Smoking is a harmful and addictive habit that affects millions of people around the world. Today, we know about the dangers of smoking, and smokers are encouraged to find ways to quit smoking for their own health. This is not easy to do, as most smokers start at an extremely early age. The average age at which many people begin to smoke is thirteen years old.
A habit formed at that age is not easily broken. Nicotine affects many parts of the body and it is hard to pull free without assistance. Nicotine addiction is only one of many different diseases which can be caused by smoking. Most smokers need assistance on how to quit smoking and a variety of methods exist for this very purpose.
There are many reasons why people start smoking and continue to smoke. The main reason that people start to smoke is peer pressure. Some young people are led to believe that it looks "cool" when portrayed on television, in movies, and in advertisements. It also is forbidden which makes it all the more attractive to teenagers, hence the low starting age for many people. This young age makes quitting smoking more difficult in your later years.
Media can also have an impact on the decision to start smoking. Smoking portrayed on television or in movies can lead you to believe that smoking is a safe activity. Parents can wield the biggest influence over their children by setting a good example on how to quit smoking. Mothers and fathers who smoke are much more likely to have children who start to smoke.
Smokers begin to crave nicotine, a drug within tobacco. Nicotine can affect your body and mind in many negative ways. Nicotine, once inhaled into the lungs reaches the brain in a mere eight seconds. Once there, nicotine affects your blood pressure and heart rate. Over time it can increase your bad cholesterol levels and narrow your arteries. Nicotine in concentrated doses is a lethal poison, so imagine the effects on your body. Nicotine is also addictive and one of the reasons many cannot quit smoking.
Smoking can impact your health on many different levels. Getting winded playing a game is one side effect of smoking. More serious smoking related diseases include emphysema and cancer. Heart disease and stroke are also closely associated with cigarette smoking. A person who stops smoking will dramatically reduce their risk of developing these diseases for every year they go without smoking.
These smoking-related medical conditions often have grave consequences. Lung cancer is nearly always fatal unless detected very early and 80% of lung cancer cases are caused by smoking. Heart and lung disease can take years from your life unless you are able to quit smoking. Emphysema cannot be cured but only managed, plus the damage to your lungs cannot be repaired. Stop smoking benefits include a longer life span and a better quality of life.
There are many different methods to quit smoking, and you must pick the right method for you as an individual. Nicotine gums and patches are designed to help slowly release you from the nicotine addiction. Only about 10% of the people who use them will actually quit smoking. Another option is going cold turkey, and this is effective for up to 11% of the smokers who choose this option. Other frequently used methods to quit smoking include an herbal kit that can show you how to quit smoking. It has a success rate similar to that of nicotine gums and patches.
Stop smoking hypnosis is a popular and effective option for those who want to quit smoking without withdrawal or weight gain. Hypnotherapy has a high success rate with smokers who are trying to quit smoking. Hypnosis might sound like an extreme solution but it delivers positive results up to 70% of the time. This success rate is many times that of other methods.
The reason hypnotherapy is so effective is that it while the physical addiction to nicotine makes up only about 10% of the smoking addiction, the psychological aspects of the habit make up a full 90% of the cigarette smoking addiction. Hypnosis treats this aspect of the addiction.
About 45% of the smoking behavior is caused by stress, and hypnotherapy has proven to be a powerful, non-invasive tool that can help reprogram the mind to divert it from stressful thoughts, and towards relaxing, positive thoughts. In addition, the very essence of hypnosis is that it incorporates a state of deep relaxation.
Another 45% of the smoking behavior is caused by conditioned responses. This is when smoking becomes associated with other activities and events at the unconscious level of mind. For example, if you smoke and simultaneously watch television, your unconscious will associate the image of a cigarette in your hand with the image of the TV. Each time you see the TV, your unconscious flashes an image of the cigarette in your hand, and you feel the compulsion to smoke.
