How to quit smoking?

Everyone these days is very familiar with a line “smoking is injurious to health”, each of us would daily see this line at least once or even more than once. But still, there are some people who are not willing to understand the fact that smoking actually kills or even if they understand this thing they have a very casual attitude towards it.

Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled by the person who is smoking by the intake of smoke. Smoking is highly addictive, once a person starts smoking he becomes very habitual to it and slowly-slowly it becomes really hard for him to stay without smoking. While a person smokes the combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them available for absorption through the lungs thereby damaging lungs from inside. Sometimes smoking can also be done as a part of rituals and spiritual enlightenment. Cigarette smoking or smoking in any form is really bad for health. Smoking harms nearly every organ of the human body. Cigarette smoking causes 80 per cent of lung cancer deaths and is also responsible for many other cancers and health problems in humans which may include diseases like lung disease, heart, and blood vessel disease, stroke and cataracts etc.

There are two types of smokers, active smokers, and passive smokers. If you are travelling in train and person sitting next to you is smoking a cigarette or anything containing tobacco, then you tend to become a passive smoker by inhaling the smoke let off by the smoking person. The person who is actually smoking a cigarette is known as an active smoker, while others who inhale the smoke given out also get harmed because of the smoking person and are known as passive smokers.

The most common method of smoking available today is in the form of paper cigarettes, industrially manufactured but also hand-rolled from loose tobacco and rolling paper. Other smoking techniques include pipes, cigars, bidis, hookahs, and bongs. It has been revealed by various studies that smoking-related disease kills one-half of all long-term smokers but these diseases may also be contracted by non-smokers. Smoking has become one of the most common forms of recreational drug use today. Tobacco smoking is today by far the most popular form of smoking these days and is practised by over one billion people in the majority of all human societies. The health hazards caused by smoking have forced many countries to impose high taxes on tobacco and its products. There are also many NGO’s and societies launching various anti-smoking campaigns in an attempt to make people aware of the harms of smoking and motivating to curb tobacco smoking.

Some Facts about Smoking

• Smoking increases your risk of getting lung diseases like pneumonia, emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
• A single cigarette contains over 4,800 chemicals, 69 of which are known to cause cancer.
• Second-hand smokers are more prone to smoke-related diseases, as after burning the cigarette chemical count increases.
• Smoking is the cause of 1 in 5 deaths in India annually. And tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death.
• For every person who dies from a smoking-related disease, there are twenty more who suffer from at least one serious illness associated with smoking.

Effects of Smoking

The human body is designed to live a healthy drug-free life and is not compatible with any kind of drug or tobacco. There are generally no relative reasons for a person to start smoking. There is no need of tobacco to the human body the way it needs food, water, sleep, and exercise. Most of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are actually poisons that can kill in high enough doses and these all enter into smoker’s body with every puff.

The human body is designed smartly to give indications against the harmful components for it. Whenever a person smokes for the first time or first few weeks there is a burning sensation in the throat and some people often throw out, which is a clear indication by the body to not to take in that particular substance. And these indications go on worsening leading to a severe cough and bleeding with a cough. The consequences of this poisoning by tobacco happen gradually. Over the long term, smoking leads to the development of various health problems like heart disease, stroke, emphysema (breakdown of lung tissue), and many types of cancer — including lung, throat, stomach, and bladder cancer. People who are smoking regularly also have an increased risk of infections like bronchitis and pneumonia. Some common effects of smoking are:

• Bad-Smell: It is often observed that there is a peculiar bad-smell related to every smoker. The smell of stale smoke tends to linger on people's clothing, on their hair, furniture, and cars. And it's often hard to get the smell of smoke out. Though smokers may try to cover it with perfume but all in vain. Besides that smokers also have a bad breath with a peculiar smell of smoke in their breath.
• Effect on Bones: Wrinkled skin is a common smoking symptom. Smokers not only develop wrinkles and yellowing of their teeth, but they also tend to lose bone density with time, which increases their risk of osteoporosis, a condition that causes older people to become bent over and their bones may break more easily as compared to a normal person living under same conditions and same diet. Smoking also causes laziness and smokers tend to be less active than nonsmokers because smoking affects lung power.
• Skin Problem: Smoking leads to wrinkled skin and is also cause of many skin related diseases. Smoking slowdowns the flow of blood in blood vessels, which prevents the oxygen and nutrients from getting to the skin which is a common reason why smokers often appear pale and unhealthy. Studies have also linked smoking to an increased risk of getting a type of skin rash called psoriasis.
• Reduces Physical Strength: Smoking also leads to the reduced athletic performance of a person. People who smoke usually can't compete with nonsmoking peers because the physical effects of smoking (like rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath) impair sports performance. Smoking leads to a reduction in stamina level of the person and also makes the body more prone to diseases many of which are chronic.
• Lowers Immunity: Smoking reduces the ability to fight diseases and smokers are often found to get sick more commonly as compared to their non-smoker peers. Various studies reveal that people who smoke get more of cold, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmoking counterparts. And people with certain health conditions, like asthma, become sicker if they smoke or even if they're just around people who smoke. Because teens who smoke as a way to manage weight often light up instead of eating, their bodies also lack the nutrients that they essentially need to grow well, develop, and fight off illness properly.

How to Quit Smoking?

Smoking is really addictive and habits forming. The main reason for this is nicotine. The human brain is very quick to adapt to nicotine and develops quickly a tolerance for it, which means that smoker needs more to get the same rush he used to get with just one cigarette. Quitting smoking is not easy, but it is also not something that you can’t do if you are really committed to doing so. To have the best chance of quitting and staying away later, you need to know what you’re up against, why you choose to, what your options are, and where to go for help. When quitting, the first few days are the hardest to keep this thing in your mind before you start, so don't give up thinking that pain would rise or become permanent. Instead, you can divert yourself with positive feelings that staying smoke-free will give you a whole lot more of everything in life, more energy, better performance, better looks, more money in your pocket, and in the long run, more life to live. Motivate yourself against smoke. Stopping smoking isn’t that difficult when you yourself have a powerful purpose and attempting hard no can deter you and certainly, you will succeed. There can be few things that may help you in giving up the smoke:

• Do not go for any external help. You need to just get control over yourself no one other than you can help you with this. About 90% of people successful people who tried to quit smoking did this without outside support -- no aids, therapy, or medicine. There are also people who try to quit with external help, but it is not the most effective and successful method to quit smoking. Only about 10% of people who try to quit this way succeed on their first try because this is more related to your inner motivation, rather than some professional approach.
• You need a strong desire and willpower to quit smoking. Make an effort and think of the way the advantages and drawbacks of smoking for oneself and your family members and utilize this as a source of motivation. Find a powerful basis for determination; the main reason that you should quit smoking. Even consider the saving in your pocket you make by quitting smoking. It is also very important for you to understand the first step may be very difficult but also the most important factor.
• Increase your water intake, as it will help eliminate contaminants from the body.
• The workout will also help, as it would keep you busy and also help improve health.
• Try to keep yourself busy with some constructive work.
• Try to find out if someone in your friend circle did this successfully, and ask them for advice.
• Make a list of triggers in your mind and try to stay away.
• Try to be among people with non-smoking habits.