One thousand Americans stop smoking every day – by dying. ~Author Unknown.
Introduction:
Smoking is one of the leading causes of statistics. ~Author Unknown.
Did you know that the smoking related diseases claim about 438,000 American lives every year. Smoking costs the United States over $167 billion each year in health-care costs including $92 billion in mortality-related productivity loses and $75 billion in direct medical expenditures or an average of $3,702 per adult smoker.
Worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that currently there are 3.5 million deaths a year from tobacco. That figure is expected to rise to about 10 million by 2030. 70% of tobacco related deaths will occur in developing countries.
The tobacco industry is worth US $400 billion and it is difficult to stop their aggressive promotion.
Among children the facts are startling:
- 36% of high school students smoke.
- 25% of high school males use smokeless tobacco
- Every day 6,000+ kids have their first cigarettes; 3,000 of them will become regular smokers
- 500 million packs of cigarettes are sold illegally to kids every year.
- 15.5 million kids are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
- Today 3,000,000+ kids smoke almost one billion packs of cigarettes a year.
- Over 5,000,000 kids under 18 alive today will ultimately die from tobacco use
- Kids are three times as sensitive to tobacco advertising as adults
- 86% of kids buy one of the three most heavily advertised brands (Marlboro, Camel or Newport)
- Kids are more likely to be influenced by tobacco advertising than by peer pressure (the tobacco industry spends $5.2 billion every year in the US on advertising and promotion)
The dangers of this addiction are:
- Addictiveness.
- Back Pain.
- It is the major cause of cancers such as; Lung cancer, mouth, laryngeal, esophageal cancer, breast cancer in women, gastrointestinal cancer, cervical cancer, blood cancer, kidney and bladder Cancer.
- Childhood Respiratory Ailments and Ear Infections are commoner in children whose parents smoke.
- Diabetes.
- Emphysema. Smoking causes about 85% of all deaths from emphysema.
- Heart Disease. Smokers have about 4 times more risk of developing cardiovascular disease than those who don’t smoke.
- Infertility. Couples in which at least one member smokes are more than 3 times more likely to have trouble getting pregnant.
- Low Birth Weight — Women who smoke as few as 5 cigarettes per day during pregnancy have a significantly greater risk of giving birth to a small, and underweight baby.
- Nutrition. Smoking causes lower levels of HDL, the “good” cholesterol.
- Osteoporosis. Women smokers tend to have menopause 5 to 10 years earlier than expected, causing increased bone thinning at an earlier age.
- Premature Aging. Constant exposure to tobacco smoke prematurely wrinkles facial skin and yellows teeth and fingernails.
- Recovery From Injury Or Surgery. People who smoke have delayed healing of wounds and bones.
- Stroke risk increases manifold with smokers.
- Tooth Loss. Use of snuff or chewing tobacco causes gum recession and tooth loss. .
- Fires. Smoking is the leading cause of fire in homes, hotels, and hospitals.
Some Complementary therapies for nicotine:
- AROMATHERAPY. Essential oils, which help make the nicotine withdrawal easier, are with specific oils aimed at calming the nervous system. Such oils are basil, cypress, marjoram, neroli, patchouli, rose, sandalwood and tangerine.
- Mood swings and over-sensitivity occur in a person trying to quit tobacco. In these conditions, chamomile, cypress, geranium and lavender essential oils are useful. For lack of concentration, essential oils such as basil, peppermint and rosemary are useful. Anger is eased by chamomile and ylang ylang, while panic and hysteria are calmed by chamomile, clary sage, neroli and lavender. In tobacco addicts with shortness of breath will benefit from fennel, frankincense and lavender.
- ACUPUNCTURE has helped many people to give up smoking. Within 3 to four weeks. The body points are chosen to target symptoms of dizziness, restlessness, insomnia, indigestion, nausea, cough and a tight chest.
- REFLEXOLOGY would target the lungs to eliminate toxins and give general stress relief.
- COLOUR THERAPY: The blue color has been recommended for relaxation and relief from irritability.
- HOMEOPATHY.
- Several medications used synergistically are useful in conferring relief from headaches and irritability that can be caused by nicotine withdrawal. Prominent among those remedies are Lobelia inflata, Nux vomica, Ignatia, Caladium, Avena Sativa and Passiflora.
- Plantago is another useful remedy for smoking withdrawal by stopping the craving for tobacco. It also relieves the withdrawal symptoms and helps the addict to sleep well and prevents depression.
Conclusion:
Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man. When quitting smoking it is important to realize that we are not trying to break a bad habit but we are overcoming an addiction that is controlling our lives. You may try nicotine patches, complementary therapies and even counseling. But at the end of the day it is only your will power and your awareness of the dangers of tobacco will help you overcome this deadly addiction.
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