline. It’s too early to draw any conclusions, but it does initially appear, that we might have to wait awhile longer for the elusive smoking cure to be as simple as swallowing a pill.
Meanwhile, it’s off to the drugstore I go, for some more Commit.
Hopefully, it’s on sale.
Sara writes articles for Schmeg.com Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sara_C |
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
How to stop smoking without weight gain
There is substantial evidence underlining weight gain as the main concern smokers cite as a reason for not stopping smoking. This is amongst the many other excuses smokers give for putting off stopping smoking. Other examples include the inability to cope with stress or a fear that they will not be able to enjoy an upcoming party or their life in general without their trusty cigarettes.
Smoking is an addiction to nicotine but most smokers, and non-smokers for that matter, wrongly think of it as a habit. This is not the case. The urge to smoke is so overwhelming; it simply cannot just be a habit.
The suffering that smokers must go through in order to be able to smoke, is evidence as to why smoking is not a habit, but is an addiction. Smokers cannot inhale any other form of smoke, other than tobacco smoke, without coughing and spluttering or even being sick.
Once smokers come to realise the addiction to nicotine is the reason they smoke, it becomes easier to learn how to stop smoking without weight gain.
Smokers think they enjoy smoking as much, if not more, than eating. However, there is a very subtle difference between smoking and eating and understanding this is the key to learning how to stop smoking without weight gain. Read this two statements:
"When you are hungry, your body tells you so by giving you hunger pangs. You eat and you are rewarded with the discomfort subsiding."
"When you want a cigarette, your body tells you by giving you a craving. You smoke and you are rewarded with the discomfort subsiding."
When you read these two statements as a smoker, you are probably in full agreement with them. But, the second one is wrong and that is the secret of how to stop smoking without weight gain.
What you think is that you 'want a cigarette' when in actual fact, you want some nicotine. It is simply that over the years, you have wanted nicotine, had a cigarette to get it and then been rewarded with the discomfort of the craving subsiding. What has happened is that you have subconsciously replaced the connection of getting nicotine and the craving dying and having a cigarette and the craving dying.
In your mind, you see the cigarette as the thing you desire when in actual fact it is the nicotine. The cigarette is simply the delivery system. This is why pharmaceutical companies (wrongly) think nicotine patches and gum can help smokers quit.
So how does knowing this help you learn how to stop smoking without weight gain? Well, the point is that when you stop smoking, you will find that the craving for a cigarette (well nicotine) is very similar to the craving for food. It is a hollow empty feeling. Whilst you struggle with your willpower to overcome the urge to smoke, you will try and subdue the craving for nicotine with something that 'might work' - eating.
Smokers often turn to food to settle the craving for nicotine. This is where you end up gaining weight because you are wrongly trying to settle your hunger for nicotine by doing what seems right when you hunger for food. Your calorie intake goes through the roof and you pile on the pounds!
When you recognise that your apparent increased appetite is just you mixing up cravings for food with cravings for nicotine, it becomes easier for you to control your response – i.e. whether you chose to eat or not. Once you have mastered this understanding, you are on the right track of how to stop smoking without weight gain.
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
Friday, July 06, 2007
Genuine EasyQuit System Testimonials
Hi Pete,
I would like you to know that I quit smoking half way through reading your book and have not smoked since! It has been 1 month and I am so happy that I did it!! I never thought that I would be able to live without them but there is one thing I know for sure and that is that I will never pick up a cigarette again in my life thanks to your book!!
I feel so much better knowing that each day my lungs are clearing up and that I have less of a chance of having heart disease. Your book has definitely changed my life. I have tried to quit before on my own and it never worked. I am not sure exactly what in your book changed my thinking, but it worked and I am very grateful to you. You have saved my life!!!!
Thank you!!
Susan Ellston, Florida
Hi Pete.
You'll be glad to know I've been a non-smoker since sometime in February. I didn't even keep track of the day because cigarettes just don't mean anything to me anymore. I just stopped. Thanks.
Tricia Brunken, Massachusetts
Hi:
I must thank you from the bottom of my heart. I have been smoke-free for almost 3 months now. I don't even miss it. I was terrified to even try to quit but after reading your book - it was possible. And I never even cheated once!! Again, thankyou.
Donna Deck, Ontario, Canada
Well Pete,
I must say I entered into this thinking that it was just another bunch of BS to get rich!!! However, by the time I had reached the last chapter of your book, I no longer wanted another cigarette – thank you. I hope you do, if not already, get rich as I am in a much better place thanks to you.
Ron Collins, Florida
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
Quit Smoking Benefits
There are many quit smoking benefits – and obviously health benefits are the main reason why most people want to quit smoking.
Secondly, money plays a part in quitting smoking and the benefit to the average smoker is in excess of $1500 per year, so that is a good quit smoking benefit!
Thirdly, the way you and your clothes and your car and your house smell after you have stopped smoking are more good quit smoking benefit. For non- or ex-smokers, tobacco is a very pervasive and disagreeable odour.
Your appearance will also improve as your skin will have a better pallor to it and your teeth can be cleaned a little better without the incessant wash of smoke over them.
But lets get back to the health benefits. It will obviously vary from person to person, but every smoker can enjoy a several benefits from quitting smoking.
1) Within 20 minutes of a cigarette, blood pressure and heart rate decline to 'normal'.
2) Within 8 hours, or a nights sleep, nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are down by at least a half.
3) Within 2 days, carbon monoxide and nicotine will be virtually non-existent in the blood. Your lungs will start the process of cleaning themselves and your taste and smell will start to improve. However, whilst these are good quit smoking benefits, it is at around this time that the withdrawal symptoms will be at their worst.
It is not uncommon for a sore throat, coughing, irritability, constipation and sleeplessness to set in at this point of quitting tobacco. These are common side effects of quitting smoking.
4) Over the coming few months, breathing will become easier and energy levels will increase. The blood's oxygen carrying capacity is back to 100% and the circulation of the body will have already improved.
5) By the end of the first year, lung function can improve by up to 10%, and wheeziness could become a thing of the past.
6) Ten years after quitting smoking, the ex-smoker benefits from a halved risk of lung cancer and a normal risk of heart attack.
Other quit smoking benefits include confidence, fitness and energy levels being better along with a much improve complexion and more youthful skin. Fertility in both men and women improves and the chance of pregnancy complications is much reduced.