Hypnosis for smoking cessation is regularly used to "extinguish" the conditioned responses by disassociating the unconscious links between cigarettes and TV, driving, coffee, working on your computer, or any other situation where an unconscious association has been created.
In summary: Although most smokers believe that their inability to quit smoking is due to their addiction to nicotine, in truth it's the mental aspects of a smoking addiction that present the largest barriers. Hypnotherapy was accepted by the American Medical Association in 1958 as an effective tool for quitting smoking. And hypnosis for smoke cessation is the second most common use of hypnotherapy today.
While hourly rates for hypnotherapists continue to skyrocket, there are effective self hypnosis programs on the market that can greatly reduce its cost. Since everyone is unique, there are no specific "magic" words or post-hypnotic suggestions that will work for everyone.
So when choosing hypnosis CDs, look for those that incorporate a broad variety of hypnotic and NLP techniques in a series of at least six or more sessions to enjoy the best possible outcome. In any case, the cost of the very best hypnosis CDs & DVDs equates to much less than the amount that an average smoker spends every month on cigarettes.
Alan B. Densky, CH developed the Video Hypnosis quit smoking program to help smokers easily break the habit. He also created many ways to quit smoking with Ericksonian Hypnotherapy and NLP. Visit his Neuro-VISION self help hypnosis site.
http://www.neuro-vision.us/Products/NeuroVISIONSmokingDvd.htm
Monday, December 07, 2009
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The Effects of Passive Cigarette Smoke On Your Children
Most people are aware of the dangers of smoking, yet despite awareness of the harmful effects of smoking on their personal health, many smokers cannot seem to quit. They rationalize their habit by thinking that they are only affecting themselves if they smoke. In actuality, smoking also impacts the health of those who don't smoke. Friends, children, family, co-workers, and even bystanders may suffer health effects from passive smoking.
What is passive smoking? You may be more familiar with the term "secondhand smoke" to describe smoke inhaled by someone who is near a smoker. Secondhand smoke is a combination of smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe, and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. It often contains greater amounts of dangerous chemicals than inhaled smoke, including twice as much nicotine and tar. This puts passive smokers at a higher risk of smoking related diseases and health problems.
Scientific studies of the effects of passive smoking show increased risks of heart disease, lung disease, and various ailments for people continually exposed to secondhand smoke. Statistics on smoking show a relationship between secondhand smoke and cancer, with passive smokers having an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for the nonsmoking child or spouse of a smoker to develop diseases related to smoking because of passive smoking. Secondhand smoke is especially bad for infants and children. Small children exposed to secondhand smoke are at a higher risk of respiratory diseases and other respiratory illnesses.
Children who have asthma are at an increased risk of having more frequent asthma attacks. Secondhand smoke may also be responsible for increasing a pregnant woman's risk of having a miscarriage or a premature baby.
Because of the health impacts of secondhand smoke, smoking has been banned in many public places, such as restaurants and bars. Secondhand smoke can also be a problem in the workplace. Workers who breathe in secondhand smoke have a higher risk of illness and even have more absences from work. This has led many offices to ban smoking on the premises, and some areas have even passed ordinances against smoking at work. Amongst jobs with a smoking ban, employers report more productive employees and decreased absences.
Typically, most smokers begin seeking ways to quit smoking out of concern for the health of their family. There are several ways to quit smoking, and one of the best ways is through the use of a quit smoking hypnotherapy program.
Hypnosis programs for quitting smoking are developed specifically to help smokers quit smoking without withdrawal. They are particularly useful because they help smokers beat the psychological aspect of the addiction, which is the most difficult aspect to overcome.
Self-hypnosis stop smoking programs are developed to teach people hypnosis techniques to help quit smoking. One of the best things about such a program is the fact that smokers learn how to quit smoking without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. In fact, hypnosis techniques can reduce or even completely eliminate withdrawal symptoms commonly experienced using other methods of quitting smoking.
