Quitting Smoking

1.0 Acknowledgements

1.1 Tobacco’s Historical Beginnings The first historical record of someone using tobacco is about 2000 years ago. Members of Mayan tribes smoked loosely rolled tobacco, similar today’s cigars. They mostly used the tobacco for religious reasons and as part of special ceremonies and events. The next major piece of tobacco history involves Christopher Columbus. Upon returning back to Europe from the New World, he brought back tobacco plants and seeds. Many years later, the French ambassador, Jean Nicot, brought tobacco seeds to France, suggesting that they had ability to cure illnesses. During the 1500s, tobacco was used to threat almost every illness imaginable. Everything from fevers to gangrenous limbs was treated with tobacco. Tobacco was seldom used at this time for pleasure, except in some seaside town in Spain where people smoke it as cigars. 1.2 Do You Know? Smoking isn’t good for health. To take a person from being a smoker to be a non-smoker is really tough. For the vast majority of smokers, quitting is a struggle, a huge battle. Although 90 percents of people who smoke say they would like to quit and most have tried, very few people actually make it the first time. In fact most people have to quit about 5 times before they actually get it right. Half of smokers died before they get old. In Malaysia 50 percent men are smoker – believe it!

2.0 Why You Smoke?? 2.1 Peer Pressure Peer pressure is the most influent forces acting on adolescents. It can be good when it encourages a person to try harder in studies, but it can be very bad when it encourages to do something that not goof for self such as smoking. Most of people who smoke got their first cigarette from an older sibling or from friends. 2.2 Advertising No doubt advertising played a key role in defining someone’s image of what it meant to be a smoker and that image was elegant, or rugged, or sexy, or all three or more. Creating a positive image for smokers has always been big business to tobacco companies. Early on, they recognized that a person’s image of how he or she wants to be perceived could effect what brand of tobacco he or she bought. They don’t show people coughing up their lungs, or people suffering from cancers because of smoking but they show cool things like roping cattle and driving fancy cars while lighting up. This will lead people to feel that smoking is a stylish! 2.3 Keep weight down Many people use smoking as a way to control their weight. Nicotine suppresses the smoker appetites and increases the metabolism. Also, people who smoke keep food in their stomachs for longer because nicotine delays the contraction of the stomach muscles, which leave them feeling fuller for longer, making it easier to skip meal or eat less. 2.4 Stress out Smoking seems like one of the best way of handling stressful situation. When someone is smoking, it may physically remove him/her from a stress situation. Nicotine that reaches the brain acts like a relaxation chemical. Deeply inhaled puffs make the smoker relax because they deliver large doses of nicotine that stimulate the release of relaxing chemical in the brain. Smoking is also commonly used to combat feeling of anxiety and nervousness. The nicotine in cigarettes is so powerful that it can actually regulate moods. It’s like fast-acting medication that can be used to instantly treat anxiety and nervousness.

3.0 Junks in the Cigarette 3.1 Nicotine – Naughty or Nice? Nicotine is the main ingredient in all tobacco products that’s keeps a person going back for more. Nicotine can even be lethal in a very small amount. In fact, a drop of pure nicotine placed on a skin could kill. The amounts of nicotine aren’t high enough to be lethal but they are high enough to make someone addicted to them. When a smoker inhales a puff of cigarette, the nicotine reaches a smoker’s brain in 7 seconds- incredibly fast. The nicotine will stimulate certain part of brain that makes that smoker feels good. This drug is unique in that it can act as both stimulants in smaller quantities and as a relaxant in larger quantities. Nicotine and brain receptor are just like a key and a lock. As the nicotine (key) inserts into the brain receptor (lock), a door is opened in the brain. This allows for the release of chemicals into the brain that effect a smoker’s feeling.

