Quit Smoking Painlessly Now!

168 countries signed a World Health Organization treaty to ban tobacco advertising completely. One of the newest endeavor was proposed by Britain and now, all eyes are on Westminster to see if the government will accept its Department of Health’s proposal to make cigarette package plain. The Health Department reasons that youth will not find the packs attractive if the branding of the cigarette is cut out, leaving just the manufacturers’ names and selling them in black and white boxes … something like this.

Honestly, I have doubts that monochrome advertising will make a great difference. The impact is likely to be negligible because smoking is due to peer pressure and hip factor, more than cigarette advertising. However, with rising fuel price impacting on all things imported, the increased price of cigarette is a better deterrent. A higher price tag may actually help people to cut down on smoking.

There are 15 million underage smoklers in the country. According to a Health Ministry report, around 40 million of the country’s 130 million teenagers aged between 13 and 18 had tried smoking. It said that between 66 and 88% of those who had tried smoking had tried tobacco products has smoked their first whole cigarette by the time they turned 13 - a 15% point increase from 1998.

China has about 350 million smokers, nearly a quarter of its population and one-third of the world’s smokers according to the official records of China.

The ministry reports said cigarette advertising was partly responsibled for the rising rate of young tobacco addicts because they target the youth by associating smoking with independence and sex appeal. Of course, easy access to cigarettes is also the cause. Though the law prohibits seliing of tobacco product to those under 18, the kids were not refused when making a purchase.

China has taken some steps to curb smoking since 1 May 2008 (even before the World No Tobacco Day), for example, smoking in public places in Beijing is restricted, with restaurants, bars and hotels having to separate smoking and non-smoking areas.

Britain ’s Department of Health intends to make smoking less tempting to children. It has released proposals that would ban cigarette companies from putting any kind of logo or branding on their cigarette packets.

That’s because research shows that kids are attracted to brightly brand and link smoking to being cool. This means that cigarettes would have to be sold in plain black and white boxes with nothing except health messages (or warnings) on them.

This proposed ban is part of a consultation documentation on tobacco control from the department that marks the start of a 12-week debate on how to cut the number of people smoking in Britain. The objective is to protect children from smoking. So talks about banning smoking vending machines and stopping the sales of cheaper packs of 10 cigarettes instead of 20.

This new consultation was launched to mark World No Tobacco Day on 31 May 2008. About a quarter of adult population in Britain smokes and rates are dropping very slowly.

Public Health Minister Dawn Primarolo was quoted by Telegraphy as saying: “Protecting children from smoking is a government priority and taking away temptation is one way to do this. If banning brightly coloured packets, removing cigarettes from display and removing the chepat option of a pack of 10 help sae lives, then that is what we should do.

In a cross-cultural survey in Scotland and Singapore, only 1 in 3 respondents was aware that smoking can cause blindness!

The survey was conducted by a group at Scotland’s Ninewell Hospital and Singapore’s Alexandra Hospital from November 2007 to February 2008. Researchers polled 112 participants from Scotland and 163 participants from Singapore to compare their awareness of various smoking-related conditions as well as attitudes towards the use of graphic health warning labels printed on cigarette packs.

85% in both countries knew the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, mouth and throat cancer (oral cancer) and stroke but only about one-third of the respondents knew about smoking causes blindness.

According to Associate Professor Au EongKah Guan, head and senior consultant, department of ophthalmology and visual sciences of Alexandra Hospital and an investigator of the study: “Cigarette smoking increases the risk of age-related macular degeneration by 3-fold to 4-fold and cataract by 2 to 3-fold. Age-related macular degeneration is a deterioration in the health of the most sensitive part of the retina known as macula. A cataract is clouding of the normally clear crystalline lens in the eye.”

Currently the Singapore investigation study team is talking to its Health Promotion Board to add the warning “Smoking causes blindness on cigarette packs. Graphic warning labels have been circulation in in Singapore since 2004 and were later modified in 2006. You can see the graphic labels published at HPB to your left here. However, Australia is the only country so far to carry the graphic warning label which reads “Smoking causes Blindness”.

Incidentally, Britain is considering to get cigarette manufacturers to pack the cigarette in plain black and white box so that they look less attractive to youngsters.

Info Source: Mind Your Body, 4 June 2008

Nicotine is the addictive ingredient in cigarettes that’s responsible for making you want to keep smoking. When you smoke, the nicotine reaches your brain in just a few seconds.

Nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) provides much lower levels of nicotine compared to cigarettes, and it’s released much more slowly. As the amount of nicotine is much lower, it’s much less likely to be addictive.

When you stop smoking, your body misses the nicotine. Nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) give you a lower dose of nicotine, which helps to avoid strong withdrawal symptoms. Some studies have shown that using NRT to quit smoking doubles your chances of success.

NRT helps to wean you off nicotine gradually. NRT comes in several forms, including:

• patches - to stick on your skin,
• Tablets, lozenges and chewing gum, and
• Inhalers, and nasal sprays.

Not only they come in different form, they also come in different strengths and release nicotine at different speeds. To illustrate, nicotine is released within a few minutes from nicotine gum, nasal sprays, lozenges and tablets. However, it may take a few hours for the nicotine to be released from nicotine patches.

Addiction to nicotine is related to the speed at which it’s absorbed into your blood. It’s therefore very unlikely to be addicted if you’re using nicotine patches. However, addiction may be more likely with other forms of NRT where the nicotine is absorbed more quickly. So even though you are still taking in poison using NTR, the dosage is much smaller.

To avoid becoming addicted to NRT, you got to follow the instructions carefully and take no more than the recommended dose. If you are still worried, talk to your doctor or counsellor.

Technorati Tags: Nicotine Replacement Therapies, NRT

I’m honest so I’m going to say it loud and clear here that quitting smoking can be really tough. The first step is deciding that you want to stop, and you chose to stop smoking at your own will. This means you got to stop making excuses and stories to continue smoking.

Common excuses - and the reasons you should ignore them - include:

Smoking makes me fat!
Nicotine makes you burn calories faster, but as long as you remember that you need less food energy, you won’t over consume. Change your diet to include low fat options and add in lots of greens and fruit. You can check out my earlier post on How to Stop Smoking Without Weight Gain

Smoking calms me down
Nicotine cravings between cigarettes make you feel stressed and anxious so when you have one you feel calm. So when you stop feeding yourself with nicotine, your body is unused to the lack of it. Naturally, it asks you for more. Don’t listen to your physical being. (more…)

You don’t want to ignore this even you may not realise it, but smoking definitely can have a negative impact on your love life, and sex life.

If you had read my earlier post on how I was jilted by my little red hair girl and 10 peeves non-smokers will not tell smokers, you will know the reasons why potential partners shunned you. Just to reiterate, you smell like an ash tray from top to bottom, and most non-smokers would not find you sexy to kiss nor touch. Your nails are yellowish, and your skin age prematurely giving you wrinkles before you are due old enough to adorn them. You can get the bet tuxedo or that great gown but you can never look your best. Your best has gone with the smokes. OK, I believe you got my drift so I won’t bore you with the known negative effects of passive smoking, etc, etc, etc.

Now, let’s be serious. Smoking also affects your sex life too. (more…)