One of the biggest quit smoking benefits can be found in families; infants have a much higher chance of still birth, premature birth or even cot death (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome or SIDS). Children of smokers have higher chances of asthma, pneumonia and chest and ear infections during childhood and are much more likely to become smokers themselves.
Quit smoking benefits are numerous, the disadvantages of quitting smoking are non-existent!
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
Quit Smoking Programs
There are many different quit smoking programs available to day. In this article we shall look at some of them and their relative effectiveness.
The most obvious quit smoking program is to use the old cold turkey method. This involves simply depriving yourself of cigarettes or tobacco. It has the very lowest success rate of all quit smoking programs at around 5% after 6 months.
Another well known quit smoking program is the use of nicotine replacement therapy or NRT. Nicotine replacement therapy products vary from transdermal patchs that infuse nicotine across the skin, to gums, inhalers and nasal sprays.
The gums, lozenges, spray and inhalation systems all leave a pretty nasty taste in the back of the throat and the patches do little to help immediate cravings. Only about 1 in 10 people who try manage to stay smoke free after 6 months of using one of these quit smoking programs.
Zyban or Wellbutin is another well know quit smoking program. It is thought to double your chances when taken alone, up to 10%. When used in conjunction with NRT, this quit smoking program can win over up to 20% of quitters after 6 months. As programs go, combined zyban and NRT is an effective quit smoking program.
Recently, a product called Varenicline and known as Chantix or Champix has been approved for the market. This is considered to be a 'magic pill' solution to smoking and its manufacturers boast up to 44% success after 6 months. Independent studies, however, have been unable to reach such heady success and success rates are considered to be in the high 20% region after 6 months. Again, this is a relatively effective quit smoking program.
Finally, there are a number of other highly effective quit smoking programs available over the internet. They are not 'magic pills' as they require time and effort from smokers to address their desire to quit smoking.
Cognitive Behavioural Therapies, Hypnosis and Neuro-Linguistic Programming are all recognised alternative methods for quitting smoking. These quit smoking programs claim very high success rates and the British Medical Association has published success rates in excess of 70% for some of these methods.
When you are looking to quit smoking once and for all, it may not be the accepted and well known methods that will work for you, so it always worth looking at the alternatives.
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
What happens when you quit smoking?
It is thought that over 85% of smokers want to quit smoking. The main reason given by smokers for wanting to quit is that they know that they are damaging their health. Financial concerns come in second place to health concerns. Most smokers will cite fear of lung cancer as their main health concern, but there are many other health problems associated with smoking.
Whilst as a smoker, you may cite health concerns as the reason they wish to quit smoking; it is common not to know what happens when you quit smoking.
From the list of what happens when you quit smoking, it could be prudent to mention what happens when you don't quit smoking. From the age of 35-40 it is recognised that every year of continues smoking will actually reduce your life expectancy by 3 months on average!
The commonly listed things of what happens when you quit smoking, in time order are firstly the rapid reduction in nicotine levels and more importantly carbon monoxide levels in the blood stream. Carbon monoxide binds to the red blood cells and prevents them from carrying oxygen to the muscle. Energy levels increase rapidly after not smoking for as little as a day.
Within two days of quitting, lung efficiency will start to improve and lung function will stop declining. Quite astonishingly, lung cancer risk reduces rapidly (Source: ASH) in as little as two days also.
From a quality of life point of view, what happens when you quit smoking after one month is very noticeable. Energy levels, taste and smell will have improved along with blood circulation. The resultant effects are an improved appearance and better radiance of the skin. Wrinkles will seem less deep and skin will become more flexible giving a more youthful appearance, even in elderly quitters!
During this first month, most of the nicotine withdrawal side effects will be felt. These side effects include cravings, restlessness, unhappiness (not clinical depression!), loss of concentration, light-headedness, constipation, sore throat and disturbed sleep. These are all very negative effects of what happens when you quit smoking and need determination so as not to 'give up the quit'.
Coughing and wheeziness will subside over the course of the first year. Any chronic (long term) bronchial irritation will start to subside also. However, any emphysema type lung damage – the destruction of a lung's elasticity – will remain irrespective. Unfortunately, reversing emphysema is not what happens when you quit smoking!
Finally, from the end of the first year after smoking, heart failure risk is halved from that of a full time smoker. Over the following 15 years, heart failure risk declines to that of someone who has never smoked. Along with this, lung cancer risk is also halved. These are probably the most significant and beneficial benefits of what happens when you quit smoking and provide a thoroughly good reason to do so.
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Visit http://easyquitsystem.com/ to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking that boasts 96% customer satisfaction.
Monday, July 02, 2007
Laser Treatment to Quit Smoking: Does it work?
Using laser treatment to quit smoking is based on the practice behind acupuncture. Using laser treatment to quit smoking consists of using lasers to stimulate the acupuncture or acupressure points. This is done in the same way as where acupuncture needles would be used, inserted into specific regions of the body, but low power lasers are used instead.
According to the Cochrane Library, using acupuncture and related therapies such as laser treatment to quit smoking do not appear to help smokers who are trying to quit.
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese therapy, generally using needles to stimulate particular points in the body. Acupuncture is used with the aim of reducing the withdrawal symptoms people experience when they try to quit smoking. Related therapies include acupressure, laser therapy and electrical stimulation.
To reach the conclusion that laser therapy to quit smoking was ineffective, 24 case studies where reviewed. Active acupuncture or related therapies was compared with sham acupuncture or their related therapy (using needles or lasers at other places in the body not thought to be useful) or other control conditions.
The review did not find consistent evidence that active acupuncture or related techniques such as laser therapy to quit smoking increased the number of people who could successfully quit smoking.
However, acupuncture may be better than doing nothing, at least in the short term; and there is not enough evidence to dismiss the possibility that acupuncture might have an effect greater than placebo.
It is tantalising to think that the accepted placebo effect could be enhanced when using acupuncture or laser therapy to quit smoking. However, the same enhanced placebo effect may be found with many other interventions to help quit smoking.
It is fair to say that adequate numbers of scientific studies into the effectiveness of laser therapy to quit smoking have not taken place to make a definitive decision one way or another. However, there are many other interventions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which have been proven to significantly enhance a smoker's chance of success.
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Please visit www.easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
According to the Cochrane Library, using acupuncture and related therapies such as laser treatment to quit smoking do not appear to help smokers who are trying to quit.