Another great thing is that since people are instructed on how to use hypnosis techniques on themselves, they don't have to worry about relapsing. If they feel the urge to smoke, they just remember and utilize the techniques that got them to quit.
Hypnosis produces many effects to help people quit smoking. It is an ideal tool for eliminating tobacco cravings while also functioning as a relaxation aid to relieve stress and anxiety. It also acts as a tool for encouragement to eliminate the psychological urge to smoke. This combination of effects gives hypnotherapy its high rate of effectiveness in helping people to quit smoking once and for all.
The benefits of stopping smoking include better health for the quitting smoker as well as for friends, co-workers, and family. People who are looking to stop smoking out of concern for their families can turn to hypnosis for a useful and non-invasive tool for ending a smoking addiction.
Anyone can learn self-hypnosis techniques for quitting from a well-formulated program, and hypnotherapy for smoking cessation has a high rate of effectiveness because it makes the process of quitting smoking quicker and easier.
Alan B. Densky, CH offers hypnosis CDs to stop smoking. He is the developer of the Neuro-VISION Video quit smoking hypnosis technology, which received a US Patent due to its success. Visit the Neuro-VISION hypnosis self improvement site.
http://www.neuro-vision.us/Products/NeuroVISIONSmokingDvd.htm
What is passive smoking? You may be more familiar with the term "secondhand smoke" to describe smoke inhaled by someone who is near a smoker. Secondhand smoke is a combination of smoke from a burning cigarette, cigar, or pipe, and the smoke exhaled by a smoker. It often contains greater amounts of dangerous chemicals than inhaled smoke, including twice as much nicotine and tar. This puts passive smokers at a higher risk of smoking related diseases and health problems.
Scientific studies of the effects of passive smoking show increased risks of heart disease, lung disease, and various ailments for people continually exposed to secondhand smoke. Statistics on smoking show a relationship between secondhand smoke and cancer, with passive smokers having an increased risk of heart disease and cancer.
Sadly, it is not uncommon for the nonsmoking child or spouse of a smoker to develop diseases related to smoking because of passive smoking. Secondhand smoke is especially bad for infants and children. Small children exposed to secondhand smoke are at a higher risk of respiratory diseases and other respiratory illnesses.
Children who have asthma are at an increased risk of having more frequent asthma attacks. Secondhand smoke may also be responsible for increasing a pregnant woman's risk of having a miscarriage or a premature baby.
Because of the health impacts of secondhand smoke, smoking has been banned in many public places, such as restaurants and bars. Secondhand smoke can also be a problem in the workplace. Workers who breathe in secondhand smoke have a higher risk of illness and even have more absences from work. This has led many offices to ban smoking on the premises, and some areas have even passed ordinances against smoking at work. Amongst jobs with a smoking ban, employers report more productive employees and decreased absences.
Typically, most smokers begin seeking ways to quit smoking out of concern for the health of their family. There are several ways to quit smoking, and one of the best ways is through the use of a quit smoking hypnotherapy program.
Hypnosis programs for quitting smoking are developed specifically to help smokers quit smoking without withdrawal. They are particularly useful because they help smokers beat the psychological aspect of the addiction, which is the most difficult aspect to overcome.
Self-hypnosis stop smoking programs are developed to teach people hypnosis techniques to help quit smoking. One of the best things about such a program is the fact that smokers learn how to quit smoking without experiencing withdrawal symptoms. In fact, hypnosis techniques can reduce or even completely eliminate withdrawal symptoms commonly experienced using other methods of quitting smoking.
Another great thing is that since people are instructed on how to use hypnosis techniques on themselves, they don't have to worry about relapsing. If they feel the urge to smoke, they just remember and utilize the techniques that got them to quit.
Hypnosis produces many effects to help people quit smoking. It is an ideal tool for eliminating tobacco cravings while also functioning as a relaxation aid to relieve stress and anxiety. It also acts as a tool for encouragement to eliminate the psychological urge to smoke. This combination of effects gives hypnotherapy its high rate of effectiveness in helping people to quit smoking once and for all.