3.2 Chemicals in Cigarette This chemical is at least as addictive as alcohol, heroin and cocaine. Within seven seconds after inhaling cigarette smoke, nicotine reaches the smoker’s Nicotine

brain. As if he is under attack by a pair of vice grips, a smoker’s blood vessels are squeeze together causing his blood pressure to rise. This increases the risk for strokes and heart attacks. When inhaling cigarette smoke a smoker’s lung is filled with air that contains high levels of carbon monoxide. The red blood cells get confused. Instead of

Carbon

picking up the oxygen, they go for the carbon monoxide. The end result is

monoxide that less oxygen reaches in organs and the risk for having a heart attack or stroke increases. Lungs have tiny little hair like structures in them called cilia. Cilia look like bristles on a brush, and they are responsible for sweeping lungs clean. All day long, cilia in healthy lungs sweep out the germs and particles of dust when Tar

breath in. unfortunately tar inhaled through cigarette smoke sticks to cilia making them unable to perform their cleaning action. The airways begin to swell and get clogged up with mucus. This is why people who smoke get more colds and develop a smoker cough. Many go on to develop chronic bronchitis and emphysema.

Hydrogen cyanide

Also known as gas chamber poison

Arsenic

The infamous poison used to kill the victim in many murder mysteries

Methane

A byproduct of eating too many beans at dinner

4.0 The Bad Things about Smoking

Why smoking is so bad?? Here are the reasons: ♥ Make breath, clothes, hair, home and car smell bad. ♥ Turns fingers yellow – it is because less oxygen in red blood cells. ♥ Expensive – recently the cost of cigarette has dramatically risen. Looking to the future the cost of smoking will continue to rise. Buying a cigarette is just like letting a faucet drip a very small amount of water into a very large bucket. After a while, that bucket would be pretty full. After several days, it would be overflowing onto the floor – it is just wasting money. ♥ Less socially acceptable - nowadays smoking is prohibited at some places. Most of girls prefer to choose non- smokers to be their boyfriend. ♥ Causes fires – sometime it can accidentally happened when smokers throw their cigarette anywhere else and this will cause fire. ♥ Stains teeth ♥ Sets a bad example to kids – children of parent who smoke have a 50 percent greater chance of becoming smokers themselves. ♥ Causes face to wrinkle and voice sound hoarse.

4.1 Health Effects

Smokeless tobacco contains thousands of chemicals, many of which are directly linked to the development of cancer. These are some of the known poisons: ♥ Formaldehyde (embalming fluid) ♥ Lead (a deadly nerve poison) ♥ Cadmium (found in rechargeable batteries) ♥ Hydrocarbons (found in automobile exhaust) The following is a list of some of the more common health problems caused by the chemicals found in smokeless tobacco: ♥ Cancer of mouth, tongue, cheek, lip, and larynx (throat) ♥ Gum recession ♥ Dental cavities ♥ Nicotine addiction ♥ Bone loss around the teeth ♥ Bad breath ♥ Stained teeth

5.0 Benefits of Quitting Smoking Quitting takes motivation, determination, commitment, and a specific set of skills. Like many other things in life, quitting smoking takes a lot of practice. We may fall off a few times, but if we keep on practicing, we will get it right. Quitting smoking is good at any age. Time after your last cigarette 20 minutes 8 hours 24 hours 48 hours 72 hours 2 weeks to 3 months 1 to 9 months 1 year 5 years 10-15 years

Benefit to your body Blood pressure and pulse rate decrease to normal Carbon monoxide levels in blood drop and O2 levels increase. Chance of heart attack decrease. Food tastes and smells better. Bronchial tubes relax and breathing becomes easier. Overall energy increases Shortness of breath decrease. Cilia grow in the lungs Risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker Change of lung cancer decreased by almost a half Pre cancerous cells are replaced Risk of dying is similar to that of someone who has never smoke