Acupuncture is a traditional Chinese therapy, generally using needles to stimulate particular points in the body. Acupuncture is used with the aim of reducing the withdrawal symptoms people experience when they try to quit smoking. Related therapies include acupressure, laser therapy and electrical stimulation.
To reach the conclusion that laser therapy to quit smoking was ineffective, 24 case studies where reviewed. Active acupuncture or related therapies was compared with sham acupuncture or their related therapy (using needles or lasers at other places in the body not thought to be useful) or other control conditions.
The review did not find consistent evidence that active acupuncture or related techniques such as laser therapy to quit smoking increased the number of people who could successfully quit smoking.
However, acupuncture may be better than doing nothing, at least in the short term; and there is not enough evidence to dismiss the possibility that acupuncture might have an effect greater than placebo.
It is tantalising to think that the accepted placebo effect could be enhanced when using acupuncture or laser therapy to quit smoking. However, the same enhanced placebo effect may be found with many other interventions to help quit smoking.
It is fair to say that adequate numbers of scientific studies into the effectiveness of laser therapy to quit smoking have not taken place to make a definitive decision one way or another. However, there are many other interventions, including Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), which have been proven to significantly enhance a smoker's chance of success.
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Please visit www.easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
New Smoking Ban in England
1) Why is there a new smoking ban in England? The government has identified that second-hand smoke is a threat to health in non-smokers exposed to it. As such, they have decided to protect non-smokers from the negative effects of 'environmental tobacco smoke in enclosed spaces.
2) When does the new smoking ban in England take effect? 1st July 2007 - smoking in enclosed public spaces is already banned in Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.
3) Where does the new smoking ban in England specifically ban smoking from? The new law bans smoking in virtually all enclosed public places, including pubs, bars, restaurants, offices, factories, cinemas and sports stadiums.
4) How will I know what areas are smoke-free? Smoke-free places will be clearly sign-posted with no-smoking signs. It is a legal requirement for places where smoking is now no longer allowed, to display no smoking signs.
5) But what does smoke-free really mean? If you light up in a public place, workplace or company vehicle you’ll be breaking the law. Or if managers let you smoke in no-smoking zones, they’ll be breaking the law.
6) Will this new smoking ban in England mean all smoking is banned? The ban covers the smoking of tobacco or anything that contains tobacco, or smoking any other substance. This includes manufactured cigarettes, hand-rolled cigarettes, pipes, cigars, herbal cigarettes and water pipes (including shisha, hookah and hubble-bubble pipes).
7) Will smoking be banned outdoors too? The Health Act 2006 includes powers to make non-enclosed places smoke-free, but at present the Government does not intend to make any non-enclosed places smoke-free.
8) What happens if I smoke in a smoke-free area? Smoking in smoke-free premises or vehicle will give a fixed penalty notice of £50, which is discounted to £30 if paid within 15 days. Business owners can expect a fine of up to £2,500 for failing to prevent smoking within enclosed public spaces.
9) What about hotels and private clubs? Hotels will be non-smoking but there may be designated rooms where guests can smoke. Private clubs are covered by the ban. This includes working men clubs and golf clubs.
10) How will the new smoking ban in England be enforced? The government has set aside funds for councils to employ 'smoking officers' who are tasked with ensuring businesses follow the letter of the law. It is expected to be enforced on a 'softly, softly' basis at first. All businesses are expected to be given a 'warning' before any legal action is taken against them.
11) Did you know? If a business owner were found guilty of breaking this law and then failed to pay the fine, resulting in a custodial sentence, they would be allowed to smoke in enclosed public areas of the prison!
Pete Howells has written the EasyQuit System that will help any smoker quit tobacco. The EasyQuit System works by giving smokers the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit rather than just telling them smoking is bad for them. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The Nicotine Replacement Therapy Scam
Over the last year, I have read more than my fill of theories on smoking cessation. I have seen some amazing claims made by people about Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs) or selling herbal and other remedies.
The simple fact of the matter is that smoking is the response to an addiction to nicotine. People smoke because they have a physical need for nicotine and the place to get it quickly is through a cigarette or other tobacco product.
The pharmaceutical industry claims that nicotine replacement is an effective way of quitting smoking. They are missing the point in order to make a profit.
It is far more likely that people who quit smoking will stay quit if they are no longer in the throes of nicotine addiction. To this end, nicotine replacement therapies have very low long term (26 and 52 week) success rates because they maintain nicotine addiction.
NRT patients are frequently still addicted to nicotine many months after quitting smoking - if they are successful in quitting smoking at all - and it is not uncommon to find former smokers still chewing nicotine replacement gum or lozenges even years after stopping smoking.
The pharmaceutical companies do not mind this situation though as they have effectively stolen a customer from the tobacco industry and turned them into a long-term customer of the pharmaceutical industry.
The rouse doesn't end there either. Tobacco is heavily taxed whereas nicotine replacement therapies are not. The tobacco companies make very healthy profits from selling tobacco products despite up to 80% of the price being taxes and duties.
The manufacturing costs of nicotine replacement therapies are only marginally higher than those of cigarettes and the like. The selling price of nicotine replacement therapies is only marginally lower than tobacco products, despite the bulk of cigarette costs being taxes and duties. To this end the pharmaceutical companies are making huge profits on nicotine replacement therapy products by taking the 'tax chunk' as profit.
Nicotine replacement therapies do not work effectively in the long run and that has been shown on many occasions and in many studies. These therapies are used as a means of profiting from nicotine addiction with little interest in the welfare of the smoker themselves.
The only genuine method of overcoming smoking is through change of attitude and it is proven that the most effective methods for quitting smoking do not rely on any form of substitution, whether nicotine or some other herbal remedy. Long-term smoking cessation is only readily achieved when smokers can understand and master their addiction and understand how to control it. Knowing how to change ones attitude to cigarettes is the key to success.
Sunday, August 20, 2006
Why refer to it as "a quit"?
People who quit smoking always seem to refer to it as "a quit". This quit is so many days, my last quit went wrong etc. etc.
What annoys me about this approach is that if you qut smoking refering to the quit as "a quit", you are intentionally deciding this is going to fail. It is why so many people fail to quit smoking.
You should never refer to this as a quit or this quit or that quit... it is the one and only quit of your life. If you don't intend on quitting smoking for good, you may as well continue smoking!
When I quit smoking I knew I had done it for ever - it never enters my thoughts that I would ever do it again. If you quit smoking expecting it to be an attempt, that is exactly what it will be - just an attempt, doomed to failure!