The benefits of stopping smoking include better health for the quitting smoker as well as for friends, co-workers, and family. People who are looking to stop smoking out of concern for their families can turn to hypnosis for a useful and non-invasive tool for ending a smoking addiction.
Anyone can learn self-hypnosis techniques for quitting from a well-formulated program, and hypnotherapy for smoking cessation has a high rate of effectiveness because it makes the process of quitting smoking quicker and easier.
Alan B. Densky, CH offers hypnosis CDs to stop smoking. He is the developer of the Neuro-VISION Video quit smoking hypnosis technology, which received a US Patent due to its success. Visit the Neuro-VISION hypnosis self improvement site.
http://www.neuro-vision.us/Products/NeuroVISIONSmokingDvd.htm
Sunday, April 26, 2009
How Badly Have Cigarettes Caused Smoke Damage In Your House
Have you really looked around your home and found signs of smoke damage done by cigarettes? Cigarette smoke will land on almost everything and over time it leaves a brown looking build up. You might find it on your pictures and all the other stuff you have on your walls, not to mention the walls themselves. It will settle into your carpets and your furniture and even settle on the nasty little spider webs that might be hanging in the corners of the room as well. The longer this smoke builds up, the thicker the film will become.
This smoke will get into your air vents of your heating and cooling unit and also into any other unit that has insulation in it like all of your appliances stove, hot water heater, and all the rest. This smoke will pit, corrode, and dirty all of your other surfaces as well. If you have smokers in your home you really need to try to get them to start smoking outside. Doing this one little thing will help you in keeping your household things a little cleaner. When someone smokes inside the home, if there is also moisture in the air, the mess is even worse.
Cigarette smoke combined with moisture can really make a big mess for you or whoever is cleaning it up. You might even need to bring in professionals to remove all of this smoke as when it gets so thickly coated on all of the home surfaces. Walls, ceilings, floors, cabinets, curtains,blinds, carpets, and even the clothes in your closets can become smoke stained and stinky. If you have blankets, pillows, and sheets stored, they can be smelly too. Overall, smoking cigarettes inside the home is a nasty and unhealthy thing. You might be able to clean up the smoke damage to your things, but cleaning up the smoke damage to your body is not so easy.
If your home has had a smoker in it for a long time, then cleaning everything yourself could take days, even weeks. This is why hiring a company that is trained to clean up smoke damage might be the fastest and easiest solution. They will know exactly how to remove the smoke from anything in the home as where with things like furniture upholstery, you might just make it worse trying to clean it yourself. Paintings or other delicate belongings in the home will have to be treated with special care to clean them without damaging them further. Sometimes hiring a trained professional to do certain jobs in your home, like cleaning up smoke damage, is just the best decision.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.columbus-water-damage-restoration.info
http://www.columbus-water-damage-restoration.info/fireandsmokedamagerestoration.php
This smoke will get into your air vents of your heating and cooling unit and also into any other unit that has insulation in it like all of your appliances stove, hot water heater, and all the rest. This smoke will pit, corrode, and dirty all of your other surfaces as well. If you have smokers in your home you really need to try to get them to start smoking outside. Doing this one little thing will help you in keeping your household things a little cleaner. When someone smokes inside the home, if there is also moisture in the air, the mess is even worse.
Cigarette smoke combined with moisture can really make a big mess for you or whoever is cleaning it up. You might even need to bring in professionals to remove all of this smoke as when it gets so thickly coated on all of the home surfaces. Walls, ceilings, floors, cabinets, curtains,blinds, carpets, and even the clothes in your closets can become smoke stained and stinky. If you have blankets, pillows, and sheets stored, they can be smelly too. Overall, smoking cigarettes inside the home is a nasty and unhealthy thing. You might be able to clean up the smoke damage to your things, but cleaning up the smoke damage to your body is not so easy.