6.0 Questions and Solutions

Q 1: I feel like I can’t take a break at work because I don’t have a good reason Solution: if you used to take a break to smoke, you probably felt justified in doing so because you were actually “doing something” when you left your post for that 5 or 10 minutes. Now you may find yourself feeling silly just standing around for 10 minutes while your coworkers slave away. First of all, realize that you deserve to spend that break anyway that you want to. You don’t have to be doing anything but you could also choose to drink a glass of water, eat a healthy snack, read a chapter in a book or chatting with friends. Q 2: I used to break up my day by having a cigarette between activities. Now I don’t seem to have that transition. Solution: Many people use smoking a cigarette as a marker throughout the day to help pace them and keep a sort of rhythm going. If you did, you will need to develop a different, healthier transitional activity, such as having a glass of water, brushing you teeth, or going out for a short walk. Q 3: I can’t stop thinking about cigarette. Solution: Remind yourself that smoking is not an option! Say it out and mean it! Stop romancing the cigarette. Refocus on the negatives of smoking (the danger of smoking) and the positives of quitting (your reasons to quit) – not the other way round. Q 4: Friends are telling me that I’ll never make it. Solution: There are a number of reasons your friends may not be supportive of your efforts. First, you may be a little (or a lot!) more irritable, depressed, or frustrated than usual, and your friends may want you to smoke so you’ll be back to your normal self. It’s not easy to face, but some of it’s up to you to tell them that this is normal part of quitting and it will be over soon. Other friends may not want to see you succeed because your success would be a constant reminder of what they know they should be doing for themselves. Getting you to stop trying might make them feel better about their own lack of motivation. If you suspect some of your friends feel this way, encourages them to get healthy by joining you in your efforts. Hold fast to your own motivation. Q 5: I keep forgetting why I’m trying to give up these things. I miss smoking already = ( Solution: Remember, you’re really not giving up anything. You’re gaining everythinggood heath, more money, fresh breath, and control over you life. Quitting smoking is something you are doing for yourself, not in spite of yourself. Recite your reasons to quit. Maybe even add to the list.

Q 6: I’m coughing more now that I’ve quit than I was when I was smoking. What’s going on? Solution: The tiny hair structures in your lungs called cilia finally get a chance to begin sweeping out the tobacco debris that has accumulated over the years. Until now, the tar in your cigarette had immobilized them, but now that they are free again, they sweep out tar causing you cough more than usual. So, coughing after quitting smoking is a good thing. Q 7: Every time I’m on the phone, I want to smoke. Solution: Keep a pad and some colour pens or pencils by the phone, and doodle with them while you are talking. Try to break the connection between your telephone environment and your smoking. For example move your telephone to a different location in your home and try holding the receiver in the other hand. You might even want to buy a new telephone. Q 8: Friends keep offering me cigarette as a joke. Solution: Try telling folks that you understand that they are not really to quit themselves, but that you are. Ask them to please support your efforts by taking you seriously. Ask them to tell you some jokes instead. If they continue to be obnoxious take the cigarettes they are offering you, break them in a half, and say, “Thanks, I just saved a few minutes of my life.”

7.0 Conclusion

Quitting takes motivation, determination, commitment, and a specific set of skills. Like many other things in life, quitting smoking takes a lot of practice. We may fall off a few times, but if we keep on practicing, we will get it right. Quitting smoking is good at any age. As we’ll see everyone who tries to quit smoking is actually fighting three battles at once. Here are three aspects of the tobacco addiction that each smoker must learn to conquer. A habit is a behavioral response caused by frequent repetition of the same act. If we repeatedly smoke while perform certain activities like drinking coffee and driving a car, we actually have a well ingrained habit. Secondly is physical addiction. Don’t ever underestimate the power of nicotine. It is one of the most addictive drugs on the face of the earth. Naturally found in tobacco plants, nicotine can both stimulate and relax our self. In small doses like when we take a small puff, nicotine stimulates us. In larger doses, like when we inhale the smoke deeply, it relaxes us. Nicotine is the ingredient in your cigarettes that keeps you coming back for more. When we inhale cigarette smoke nicotine enters our bloodstream and hits our brain in seven seconds. Over time, our bodies become used to having a certain amount of nicotine in blood. When our bodies sense that it has less nicotine than it’s used to, we will begin to crave cigarettes and experience other uncomfortable for us not to smoke by creating nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine withdrawal symptoms are those emotional and physical symptoms that occur when we stop smoking. They include irritability difficulty concentrating anxiety and strong cravings for a cigarette. The last battle is psychological dependence. We always find our self lighting up when we are feeling angry, frustrated, lonely, or bored. This is because we use smoking as a way to cope with unpleasant feelings or emotions. We are actually learning how to use nicotine as an artificial mood moderator.