Quit smoking and KNOW that you have quit for good!
What annoys me about this approach is that if you qut smoking refering to the quit as "a quit", you are intentionally deciding this is going to fail. It is why so many people fail to quit smoking.
You should never refer to this as a quit or this quit or that quit... it is the one and only quit of your life. If you don't intend on quitting smoking for good, you may as well continue smoking!
When I quit smoking I knew I had done it for ever - it never enters my thoughts that I would ever do it again. If you quit smoking expecting it to be an attempt, that is exactly what it will be - just an attempt, doomed to failure!
Quit smoking and KNOW that you have quit for good!
Tuesday, July 04, 2006
Smoking Risks In Women
Smoking kills 114,000 people per year in the UK and a growing proportion of these are women. The risks taken by women in smoking are many fold and are well documented. Of these 114,000 deaths, over 42,000 of them are women.
As a group, 23% of all adult women are considered to be regular smokers compared with 26% of adult men. However, at secondary school age, more girls smoke than boys, at a rate of 26% to 16% respectively. Arguably this is because of the false belief that smoking helps weight loss and or slimming. As teenage girls are more susceptible to the social pressure of looking slim, this may well be a promoting factor in the higher prevalence of female smokers.
Given this similar rate of regular smoking at adulthood, women tend to smoke 2 cigarettes per day less than men, on average smoking 13 cigarettes compared to men smoking 15. It is possible that this is as a result of the difference in body mass between men and women.
80% of female lung cancer victims are smokers compared with 90% of male lung cancer victims. This is thought to be as a result of some metabolic difference between men and women, but female smokers should not consider the lower percentage as a blessing. Overall, more than 90% of lung cancer patients, whether male or female, are dead within 5 years of diagnosis as a direct result of their smoking.
Social class plays a role in death rates as a result of lung cancer too. The lowest social classes of men are five times more likely to die from lung cancer than the highest. In women, the lowest social class is twice as likely to die from lung cancer as the highest social class. Obviously, there are significant differences in smoking habits between these social classes but also other mitigating factors such as diet and alcohol consumption may play a role too.
Women greatly increase the risk of cervical cancer along with all the other forms of cancer that are known to be more prevalent in smokers. These include cancers of the mouth, lip and throat, cancer of the pancreas, bladder cancer, cancer of the kidney, stomach cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia.
Women who smoke put their children at much higher risk than those who don't although any child should be protected from exposure to cigarette smoke regardless. Smoking during pregnancy leads to an increased risk of miscarriage, bleeding during pregnancy, premature birth and hence low weight of babies at birth. Lower birth weight and premature birth greatly increase the risks of ill-health in the child and the failure of that child to thrive. Finally and probably most painfully to any parent, smoking greatly increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome also referred to as SIDS or cot death.
There is a prevalence in western society for women to use the contraceptive pill and links have been found between the pill and smokers with respect to a reduction in good health or a risk of negative side effects. Most notably, women on the pill increase their risk of heart attack ten-fold by smoking. There is also a higher incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease in women taking the pill and smoking.
Smoking also increases the risk of problematic menstruation (but not Pre-Menstrual Tension or Pre-Menstrual Stress) and has been found to accelerate the onset of menopause. It has been found that women are likely to enter the menopause on average 2 years earlier than non-smoking women and are at increased risk of developing osteoporosis, a debilitating disease suffered by women which sees their bones decay and 'shrink' as they grow older.
Smoking also has an aging effect on smokers, most noticeably in the wrinkling of the skin. The toxins in cigarette smoke are known to harm the metabolism of the skin as well as promoting the drying of the skin itself. Coupled to this, smoking accelerates the narrowing of blood vessels providing blood to the skin that again reduces its vitality. It is also thought that some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke increase the production of specific enzymes that break down collagen, the underlying substance that gives skin a youthful appearance and feel. It is also thought that smoking and the incidence of psoriasis are linked.
Finally, excess weight in female smokers tends towards the upper torso and around the organs of the body, rather than around the legs and hips. Female smokers have a lower waist to hip ratio making them statistically less curvaceous or feminine looking. The weight gain (if any) after smoking cessation tends away from the upper torso and with time, body fat tends towards the hips, buttocks and legs, away from the organs and heart. This is though to greatly reduce the risk of heart disease in women who quit smoking.
Pete Howells owns the website EasyQuit System and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
As a group, 23% of all adult women are considered to be regular smokers compared with 26% of adult men. However, at secondary school age, more girls smoke than boys, at a rate of 26% to 16% respectively. Arguably this is because of the false belief that smoking helps weight loss and or slimming. As teenage girls are more susceptible to the social pressure of looking slim, this may well be a promoting factor in the higher prevalence of female smokers.
Given this similar rate of regular smoking at adulthood, women tend to smoke 2 cigarettes per day less than men, on average smoking 13 cigarettes compared to men smoking 15. It is possible that this is as a result of the difference in body mass between men and women.
80% of female lung cancer victims are smokers compared with 90% of male lung cancer victims. This is thought to be as a result of some metabolic difference between men and women, but female smokers should not consider the lower percentage as a blessing. Overall, more than 90% of lung cancer patients, whether male or female, are dead within 5 years of diagnosis as a direct result of their smoking.
Social class plays a role in death rates as a result of lung cancer too. The lowest social classes of men are five times more likely to die from lung cancer than the highest. In women, the lowest social class is twice as likely to die from lung cancer as the highest social class. Obviously, there are significant differences in smoking habits between these social classes but also other mitigating factors such as diet and alcohol consumption may play a role too.
Women greatly increase the risk of cervical cancer along with all the other forms of cancer that are known to be more prevalent in smokers. These include cancers of the mouth, lip and throat, cancer of the pancreas, bladder cancer, cancer of the kidney, stomach cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia.
Women who smoke put their children at much higher risk than those who don't although any child should be protected from exposure to cigarette smoke regardless. Smoking during pregnancy leads to an increased risk of miscarriage, bleeding during pregnancy, premature birth and hence low weight of babies at birth. Lower birth weight and premature birth greatly increase the risks of ill-health in the child and the failure of that child to thrive. Finally and probably most painfully to any parent, smoking greatly increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome also referred to as SIDS or cot death.
There is a prevalence in western society for women to use the contraceptive pill and links have been found between the pill and smokers with respect to a reduction in good health or a risk of negative side effects. Most notably, women on the pill increase their risk of heart attack ten-fold by smoking. There is also a higher incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease in women taking the pill and smoking.