If your home has had a smoker in it for a long time, then cleaning everything yourself could take days, even weeks. This is why hiring a company that is trained to clean up smoke damage might be the fastest and easiest solution. They will know exactly how to remove the smoke from anything in the home as where with things like furniture upholstery, you might just make it worse trying to clean it yourself. Paintings or other delicate belongings in the home will have to be treated with special care to clean them without damaging them further. Sometimes hiring a trained professional to do certain jobs in your home, like cleaning up smoke damage, is just the best decision.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.columbus-water-damage-restoration.info
http://www.columbus-water-damage-restoration.info/fireandsmokedamagerestoration.php
Do You Understand Why You Smoke Cigarettes
Do you remember why you ever started smoking cigarettes? Most people probably do remember when they smoked their first one and they might even be able to tell you why. The one thing they probably can not tell you is why they continue to smoke. By now it is an addiction that is a part of them, even though you do not get high smoking cigarettes like other drugs people become addicted to. It can not be because they enjoy the taste because they make your mouth taste terrible. The smell is horrible even to a smoker when they have gone without one for a while and then get a good whiff of what they actually smell like.
If you understood the reasons why you continue to smoke, do you think you could quit? By now everyone that smokes cigarettes realizes how unhealthy it is and if you have smoked for years, you have likely already begun to feel the affects from smoking so long. They might make you cough excessively accompanied by the gooey mucus that seems to never end. Yet you still need a smoke with your coffee in the morning and right after every meal. Why? It is habit, but why can you not stop if you wanted to?
Some people might say that they like to smoke, but they are probably not being truthful to others or themselves. The smoking process is not really enjoyable in itself, but what it does to your brain physically is the part people are addicted to. The nicotine produces a pleasurable affect that the mind has gotten used to feeling, even though it is not really even noticeable at the time. The nicotine triggers the pleasure part of the brain known as the mesolimbic dopamine system. The chain reaction of physical pleasures related to smoking is slightly complicated, but smokers just know they have to have a cigarette. This is a dependency they cannot easily explain.
The second part of the smoking addiction is purely emotional. People that have become addicted to smoking cigarettes have themselves conditioned to think of smoking as a reward, the reward being the physical reaction of the body to smoking. The process of smoking can be rewarding in itself emotionally because like an addict that prepares to use a needle or a marijuana user that rolls a joint, the smoker anticipates the physical response of smoking by stopping to pick up a new pack, or the act of lighting one up and inhaling that first draw.
When people are trying to smoke smoking, they of course can get aids to help them like patches or pills, but the reconditioning of the emotional attachment to cigarettes is one reason it is so hard to stop. Just like those who overeat, it is not because they are hungry, it is filling some other need. To stop smoking successfully, you must deal with the emotional side of the addiction as well as the physical and this might actually be the hardest part of the quitting process.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com/brands/Gamucci.html
If you understood the reasons why you continue to smoke, do you think you could quit? By now everyone that smokes cigarettes realizes how unhealthy it is and if you have smoked for years, you have likely already begun to feel the affects from smoking so long. They might make you cough excessively accompanied by the gooey mucus that seems to never end. Yet you still need a smoke with your coffee in the morning and right after every meal. Why? It is habit, but why can you not stop if you wanted to?
Some people might say that they like to smoke, but they are probably not being truthful to others or themselves. The smoking process is not really enjoyable in itself, but what it does to your brain physically is the part people are addicted to. The nicotine produces a pleasurable affect that the mind has gotten used to feeling, even though it is not really even noticeable at the time. The nicotine triggers the pleasure part of the brain known as the mesolimbic dopamine system. The chain reaction of physical pleasures related to smoking is slightly complicated, but smokers just know they have to have a cigarette. This is a dependency they cannot easily explain.
