Nicotine gum is another effective stop smoking aid that many people have success with.  The gum works much like the patch in that it slowly releases nicotine into the body’s system.  Nicotine gum isn’t like regular gum in that it can’t be chewed endlessly; most brands of nicotine gum come with instructions on how to nestle the gum between the cheek and the teeth for some time in between chewing.  Many people appreciate nicotine gum as a stop smoking aid because it gives them something to chew on and relieves some of that restlessness that many smokers report when they first try to quit.

There are of course other stop smoking aids, from pills to hypnotherapy.  Many of these are reported to be very effective by those who have tried them.  Most report the best success when they couple these aids with things such as regular exercise, a better diet, regular water intake to keep themselves hydrated and to help flush out the lingering toxins from cigarettes, and of course family support.

Of course each individual will need to make up their own mind about what stop smoking aids he or she will try, and of course it’s best to consult with one’s doctor, but the bottom line is that if you’re ready to stop smoking, there are plenty of items out there that can help.

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Get them motivated.

Many people are still unaware of the terrible effects that smoking has on them. One important key to help that someone to stop smoking is to make them feel motivated to quit. What will work with this person? Are they at all health conscious? Do they have children or grandchildren that they want to be around to see grow up?

Can you reason with them about the many ways that they’re hurting themselves? One way that some have used to help someone to stop smoking is to print out pictures of diseased lungs and other organs, showing the comparison between a healthy lung and one ravaged by the effects of smoking. Of course, you might not want to do this right around lunch time, as they may just lose whatever it is they just ate!

Give them support.

Sometimes all it takes to help someone to stop smoking is to give them the needed support. Are they afraid they’ll miss their usual hangouts or parties? Make plans with them to go elsewhere. Are they afraid their friends won’t want to come around if the house is now smoke-free? Talk to your friends and explain the situation. Make sure they’re on board as well.

Another help for someone to stop smoking is smoking aids, such as a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, inhalers, sprays, pills, and the like. What you might do is some research on these products beforehand so that you can present this to him or her, and show how safe and effective these products really are. By giving them this type of support and showing them that there are products that work, you might be able to take some of the fear and apprehension out of the experience.

How to really help someone to stop smoking.

Probably the best help you can give anyone is encouragement, especially if they’re someone that’s tried to quit in the past and has failed. Let them know that this is okay, that many people who are now former smokers had to try and try again before they were successful. By doing all this and by encouraging them, you too can be successful in your quest to help your special someone to stop smoking as well!

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There is always much in the news about secondhand smoking, with new reports and statistics coming out on a seemingly daily basis. But how much of what you hear is hype, and how much is actual fact when it comes to the dangers of secondhand smoking? Is there any such thing as being safe when you’re a non-smoker who lives with a smoker?

The truth about secondhand smoking.

No, secondhand smoking isn’t quite as dangerous as actual smoking. However, there is enough danger from this that one should sit up and take notice, especially when a smoker is around a child for some time. It’s estimated that a non-smoker who lives with a smoker inhales about 15% of their smoking; in other words, for every ten cigarettes that you smoke, the non-smoker will inhale the equivalent of one and a half cigarettes.

Secondhand smoking is especially dangerous around those whose immune systems may be compromised or somewhat weaker, and this is where the extreme danger is for children. Their hearts and lungs are still developing and therefore much more susceptible to any type of danger, especially that from passive or secondhand smoking.

The risks to children include sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), the risk of developing asthma or having asthma attacks increase, lung infections, bronchitis, and virtually any other type of respiratory disease.

Secondhand smoking has also been linked to learning disabilities, especially for children who have been exposed to this before birth.

Pets too are not immune to the risks. Secondhand smoking is generally recognized as a risk factor for cancer in pets. A study conducted by the Tufts University School of Veterinary Medicine and the University of Massachusetts concluded that cats living with a smoker were more likely to get feline lymphoma; the risk increased with the duration of exposure to secondhand smoke and the number of smokers in the household.

So it seems that all the information you’ve seen and read about secondhand smoking is not really hype, but that there is good reason to be concerned, for your own health, your children’s health, and even the health of your pets.

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If this sounds like you, don’t despair. There are many out there in the same boat. After all, smoking has been found to be as addictive as any illegal narcotic, including heroin, marijuana, and cocaine. Teaching someone how to quit smoking is often as easy as teaching them how to quit eating!