Smoking also increases the risk of problematic menstruation (but not Pre-Menstrual Tension or Pre-Menstrual Stress) and has been found to accelerate the onset of menopause. It has been found that women are likely to enter the menopause on average 2 years earlier than non-smoking women and are at increased risk of developing osteoporosis, a debilitating disease suffered by women which sees their bones decay and 'shrink' as they grow older.
Smoking also has an aging effect on smokers, most noticeably in the wrinkling of the skin. The toxins in cigarette smoke are known to harm the metabolism of the skin as well as promoting the drying of the skin itself. Coupled to this, smoking accelerates the narrowing of blood vessels providing blood to the skin that again reduces its vitality. It is also thought that some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke increase the production of specific enzymes that break down collagen, the underlying substance that gives skin a youthful appearance and feel. It is also thought that smoking and the incidence of psoriasis are linked.
Finally, excess weight in female smokers tends towards the upper torso and around the organs of the body, rather than around the legs and hips. Female smokers have a lower waist to hip ratio making them statistically less curvaceous or feminine looking. The weight gain (if any) after smoking cessation tends away from the upper torso and with time, body fat tends towards the hips, buttocks and legs, away from the organs and heart. This is though to greatly reduce the risk of heart disease in women who quit smoking.
Pete Howells owns the website EasyQuit System and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
Thursday, June 22, 2006
Smoking, Death and Taxes – a homage to Benjamin Franklin
As Benjamin Franklin put it in a letter to Jean-Baptiste Leroy, in 1789, "In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." And when it comes to smoking, he could not have put it any more succinctly.
In the UK, the average packet of cigarettes carries duty and taxation of around £4 (around $7) per pack so if you are a smoker, you can be guaranteed the taxes part of the statement. In real terms that is over £1,460 ($2,500) per year – the equivalent of about 8.5 pence (15 cents) extra in the pound on the basic rate income tax for an average earner!
As for the death part of the statement, we know that death is inevitable but the average smoker's life is shortened by 8 years according to widely accepted research. But there is a sting in this statistic that most people ignore. Half of all smokers are expected to die prematurely as a result of their smoking. From this key fact we can draw the conclusion that half of all smokers will not die prematurely from smoking. This explains the "my grandmother smoked 40 woodbines a day and lived to 98" quotes you hear at the pub or in general conversations.
What people overlook when they make these statements is that of the half that die early as a result of smoking, the average demise is brought forward by eight years for the whole smoking population. This actually means that if you get caught up in the half that is going to die prematurely, you are going to die about 16 years earlier than normal.
In the case of the UK, the average life expectancy of a man is 76 years for a man and 81 years for a woman. These statistics include the premature deaths of smokers – so actually, if you don't smoke, your life expectancy should be a few years more than this. If you do smoke, it may be a few years more than you think but it falls back 16 years from that of a non-smoker if you end up in the ‘wrong half'!
In the case of men, if the average life expectancy is 76 years and you are unfortunate enough to die 16 years early as an ‘average' smoker, you will be 5 years short of your retirement age. How does that make you feel? All the work, all the pension contributions and then what – die of a heart attack or a lingering painful death as a result of cancer or a dribbling, mumbling wreck from stroke or the worst of all, a static, breathless existence in a chair incapable of doing anything because of emphysema?
If you think this is a little morbid, why not do some research on famous smokers or people in the public eye who have died from smoking related illnesses? You will be amazed at the number of smokers who die in their fifties and sixties. Most smokers are in denial that they will get cancer or heart disease but you could well be dying in your 50s or 60s. There are well documented cases on the internet of smokers dying in their 20s and 30s as a result of thioer habit.
Extensive research has categorically concluded that smoking causes a plethora of diseases. At the last count in my research, I had identified over 60 diseases, both fatal and non-fatal that can be directly linked to the consumption of cigarettes or other tobacco products.
I suggest that whilst there is nothing you can do about the inevitability of taxes, nor the inevitability of death, there is a choice for smokers to pay less tax and get a little more time in before death. Quitting is never easy if you are in denial and you believe you want to smoke, but there are methods available to overcome your emotional attachment to cigarettes. Today is always a good day to start stopping smoking.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
In the UK, the average packet of cigarettes carries duty and taxation of around £4 (around $7) per pack so if you are a smoker, you can be guaranteed the taxes part of the statement. In real terms that is over £1,460 ($2,500) per year – the equivalent of about 8.5 pence (15 cents) extra in the pound on the basic rate income tax for an average earner!
As for the death part of the statement, we know that death is inevitable but the average smoker's life is shortened by 8 years according to widely accepted research. But there is a sting in this statistic that most people ignore. Half of all smokers are expected to die prematurely as a result of their smoking. From this key fact we can draw the conclusion that half of all smokers will not die prematurely from smoking. This explains the "my grandmother smoked 40 woodbines a day and lived to 98" quotes you hear at the pub or in general conversations.
What people overlook when they make these statements is that of the half that die early as a result of smoking, the average demise is brought forward by eight years for the whole smoking population. This actually means that if you get caught up in the half that is going to die prematurely, you are going to die about 16 years earlier than normal.
In the case of the UK, the average life expectancy of a man is 76 years for a man and 81 years for a woman. These statistics include the premature deaths of smokers – so actually, if you don't smoke, your life expectancy should be a few years more than this. If you do smoke, it may be a few years more than you think but it falls back 16 years from that of a non-smoker if you end up in the ‘wrong half'!
In the case of men, if the average life expectancy is 76 years and you are unfortunate enough to die 16 years early as an ‘average' smoker, you will be 5 years short of your retirement age. How does that make you feel? All the work, all the pension contributions and then what – die of a heart attack or a lingering painful death as a result of cancer or a dribbling, mumbling wreck from stroke or the worst of all, a static, breathless existence in a chair incapable of doing anything because of emphysema?
If you think this is a little morbid, why not do some research on famous smokers or people in the public eye who have died from smoking related illnesses? You will be amazed at the number of smokers who die in their fifties and sixties. Most smokers are in denial that they will get cancer or heart disease but you could well be dying in your 50s or 60s. There are well documented cases on the internet of smokers dying in their 20s and 30s as a result of thioer habit.
Extensive research has categorically concluded that smoking causes a plethora of diseases. At the last count in my research, I had identified over 60 diseases, both fatal and non-fatal that can be directly linked to the consumption of cigarettes or other tobacco products.