The second part of the smoking addiction is purely emotional. People that have become addicted to smoking cigarettes have themselves conditioned to think of smoking as a reward, the reward being the physical reaction of the body to smoking. The process of smoking can be rewarding in itself emotionally because like an addict that prepares to use a needle or a marijuana user that rolls a joint, the smoker anticipates the physical response of smoking by stopping to pick up a new pack, or the act of lighting one up and inhaling that first draw.
When people are trying to smoke smoking, they of course can get aids to help them like patches or pills, but the reconditioning of the emotional attachment to cigarettes is one reason it is so hard to stop. Just like those who overeat, it is not because they are hungry, it is filling some other need. To stop smoking successfully, you must deal with the emotional side of the addiction as well as the physical and this might actually be the hardest part of the quitting process.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com/brands/Gamucci.html
How Smoking Damages the Skin
Cigarette smoking is the number one preventable cause of death in the US. It is an addictive habit that is associated strongly with serious internal diseases such as cancer, lung disease, and cardiovascular disease. Smoking also has external or cutaneous manifestations.
Knowledge of the cutaneous manifestations of smoking can be an important tool for physicians attempting to educate and motivate individuals to quit. This article reviews skin conditions associated with or influenced by smoking.
Clinicians have long suspected that smoking has a deleterious effect on healing wounds, especially postsurgical flaps and grafts. In 1977, Mosely and Finseth demonstrated the detrimental effect of smoking on healing hand wounds. Many studies have since confirmed that smoking is harmful to a healing wound.
Goldminz and Bennett reviewed 916 flaps and full-thickness grafts and found that 1-pack-per-day smokers had 3 times the frequency of necrosis as nonsmokers and that 2-pack-per-day smokers had necrosis 6 times more frequently than nonsmokers.
The mechanism of these harmful effects likely is multifactorial. The nicotine in cigarettes causes vasoconstriction of cutaneous blood vessels with resultant decreased tissue oxygenation. Smoking also increases carboxyhemoglobin, increases platelet aggregation, increases blood viscosity, decreases collagen deposition, and decreases prostacyclin formation, which all negatively affect wound healing.
In addition, vasoconstriction associated with smoking is not a transient phenomenon. Smoking a single cigarette may cause cutaneous vasoconstriction for up to 90 minutes; hence, a pack-a-day smoker remains tissue hypoxic for most of each day. Although no official guidelines have been established, many dermatologic surgeons consider it prudent to advise patients to quit smoking for a minimum of 1 week before and after surgical procedures, especially if cutaneous flaps or grafts are involved.
No one has ever died of wrinkles, yet none of the cutaneous manifestations of smoking generate as much interest and attention as wrinkles. In many smokers, the threat of facial wrinkling is a greater motivator to quit than the threat of lung cancer or other life-threatening smoking-related diseases.
In 1965, Ippen and Ippen found that when compared to female nonsmokers, most female smokers had cigarette skin, which they defined as gray, pale, and wrinkled. In a large study, Daniell confirmed previous findings that smokers have premature and increased facial wrinkling compared to nonsmokers.
The term smoker's face describes this phenomenon. Women may be more susceptible to the wrinkling effects of smoking, but the confounding variable of sun exposure may be partially responsible for this observation.
The exact mechanism by which smoking causes wrinkling is poorly understood. Elastin from non sun-exposed skin in smokers is thicker and more fragmented than in nonsmokers. Decreased collagen synthesis from chronic ischemia also may be a factor. Prooxidant effects of smoking also may contribute to premature facial wrinkling.
Many studies have examined the connection between smoking and psoriasis. Studies found an increased incidence of smokers among psoriatic patients, but the connection between smoking and psoriasis is not understood fully.
Several studies found that smokers are at increased risk for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin compared to nonsmokers. The first study to find an association took place more than 35 years ago and found keratoacanthomas to be more common in smokers than nonsmokers.
More recently, several studies found a clear association between smoking and SCC of the skin. Risk of cutaneous SCC increases with the number of packs smoked daily and the duration of the smoking habit. Smokers are at increased risk for SCC of the skin, which may be a result of the immunosuppressive effects of smoking.
