Smoking is a habit that is hard to get rid. Now that times are tough some are smoking to deal with the stress, and some are quitting to save some cash.
There are a lot of reasons why a smoker lights up, but most of the time smokers simply have their excuses. Many have a fear of gaining weight or that President Obama smokes so it can't be that bad.
Most of the time when you light up a cigarette and have a long drag of stress relief, the health risks are quickly forgotten. But it does not take long for a smoker to feel the negative effects. It is difficult to exercise, hard to catch your breath sometimes and your breath is definitely not fresh when you wake up in the morning.
Still, when the pressure is on, most of these worries fly out the window and we just need to relax and take a deep breath of smoke…
[Via: starexponent.com]
It was announced this week by the Food and Drug Administration that the smoking cessation drugs Chantix and Zyban will be required to post one of the strongest safety warnings out there.
These warnings will inform patients of the side-effects of these drugs, and in this case this includes depression and suicide.
There was an alarming high rate of patients complaining of changes in behavior while taking the medications. Many patients felt hostile, depressed and had suicidal thoughts, some even attempted or were successful in committing suicide.
About 98 reports of suicides committed by patients received by the agency, while nearly 188 suicides were attempted. Chantix resulted in a higher rate of suicides and suicide attempts than Zyban, with the second drug resulting in only 14 suicide and 17 suicide attempts, according to officials.
This is a fairly alarming report, especially when we think of the fact that most smokers are encouraged to take some kind of medication when they decide to quit. Who knows what other horrible side effects similar medications may have…
[Via: Washington Post]
In Australia, smokers spend 17 days a year smoking on average. On average they spend about AU$2500 yearly to pay for their habit, and most smokers say that they will cut back on other expenses before they cut back on smoking.
This research was done by Galaxy for Pfizer Australia, and respirator specialist Dr Peter Holmes from Melbourne. They say that if smokers want to make it through the recession, it would be a good idea to quit smoking before they cut back on other things.
Dr Holmes says, "It takes a few cents to make a cigarette and they charge about 90 cents each, and if someone was ripping you off like that with a television or a car you'd be on the phone to Consumer Affairs instantly. People would rather cut down on going to movies, eating out and buying clothes before choosing to cut back on smoking, and smoking is such a good way to put more money in their wallet - it's after tax income."
Smokers miss out on a lot of things with the money they spend on smoking, but the problem with smoking is that it is an addiction and defies all logic.
[Via: news.com.au]
Illinois resident Eric Wolbert has decided to quit, and he has been successful for 30 days.
He used to smoke a-pack-a-day, and now he has given up altogether after seeing his parents suffer lung cancer. But another motivation is the fact that smoking has become too expensive. Wolbert said, "You can't find a pack that costs less than $4 anymore, and those are nasty ones. Right there, that's $2,200 a year up in smoke."
Wolbert turned to the Freedom From Smoking at Washington University's Siteman Cancer Center. This is a group therapy session that lasts for seven weeks, and is placed at most local area hospitals.
He has attempted to quit two times before, but he was only given a drug by his doctor and sent on his way. But Wolbert heard of this program from friends and family and he feels that this time he really will be able to quit.
It seems that if you are looking to quit it is not a good idea to jump from one drug to another, getting help in a group and having support is probably more likely to help you out than just popping a few pills.
[Via: philly.com]
According to one study, it is not a good idea to reduce your cigarettes to half, by replacing them with nicotine gum. The same applies to quitting cold turkey and using tobacco replacements without tapering off on cigarettes.
314 adults were studied by Dr. Jean-Francois Etter at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, on average the subjects smoked 15 cigarettes a day.
Half of the smokers were told to use nicotine gum 4 weeks before and 8 weeks after the date they decided to quit, and they also had to reduce their cigarettes by half by that date. On the other hand, the rest of the subjects were asked to use the same gum, but they had to quit smoking abruptly and to use the gum immediately after they quit. They were not given any counseling and they were only allowed to chew 10 pieces of gum daily.
In the short term, smoking cessation rates were about the same for both groups, but it was found that in the long run, the group that was asked to quit abruptly was more successful. Etter says, "This undermines the cut-down-quit strategy and may imply that abrupt quitting is more effective than gradual quitting, as suggested by other investigators."
So if you want to quit it seems that a lot of will-power is needed and there is no need to draw out the process, the sooner you decide to quit the better.
[Via: Reuters]