I suggest that whilst there is nothing you can do about the inevitability of taxes, nor the inevitability of death, there is a choice for smokers to pay less tax and get a little more time in before death. Quitting is never easy if you are in denial and you believe you want to smoke, but there are methods available to overcome your emotional attachment to cigarettes. Today is always a good day to start stopping smoking.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
How to be a Happy Non-Smoker
Smoking has got to be one of the worst afflictions man has brought upon himself. As Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland put it, "A cigarette is the only consumer product which when used as directed kills its consumer." Of course, in the old days people didn't even know that there was a connection between smoking and becoming ill not only through cancer, but also via a whole host of other diseases.
The four big killers from cigarette smoking are lung cancer, heart attack, stroke and Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease or COPD. The lung cancer is not the only form of cancer that smokers put themselves at markedly higher risk of either.
Smokers represent 90% of all male lung cancer sufferers and 80% of all women lung cancer sufferers, of whom, 90% die within 5 years of diagnosis. Smoking also increases the risk of other cancers. Amongst the plethora of other diseases, smoking enhances the risk of cervical cancer, cancers of the mouth, lip and throat, cancer of the pancreas, bladder cancer, cancer of the kidney, stomach cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia.
Of course smokers are made totally aware of the illnesses that they risk as a result of their habit. Health warnings are emblazoned everywhere. Governments and health organisations around the world continue to berate smokers with warnings and images of the diseases they are risking as a result of smoking. The reason they argue being that smokers are intelligent and can make choices when given the appropriate evidence. As an ex-smoker (and a happy one at that), I disagree.
The problem with their argument is that these health organisations and governments think that smokers smoke out of choice. This is blatantly not so. To understand the flaw in this idea I suggest we do a little mental experiment:
Let us imagine we take a smoker and a non-smoker as our subjects. We then starve the subjects for 24 hours but give them water so they will not die. We then offer them some food of their individual choice, whether it be soup or stew or curry or cake, they get to choose. Then let us poison this food in front of each subject and tell the subject we are poisoning his or her food. Stick with me here… both of our subjects are famished and both know that their favourite food in front of them is laced with poison and will kill them if they eat it.
Which one is more likely to go ahead and eat the poisoned food, the smoker or the non-smoker?
Neither of them of course, but now ask yourself this question;
"Which one of them is no longer hungry because the food is poisoned?"
Do you see the problem? Just because something may be bad for you and you know that, does not necessarily mean you will not want it. Smoking is not a matter of choice, just as eating isn't. Smoking to a smoker is a means of obtaining nicotine and the craving for that nicotine is going to be no less when you tell him or her that it's delivered by a health destroying, cancer instigating, stroke inducing, emphysema causing, heart attack inducing cigarette.
Nicotine delivery is most effective when taken as smoke from cigarettes, rolling or pipe tobacco. It gets delivered fast to the bloodstream and fast to the brain where it is wanted. Nicotine patches, gums, sprays and inhalators all deliver nicotine but it takes several minutes for the delivery. Smoking takes less than 10 seconds to get the nicotine to the brain and that is important because the cravings are short lived but intense, hence smokers prefer to smoke than have a patch dribbling them a little of what they are addicted to.
Once you can understand that nicotine addiction is the problem and you understand that you must overcome that addiction, you build on your chances of becoming a happy non-smoker.
Part of the problem with the government sponsored and pharmaceutical company led solutions to smoking are that they re-enforce the belief that quitting smoking is difficult and they try to solve what they see as a problem of tobacco smoke by giving the addict the drug in a different form such as NRT.
For years now, NRT has been preached as the saviour of smokers around the world, just as methadone has been preached as the solution to heroin addiction. Neither are terribly effective at achieving the goal of bringing people back to normality; i.e. being nicotine or heroin free. Governments and health organisations need to think more about the addiction smokers have to cigarettes because of the nicotine than brow-beating them with bad news about the health effects.
Arguably 80% of smokers are motivated to quit smoking, but motive does not necessarily provide means and opportunity. If smoking is to be overcome, a smoker must not just "not want to smoke", they must believe that they have no desire to smoke. Only once a smoker can lose the desire for cigarettes, can they become happy non-smokers. Understanding how they can reach the point of not desiring a cigarette is key in removing the perennial problem of relapsing ex-smokers.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
The four big killers from cigarette smoking are lung cancer, heart attack, stroke and Chronic Pulmonary Obstructive Disease or COPD. The lung cancer is not the only form of cancer that smokers put themselves at markedly higher risk of either.
Smokers represent 90% of all male lung cancer sufferers and 80% of all women lung cancer sufferers, of whom, 90% die within 5 years of diagnosis. Smoking also increases the risk of other cancers. Amongst the plethora of other diseases, smoking enhances the risk of cervical cancer, cancers of the mouth, lip and throat, cancer of the pancreas, bladder cancer, cancer of the kidney, stomach cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia.
Of course smokers are made totally aware of the illnesses that they risk as a result of their habit. Health warnings are emblazoned everywhere. Governments and health organisations around the world continue to berate smokers with warnings and images of the diseases they are risking as a result of smoking. The reason they argue being that smokers are intelligent and can make choices when given the appropriate evidence. As an ex-smoker (and a happy one at that), I disagree.
The problem with their argument is that these health organisations and governments think that smokers smoke out of choice. This is blatantly not so. To understand the flaw in this idea I suggest we do a little mental experiment:
Let us imagine we take a smoker and a non-smoker as our subjects. We then starve the subjects for 24 hours but give them water so they will not die. We then offer them some food of their individual choice, whether it be soup or stew or curry or cake, they get to choose. Then let us poison this food in front of each subject and tell the subject we are poisoning his or her food. Stick with me here… both of our subjects are famished and both know that their favourite food in front of them is laced with poison and will kill them if they eat it.
Which one is more likely to go ahead and eat the poisoned food, the smoker or the non-smoker?
Neither of them of course, but now ask yourself this question;
"Which one of them is no longer hungry because the food is poisoned?"
Do you see the problem? Just because something may be bad for you and you know that, does not necessarily mean you will not want it. Smoking is not a matter of choice, just as eating isn't. Smoking to a smoker is a means of obtaining nicotine and the craving for that nicotine is going to be no less when you tell him or her that it's delivered by a health destroying, cancer instigating, stroke inducing, emphysema causing, heart attack inducing cigarette.