Most studies have found no association between smoking and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). A recent study by Smith and Randle stratified BCCs according to size and did find an association between smoking and BCC tumors larger than 1 cm but not in those smaller than 1 cm.
Although no evidence exists that associates smoking with an increased risk of melanoma, several studies suggest that when compared to nonsmokers, smokers are more likely to have metastases on initial presentation, have lower disease-free survival rates after diagnosis, are more likely to have visceral metastases, and are more likely to die from the melanoma than nonsmokers.
Smokers probably have a poorer prognosis with melanoma because of the adverse effects of smoking on the immune system, including impaired immunosurveillance and a lowered capacity to mount an immune response to transplanted melanoma tumors.
Tanya Zafino is an expert on acne treatment. Go to her website http://www.thezafinomethod.com/
Knowledge of the cutaneous manifestations of smoking can be an important tool for physicians attempting to educate and motivate individuals to quit. This article reviews skin conditions associated with or influenced by smoking.
Clinicians have long suspected that smoking has a deleterious effect on healing wounds, especially postsurgical flaps and grafts. In 1977, Mosely and Finseth demonstrated the detrimental effect of smoking on healing hand wounds. Many studies have since confirmed that smoking is harmful to a healing wound.
Goldminz and Bennett reviewed 916 flaps and full-thickness grafts and found that 1-pack-per-day smokers had 3 times the frequency of necrosis as nonsmokers and that 2-pack-per-day smokers had necrosis 6 times more frequently than nonsmokers.
The mechanism of these harmful effects likely is multifactorial. The nicotine in cigarettes causes vasoconstriction of cutaneous blood vessels with resultant decreased tissue oxygenation. Smoking also increases carboxyhemoglobin, increases platelet aggregation, increases blood viscosity, decreases collagen deposition, and decreases prostacyclin formation, which all negatively affect wound healing.
In addition, vasoconstriction associated with smoking is not a transient phenomenon. Smoking a single cigarette may cause cutaneous vasoconstriction for up to 90 minutes; hence, a pack-a-day smoker remains tissue hypoxic for most of each day. Although no official guidelines have been established, many dermatologic surgeons consider it prudent to advise patients to quit smoking for a minimum of 1 week before and after surgical procedures, especially if cutaneous flaps or grafts are involved.
No one has ever died of wrinkles, yet none of the cutaneous manifestations of smoking generate as much interest and attention as wrinkles. In many smokers, the threat of facial wrinkling is a greater motivator to quit than the threat of lung cancer or other life-threatening smoking-related diseases.
In 1965, Ippen and Ippen found that when compared to female nonsmokers, most female smokers had cigarette skin, which they defined as gray, pale, and wrinkled. In a large study, Daniell confirmed previous findings that smokers have premature and increased facial wrinkling compared to nonsmokers.
The term smoker's face describes this phenomenon. Women may be more susceptible to the wrinkling effects of smoking, but the confounding variable of sun exposure may be partially responsible for this observation.
The exact mechanism by which smoking causes wrinkling is poorly understood. Elastin from non sun-exposed skin in smokers is thicker and more fragmented than in nonsmokers. Decreased collagen synthesis from chronic ischemia also may be a factor. Prooxidant effects of smoking also may contribute to premature facial wrinkling.
Many studies have examined the connection between smoking and psoriasis. Studies found an increased incidence of smokers among psoriatic patients, but the connection between smoking and psoriasis is not understood fully.
Several studies found that smokers are at increased risk for squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the skin compared to nonsmokers. The first study to find an association took place more than 35 years ago and found keratoacanthomas to be more common in smokers than nonsmokers.
More recently, several studies found a clear association between smoking and SCC of the skin. Risk of cutaneous SCC increases with the number of packs smoked daily and the duration of the smoking habit. Smokers are at increased risk for SCC of the skin, which may be a result of the immunosuppressive effects of smoking.
