2/17/2013

There is a whole raft of quit smoking pills available on the market these days. Most of them are advertised as being a 'cure-all' for your woes as a smoker and will alleviate all of your concerns about quitting smoking. They come in two main forms - pharmaceutical types made by the big drug companies or 'snake oil' types made from 'magic' ingredients. However, I have my doubts about the need for pills at all.



Unfortunately, smokers are a pretty desperate bunch when it comes to trying to quit and anyone offering quit smoking pills has got a fair chance of making a sale. Having said that, one of my own edicts for people trying to quit smoking is to just keep trying and try as many methods as you can until you succeed.



Why do I advocate such a stance you may ask? Well, whether it be through sheer willpower, quit smoking pills, hypnosis, acupuncture, laser treatment or my own cognitive behavioural therapy approach, the benefits of quitting smoking are just so extensive, I implore all smokers to keep trying to quit.



I know most smokers are reluctant to spend money on products to help them quit, but from a logical point of view, it makes a lot of sense. Spending money on products may seem tedious but even if it costs $1000 to find 'the cure' that works for you, it is still less than half of a years smoking costs. And you get all the benefits of quitting smoking which are worth years of extra life!



However, whilst I think smokers should persist in finding 'a cure' that works, I am somewhat reluctant to recommend using medication and 'herbal' remedies. Why is this?



Well, smoking is an addiction to nicotine and smokers only smoke cigarettes to get at the nicotine. Despite cigarette smoke being so toxic, smokers are 'conditioned' to enjoy smoking because of the nicotine buzz that comes with it. The cigarette is not pleasurable at all, but the nicotine is because of the way it has established itself as a part of a smoker's brain chemistry.



Quit smoking pills are generally thought to interfere with the brain chemistry in smokers heads. Brain chemistry in smokers is different from that in non-smokers and that is why smokers smoke. Their brain chemistry is different, and it was made different by smoking! It is a chicken and egg, egg and chicken kind of thing!



The pharmaceutical quit smoking pills most commonly known to aid in quitting smoking are Zyban and Chantix. Zyban is also traded as wellbutrin or bupropion and Chantix is also marketed as Champix and varenicline.



Whilst the exact processes that go on to discourage smoking with these products are not known, there is obviously some activity because both Zyban and Chantix are known to improve a smoker's ability to quit smoking. The downside is that they also have side effects, as is common with many pharmaceutical drugs. Zyban and Chantix should only be considered after consultation with your doctor.



The effectiveness of both of these drugs has been studied extensively although as drug companies fund drug studies, there is a pre-disposition to find in favour of the effectiveness. Despite the pharmacological effects these drugs have, they are always prescribed alongside some form of counselling or advice. If they were capable of achieving great results without the support, I would believe in them - but they do not work without counselling help.



Alternative quit smoking pills are marketed on the internet and elsewhere. These generally make lurid claims about their effectiveness at quitting smoking. They are often described as herbal remedies and may contain 'proprietary' substances. This in my opinion, is all snake oil!



Again, like the pharmaceutical quit smoking pills available, snake oil solutions are sold with quit smoking guides to change the way you think about your relationship with cigarettes. This is the crux of quitting smoking though. People think they need a pill or a magic potion to achieve their goal but they don't. I believe people just need to focus their minds on the problem at hand and they can overcome it.



If you start out trying to quit smoking thinking that you need the support of a drug, you already think that quitting smoking requires 'outside help'. It doesn't. If you stop thinking it is going to be difficult to quit smoking, do you realise it just might be a bit easier to quit?



Finally, whichever method you use to quit smoking, my most important piece of advice is that if a 'solution' fails, try something else. There are over 50 ways of quitting smoking and quit smoking pills is just one of them. Never stop trying to quit.
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For a teenager who has just started college, the greatest desire is to get peer acceptance and to be popular. Smoking seems to be the most happening thing to do. In fact, in the minds of teenagers who idolize and try to act like celebrities and rock stars, smoking is the coolest thing. They think that smoking will give them that mature, hunky and glamorous look.