Nicotine delivery is most effective when taken as smoke from cigarettes, rolling or pipe tobacco. It gets delivered fast to the bloodstream and fast to the brain where it is wanted. Nicotine patches, gums, sprays and inhalators all deliver nicotine but it takes several minutes for the delivery. Smoking takes less than 10 seconds to get the nicotine to the brain and that is important because the cravings are short lived but intense, hence smokers prefer to smoke than have a patch dribbling them a little of what they are addicted to.
Once you can understand that nicotine addiction is the problem and you understand that you must overcome that addiction, you build on your chances of becoming a happy non-smoker.
Part of the problem with the government sponsored and pharmaceutical company led solutions to smoking are that they re-enforce the belief that quitting smoking is difficult and they try to solve what they see as a problem of tobacco smoke by giving the addict the drug in a different form such as NRT.
For years now, NRT has been preached as the saviour of smokers around the world, just as methadone has been preached as the solution to heroin addiction. Neither are terribly effective at achieving the goal of bringing people back to normality; i.e. being nicotine or heroin free. Governments and health organisations need to think more about the addiction smokers have to cigarettes because of the nicotine than brow-beating them with bad news about the health effects.
Arguably 80% of smokers are motivated to quit smoking, but motive does not necessarily provide means and opportunity. If smoking is to be overcome, a smoker must not just "not want to smoke", they must believe that they have no desire to smoke. Only once a smoker can lose the desire for cigarettes, can they become happy non-smokers. Understanding how they can reach the point of not desiring a cigarette is key in removing the perennial problem of relapsing ex-smokers.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
Does the Government Really want you to Quit?
The price of whiskey has stayed pretty much the same for the last 10 years in the United Kingdom. Every year the duty on cigarettes goes up by 10-20 pence because of the Government's policy of taxing smokers out of smoking. The incumbent Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, likes to drink whiskey but he doesn't smoke. You could argue that this is why whiskey is 'missed' from the rises (but other spirits are not) whereas cigarette duty is increased every year - but the policy simply isn't working.
As a former smoker, I recall saying I would give up smoking once they reached £1 per pack. (Yes it was a very long time ago!) I also recall the same mantra at £2, £3, £4 and £4.50 but still I never quit. I finally quit when they reached £5 but it wasn't because of the price. The reason I chose to quit smoking was because I wanted to be around for my newborn daughter if she needed me as she was growing up. That's right, I quit smoking for her should she need me, not so I could watch her grow up. I thought it made more sense – after all she needs someone to provide food, clothing, love and affection and guidance for her. I already have all that. But what is significant about me choosing to quit for her and not for me you ask?
It comes back to Gordon's duty on cigarettes again. I could take the 10-20 pence rises every year. They were niggling but over the course of a year it was only £55 or just over a pound a week. It is more irritating than off-putting to spend £1 extra per week. What's more, if you are addicted to a drug like nicotine, a quid a week is not an incentive for you to quit getting your fix.
Think of that the other way round and it makes perfect sense. If the Government offered smokers £1 a week to quit smoking, would anybody actually take them up on the offer? No of course not. And that is the key to understanding the motivation of the Government's tax policy on cigarettes.
We have all heard the "soothing yet authoritative" words of the chancellor saying that he will raise the duty on cigarettes by x many pence in order to continue the policy of dissuading smokers from smoking.
Whilst this is an effective way of preventing children from taking up smoking – cigarettes are unaffordable to the – it is not an effective method of getting adult smokers to quit. Adult smokers have adequate disposable income, children rarely do.
The problem is, most people don't think. For 2003/4, the British Government took over £8,0930,000,000 in tobacco taxation through duties and tax but only spent £71,000,000 on smoking cessation and public smoking education programs.
On the one hand, they are saying we should stop and expect us to believe that through their funding of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Group Therapy sessions through the NHS. They are reluctant to use Zyban with NRT as a combined treatment because it is both more effective and more expensive.
The last thing the Government wants its highly taxed smokers to do is quit smoking. They provide over 1% of the Government's revenues every year (excluding other VAT and income tax receipts that smokers pay anyway) and then have the courtesy to be mostly dead by the age when pension time comes up.
What's more, the final months of a smoker's life are no more expensive than other non-smokers. Sure they draw on the health service, but many of them just drop dead as a result of stroke or heart attack. The ones that get cancer are usually diagnosed so late they die within the year. The only relatively expensive smokers are the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseased ones – the ones with emphysema and the like because they need oxygen for the remainder of their years.
Any non-smoker reading this may be crying foul right now. Not so I say. Non-smokers tend to die lingering deaths eating up resources of the NHS as do smokers but non-smokers have generally had a fair few years of pension and then nursing home care so that argument doesn't wash and what's more, the smokers paid extra anyway through higher taxes on their cigarettes.
Smokers are the best kinds of citizens for Government because they pay over the odds throughout their lives and then die so quickly they will never get anything back from the system. That is why I believe the Government doesn't really want you to quit smoking.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
As a former smoker, I recall saying I would give up smoking once they reached £1 per pack. (Yes it was a very long time ago!) I also recall the same mantra at £2, £3, £4 and £4.50 but still I never quit. I finally quit when they reached £5 but it wasn't because of the price. The reason I chose to quit smoking was because I wanted to be around for my newborn daughter if she needed me as she was growing up. That's right, I quit smoking for her should she need me, not so I could watch her grow up. I thought it made more sense – after all she needs someone to provide food, clothing, love and affection and guidance for her. I already have all that. But what is significant about me choosing to quit for her and not for me you ask?
It comes back to Gordon's duty on cigarettes again. I could take the 10-20 pence rises every year. They were niggling but over the course of a year it was only £55 or just over a pound a week. It is more irritating than off-putting to spend £1 extra per week. What's more, if you are addicted to a drug like nicotine, a quid a week is not an incentive for you to quit getting your fix.
Think of that the other way round and it makes perfect sense. If the Government offered smokers £1 a week to quit smoking, would anybody actually take them up on the offer? No of course not. And that is the key to understanding the motivation of the Government's tax policy on cigarettes.
We have all heard the "soothing yet authoritative" words of the chancellor saying that he will raise the duty on cigarettes by x many pence in order to continue the policy of dissuading smokers from smoking.
Whilst this is an effective way of preventing children from taking up smoking – cigarettes are unaffordable to the – it is not an effective method of getting adult smokers to quit. Adult smokers have adequate disposable income, children rarely do.