But it can be done with a few simple things to remember. The first is that you need to recognize smoking as a habit, and understand that habits are very, very difficult to break. It’s not like giving up your current car for another one; it means retraining your entire body and your mind when it comes to your routine and your thinking. Most people who have learned how to quit smoking have had to acknowledge this, even though it may seem somewhat elementary.

Of course, learning how to quit smoking involves more than just your acknowledgment that it’s a habit. Once you’ve done that, then what?

Breaking a habit typically means changing all the circumstances that lead up to your engaging in that habit. If it’s your habit to stay on the computer until far too late at night, you need to move the computer someplace where you can’t easily keep it on that late, such as the family room, or where it’s uncomfortable for you to do that, such as the hard dining room table and chairs. This is one of the most important steps you can take in learning how to quit smoking. You need to change all the circumstances that lead up to your urge to smoke, such as walking away from the dinner table after eating rather than lingering, avoiding smoky bars and nightclubs, and maybe even cutting back on those nights out with friends when they’re smoking.

Obviously there are no easy answers to the question of how to quit smoking. For each person, their addiction is different as is their willpower and resolve. The years they’ve smoked, the amount of support they’re getting or not getting, what peer pressure they have around them, all of these things will affect an individual’s situation and ability to quit quickly and easily, or not. However, while the answers may not be easy, every year there are thousands of people who have successfully learned how to quit smoking, and with a little bit of help and a lot of determination, you too can be one of them!

Images Source : Flickr (1)(2)

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Not getting overwhelmed with so many options is the key to success.

Sometimes the biggest mistake a person can make when sifting through the many ways to quit smoking is to think that they need to find the “ultimate” help or aid in their battle against smoking. They’re afraid to try one method because they think another might be more effective, and then eventually they don’t try anything.

Choose any one method and move forward with your decision. There is not usually a right or wrong decision to make, simply a decision that must have follow-through.

It’s also good to remember that there are many natural and simple ways to quit smoking. If you’re one that wants to go it cold turkey and just simply quit, you need to remember a few things to help you along the way. For one, be mindful of your diet. You’ll get cravings to eat something, and if you fill up on sugary treats and fried foods, this will just make your stomach upset and queasy, and when you feel bad, you’ll want to reach for a cigarette.

Second, make sure you drink plenty of water. This helps to flush the tar and nicotine out of your system faster. Most of the effective ways to quit smoking involve getting nicotine out of your system gradually, but if you’re going cold turkey, you want to get it out as fast as possible. So don’t forget about your water. Drinking a lot of water will surely help you move closer to the goal of quitting smoking.

The last and the most important tip is exercise. This will help get your blood circulating at optimum levels and will also help to flush out nicotine. It will also help renew your cells that have been damaged by smoking, and will make you feel better all the way around.

Yes, there are a variety of ways to quit smoking, and it may be shortsighted to say that any of them are easy, but with some determination and willpower, and the decision to take care of yourself while you’re quitting, you can successfully kick this habit.

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So what then really is hype and what is truth when it comes to this habit, and specifically, what has been shown to be the real health effects of smoking?

In short, with every new study and every new research paper that comes out, there is just more and more bad news when it comes to the health effects of smoking. As scientists, biologist, and doctors learn more about the human body and are able to trace smoking’s effects more clearly, they learn more about its damage.

While lung cancer is still the prime concern for many when it comes to the health effects of smoking, in truth, many cancers have been traced to this habit, including bladder cancer, throat cancer, cancer of the larynx, liver cancer, cancer of the tongue and other areas of the mouth, cancer of the large intestine, and even blood cancer or leukemia.

Additionally, smoking works to dry up the arteries around the heart, causing this muscle to work all that much harder to do its job. One of the clear health effects of smoking is recurrent heart attacks, heart disease, and other ailments of the vascular system. Many cases of heart disease and heart attacks happen in non-smokers that can be traced back to secondhand smoke or passive smoking, or of living in a very smoky atmosphere.

And of course cancer is not the only disease of the lung that is a resultant health effect of smoking. Bronchitis, asthma, chronic sore throat, chronic cough with sputum, pneumonia, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and virtually any other disease that one can contract in the respiratory system is somehow linked to smoking.

Believe it or not, infertility is also linked to smoking, for both men and women. A man’s sperm count can be affected by his smoking, as can his sperm motility. A woman’s ovulation is also affected by smoking. In either case, conception can be that much more difficult if one or both smoke.

So the bottom line is that there are numerous health effects of smoking, and none of them are good. It’s not hype; it’s fact that smoking does absolutely nothing but ruin your health and the health of those around you.

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