Smoking
and
How to Quit Smoking

Quit-Smoking Tips Slideshow

• What problems are caused by smoking?
• What is addictive disease and why is smoking considered addictive?
• What are the signs of cigarette addiction?
• Why should someone quit smoking?
• What are the steps in quitting?
• Getting ready to quit smoking
• On the day you quit smoking
• Staying quit
• What methods can help a person quit smoking?
• Behavioral modification and self-help literature to quit smoking
• Nicotine replacement therapy to quit smoking
• What prescription products are available for smoking cessation?
• How are nicotine-containing products used safely?
• What is in the future for smoking?
• Smoking and Quitting Smoking At A Glance
• Patient Discussions: Smoking And How To Quit Smoking - Effective Treatments

Featured quit smoking patient discussions on effective treatments experienced "I am 63 and have been smoking since I was 17. I finally decided to stop because of the price of smokes in New Jersey and the fact it's such an anti-social habit. Oh, boy! It is not easy, and now that I have read about the side effects of nicotine gum (addiction to the gum, hair loss, etc.) that scares me even more. I found that EFT tapping really helps me over the desperation times. I thought it was such a stupid thing until I tried it one day when I was close to lighting up again after three smoke-free weeks. It really helped immensely, though for the life of me I can’t understand why and still feel faintly ridiculous whenever I do it." "I smoked a pack a day for more than 35 years, starting as a young teenager and have previously failed to be able to stop by using acupuncture, Welbutrin, hypnosis, or several other methods. I stopped cold turkey in November of 2008 by having a cold-laser treatment in Orlando, Fla. It took 30 minutes, combined smoking cessation, stress reduction, and appetite suppressant all in one. I would have bet anything that it would not work, but I'm now a non-smoker and do not use any form of tobacco or nicotine. Check it out: It really worked for me!" "I am happy to say that I am a non-smoker now. I tried the patch, Zyban, Wellbutrin, and Chantix. What finally worked for me was good old-fashioned cold turkey. You have to get the nicotine out of your system, and it gets better." Read All Comments on Hemorrhoids » Patient Discussions are not a substitute for professional medical advice, or treatment. See the disclaimer at the bottom of the comments page.

What problems are caused by smoking?

By smoking, you can cause health problems not only for yourself but also for those around you.

Hurting Yourself

Smoking is an addiction. Tobacco contains nicotine, a drug that is addictive. The nicotine, therefore, makes it very difficult (although not impossible) to quit. In fact, since the U.S. Surgeon General's 1964 report on the dangers of smoking, millions of Americans have quit. Still, more than 430,000 deaths occur in the U.S. each year from smoking-related illnesses. The reason for these deaths is that smoking greatly increases the risk of getting lung cancer, heart attack, chronic lung disease, stroke, and many other cancers. Moreover, smoking is perhaps the most preventable cause of breathing (respiratory) diseases within the USA.

Hurting Others

Smoking harms not just the smoker, but also family members, coworkers, and others who breathe the smoker's cigarette smoke, called secondhand smoke or passive smoke. Among infants up to 18 months of age, secondhand smoke is associated with as many as 300,000 cases of bronchitis and pneumonia each year. In addition, secondhand smoke from a parent's cigarette increases a child's chances for middle ear problems, causes coughing and wheezing, worsens asthma, and increases an infant's risk of dying from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS).

Exposure to passive smoke can also cause cancer. Research has shown that non-smokers who reside with a smoker have a 24% increase in risk for developing lung cancer when compared with other non-smokers. An estimated 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year in the U.S. that are attributable to passive smoking. Secondhand smoke also increases the risk of stroke and heart disease. If both parents smoke, a teenager is more than twice as likely to smoke as a teenager whose parents are both nonsmokers. Even in households where only one parent smokes, young people are more likely to start smoking. Pregnant women who smoke are more likely to deliver babies whose weights are too low for the babies' good health. In fact, it has been estimated that if all women quit smoking during pregnancy, about 4,000 new babies would not die each year.

Smoking And How To Quit Smoking - Effective Treatments

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What treatments have been effective to assist in quitting smoking.

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