The problem is, most people don't think. For 2003/4, the British Government took over £8,0930,000,000 in tobacco taxation through duties and tax but only spent £71,000,000 on smoking cessation and public smoking education programs.
On the one hand, they are saying we should stop and expect us to believe that through their funding of Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and Group Therapy sessions through the NHS. They are reluctant to use Zyban with NRT as a combined treatment because it is both more effective and more expensive.
The last thing the Government wants its highly taxed smokers to do is quit smoking. They provide over 1% of the Government's revenues every year (excluding other VAT and income tax receipts that smokers pay anyway) and then have the courtesy to be mostly dead by the age when pension time comes up.
What's more, the final months of a smoker's life are no more expensive than other non-smokers. Sure they draw on the health service, but many of them just drop dead as a result of stroke or heart attack. The ones that get cancer are usually diagnosed so late they die within the year. The only relatively expensive smokers are the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Diseased ones – the ones with emphysema and the like because they need oxygen for the remainder of their years.
Any non-smoker reading this may be crying foul right now. Not so I say. Non-smokers tend to die lingering deaths eating up resources of the NHS as do smokers but non-smokers have generally had a fair few years of pension and then nursing home care so that argument doesn't wash and what's more, the smokers paid extra anyway through higher taxes on their cigarettes.
Smokers are the best kinds of citizens for Government because they pay over the odds throughout their lives and then die so quickly they will never get anything back from the system. That is why I believe the Government doesn't really want you to quit smoking.
Pete Howells
EasyQuitSystem.com
How to Quit Smoking
For some time, I have been studying why some people who choose to quit smoking or lose weight succeed and why some of them don't. To be fair, most people who want to quit smoking and then go on to make an attempt actually fail. Most people who chose to diet lose some weight then put it back on. But why is this?
In this day and age, society is always looking for a miracle cure. Two major problems in western society are smoking and obesity and so there are lots of miracle cures being peddled for these topics. Smoking takes well over a million lives a year just in North America and Europe. Obesity, whilst less of a killer is on the rise as western diets and lifestyles continue to over-provide calories whilst under-delivering exercise.
If we take dieting as a principle example, we can see new diets and health plans being launched every year. Some of these prove to be huge commercial successes whilst others do not. The commercial successes go exponential once the media get a hold of them (which is nice for whoever came up with the idea). A perfect example of this is the Atkin's diet. But why is it that we always seem to move on to another diet or another cure pretty soon afterwards?
The reason we seem to find that one solution only works for a while and we have to move on to the next is because there is a constant stream of people wanting these cures. But of these people, many if not most of them have not made the actual decision to do what they want to do. What they have done is make a decision that they would like to have something or some outcome.
Imagine these people as the water in a lake with a stream flowing in at the top and a stream flowing out at the bottom. The people flowing in at the top have made the decision that they would like to change something such as their smoking or their weight. The people in the lake have not achieved what they want yet and then the ones leaving have succeeded.
From time to time, a solution is presented and it helps many people get out of the lake. That is a wave running from the top to the bottom of the lake and it lets more water out than is coming in. However, it is just a wave and with time the lake fills up again.
As an ex-smoker and a former fatty (arguably!), I have found what I believe to be the solution to the problem. It is all to do with the decision. We may decide that we would like to quit smoking or that we would like to lose weight, but have we decided to commit to doing it? Most people when they quit smoking decide to try to quit. Most people when they choose to go on a diet decide to try and lose x many pounds. The problem is, as Yoda out of "Star Wars" would say; "Do, or do not, there is no try."
To quit smoking, I had to decide that I was no longer going to kill myself. Moreover, I was not going to pay a tobacco company for the pleasure of killing me either, nor the government! It was the same with weight loss. You have to commit to undertaking a diet and then permanently changing the way you are. You cannot diet until you reach you chosen weight, then start eating cakes and pies as your staple diet. You must choose to change from being a smoker to a non-smoker and from living on an inappropriate diet to an appropriate diet. There isn't much difference between the two situations – it is about deciding to do something rather than deciding to try and do something.
Pete Howells owns the website EasyQuitSystem.com and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
In this day and age, society is always looking for a miracle cure. Two major problems in western society are smoking and obesity and so there are lots of miracle cures being peddled for these topics. Smoking takes well over a million lives a year just in North America and Europe. Obesity, whilst less of a killer is on the rise as western diets and lifestyles continue to over-provide calories whilst under-delivering exercise.
If we take dieting as a principle example, we can see new diets and health plans being launched every year. Some of these prove to be huge commercial successes whilst others do not. The commercial successes go exponential once the media get a hold of them (which is nice for whoever came up with the idea). A perfect example of this is the Atkin's diet. But why is it that we always seem to move on to another diet or another cure pretty soon afterwards?
The reason we seem to find that one solution only works for a while and we have to move on to the next is because there is a constant stream of people wanting these cures. But of these people, many if not most of them have not made the actual decision to do what they want to do. What they have done is make a decision that they would like to have something or some outcome.
Imagine these people as the water in a lake with a stream flowing in at the top and a stream flowing out at the bottom. The people flowing in at the top have made the decision that they would like to change something such as their smoking or their weight. The people in the lake have not achieved what they want yet and then the ones leaving have succeeded.
From time to time, a solution is presented and it helps many people get out of the lake. That is a wave running from the top to the bottom of the lake and it lets more water out than is coming in. However, it is just a wave and with time the lake fills up again.
As an ex-smoker and a former fatty (arguably!), I have found what I believe to be the solution to the problem. It is all to do with the decision. We may decide that we would like to quit smoking or that we would like to lose weight, but have we decided to commit to doing it? Most people when they quit smoking decide to try to quit. Most people when they choose to go on a diet decide to try and lose x many pounds. The problem is, as Yoda out of "Star Wars" would say; "Do, or do not, there is no try."
To quit smoking, I had to decide that I was no longer going to kill myself. Moreover, I was not going to pay a tobacco company for the pleasure of killing me either, nor the government! It was the same with weight loss. You have to commit to undertaking a diet and then permanently changing the way you are. You cannot diet until you reach you chosen weight, then start eating cakes and pies as your staple diet. You must choose to change from being a smoker to a non-smoker and from living on an inappropriate diet to an appropriate diet. There isn't much difference between the two situations – it is about deciding to do something rather than deciding to try and do something.
Pete Howells owns the website EasyQuitSystem.com and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.
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