Most studies have found no association between smoking and basal cell carcinoma (BCC). A recent study by Smith and Randle stratified BCCs according to size and did find an association between smoking and BCC tumors larger than 1 cm but not in those smaller than 1 cm.
Although no evidence exists that associates smoking with an increased risk of melanoma, several studies suggest that when compared to nonsmokers, smokers are more likely to have metastases on initial presentation, have lower disease-free survival rates after diagnosis, are more likely to have visceral metastases, and are more likely to die from the melanoma than nonsmokers.
Smokers probably have a poorer prognosis with melanoma because of the adverse effects of smoking on the immune system, including impaired immunosurveillance and a lowered capacity to mount an immune response to transplanted melanoma tumors.
Tanya Zafino is an expert on acne treatment. Go to her website http://www.thezafinomethod.com/
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Do You Really Want To Quit Smoking
Are you one of the thousands of people that try to stop smoking every day in this great country of ours? Have you tried to quit more than once? Do you think that you have tried everything on the market, even going so far as to try being hypnotized? You might be really surprised to find out some of the things that some of you will try when trying to quit. There are so many things that some might try that the only best way to find out some of these ideas would be is to go out and ask.
There might be so many that you would not remember more than a few. But if you were to ask them if they could quit, would they, most of these people would probably say yes. Most of them would say that they most definitely would not have even started. Some of them would probably tell you that they had tried to quit several times, but something always happened to stop them from trying. Some of these would be a problem with someone in their family, they split from their partner, a love life gone bad, or any number of other inadequate reasons. People want to quit, but they will many look for any excuse not to bite the bullet and do it.
You sometimes use these circumstances like a pair of crutches, like you just can not get through life with out one. Some of you just think it is cool or something like that to smoke and then the rest of you just to have to have your mouth on something all the time. You might even try to just go around with one in your mouth unlit. If none of the things you try work and you still want to quit then you should go to your doctor and have him prescribe something that will help. There are things that you can get from your doctor that you can not get without his help.
If you really want to quit, do whatever you need to do to stay smoke-free and if you need any help go to someone that can really help you. Do not let anyone try to make you break down and start back up. Just remember that if you can keep from smoking for more than three days you are half way there. Watch what you eat, exercise, drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep. Find something to do to keep your hands busy and try sugar-free candy when you want something in your mouth. If you really like to smoke when you go to a bar to drink try staying home to do your drinking so that you are not around all of those smokers.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com
http://www.ecigwars.com
There might be so many that you would not remember more than a few. But if you were to ask them if they could quit, would they, most of these people would probably say yes. Most of them would say that they most definitely would not have even started. Some of them would probably tell you that they had tried to quit several times, but something always happened to stop them from trying. Some of these would be a problem with someone in their family, they split from their partner, a love life gone bad, or any number of other inadequate reasons. People want to quit, but they will many look for any excuse not to bite the bullet and do it.
You sometimes use these circumstances like a pair of crutches, like you just can not get through life with out one. Some of you just think it is cool or something like that to smoke and then the rest of you just to have to have your mouth on something all the time. You might even try to just go around with one in your mouth unlit. If none of the things you try work and you still want to quit then you should go to your doctor and have him prescribe something that will help. There are things that you can get from your doctor that you can not get without his help.
If you really want to quit, do whatever you need to do to stay smoke-free and if you need any help go to someone that can really help you. Do not let anyone try to make you break down and start back up. Just remember that if you can keep from smoking for more than three days you are half way there. Watch what you eat, exercise, drink plenty of water and get plenty of sleep. Find something to do to keep your hands busy and try sugar-free candy when you want something in your mouth. If you really like to smoke when you go to a bar to drink try staying home to do your drinking so that you are not around all of those smokers.
Aydan Corkern is a writer and you can visit his sites for more information:
http://www.ecigaretteschoice.com
http://www.ecigwars.com
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