They see smoking as a fashion and hence adopt it as a fashion statement; the harms of smoking never come into their minds although they very well know about the ill effects of smoking. They consider smoking to be a passing thing and think that they will quit after they leave college. They never think that they can get hooked to it. Because they think too high of themselves they feel that nothing is difficult for them, not even quit smoking, they can easily give up whenever they want. Awareness about the actual working of nicotine and its effect on the brain is still very less.



Nicotine, one of the 4000 harmful chemicals found in tobacco is colorless and volatile liquid alkaloid, upon exposure to air it turns brown, the tobacco color. The actual content of nicotine can vary from 0.2% to 5% in a cigarette. When tobacco is smoked it reaches the brain within 15 seconds and the effect can last for up to 2 hours.



In the brain Nicotine stimulates the nicotinic receptor which in turn activates the neurotransmitter dopamine which is known as the pleasure cell. Thereby there is an increase in alertness, heart beat and increase in blood pressure. The body learns to adapt these changes when nicotine is inhaled. Therefore, when a person smokes for a long time the body gets used to it and thus becomes addicted to nicotine.



Once a person is in the grip of nicotine it is very hard to come out of it. The social smoking thing will become an addiction which can carry you to your grave. The addictive nature of nicotine is greater than heroin. However, if a person really tries to quit smoking it is not an impossible task. Fortunately, for the generations of today there are many medications available to combat smoking.



There is medical treatment therapy where in replacement to nicotine will be given like Nicotine gums, Nicotine patches, Nicotine lozenges, Nicotine inhaler etc. There is also oral medicine called chantix which is a prescription medicine, having varenicline as its main component. Chantix is the trademark drug of Pfizer Inc. which got approval from U.S. FDA on May 11, 2006, as a treatment for anti-smoking in adults.



Therefore, before the ill effects of smoking catch up with you quit smoking today while you are still young. When you began to get the sicknesses caused due to smoking like lung cancer, chronic bronchitis, emphysemas, heart diseases, cancer of different kinds, impotency etc you will realize that smoking is not at all cool rather it is very uncool as it kills. Before nicotine possesses and kills you without mercy 'Quit Smoking' and say "NO" to Tobacco.
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There are a whole host of quit smoking side effects and not all of them are pleasant. Besides the obvious health benefits, there are also a number of side effects associated with withdrawal from nicotine. Coupled to this, if you quit smoking using a medication such as zyban or chantix, you may pick up some other drug related side effects.



The most obvious reason why people quit smoking is for the health benefits but what are they specifically?



Notably, blood pressure, heart rate and lung efficiency all improve very quickly after quitting smoking - in a matter of days. Nicotine levels and carbon monoxide levels in the blood return to natural levels with in a couple of days. These are very positive quit smoking side effects.



Smokers will also develop a much better sense of taste and their breathing may well become easier. However, one frequently reported quit smoking side effect is the amount of coughing some ex-smokers suffer from. In my own experience, I found the first six months to be a rather cough filled period of my life. It was all 'wet' as the cilia (the little hairs in you lungs) got to work clearing 20 years of tar out of my lungs! I also contracted more colds that winter than ever before but that could be for completely different reasons.



Statistical research shows circulation and lung function improve dramatically over the 10 to 15 year period after smokers quit. And quit smoking side effects are all positive in terms of improving life span with lung cancer risk halved over 15 years and heart attack risk halved after just one year.



The side effects associated with Zyban (Wellbutrin or bupropion) and Chantix (Champix or Varenicline) can all be rather unpleasant. Personally, I do not favour the use of drugs if at all possible because I believe quitting smoking is all in your head - but that is another story!



The worst quit smoking side effect associated with Zyban is the likelihood of seizure when taken as part of a quit smoking regimen. The higher the dose the higher the risk and zyban was initially removed from the FDAs approved list after a number of seizures in patients.



Chantix has several minor side effects but in as many as 30% of smokers taking the drug, the therapy must be abandoned due to nausea and vomiting. You understand why I would advise to steer clear if at all possible!



The other quit smoking side effects aside from the positive health benefits and the negative side effects of the two most widely used drug therapies, are to do with nicotine withdrawal itself.



The list of side effects noticed when a person quits smoking is long - some are nice like the improved sense of smell and taste, some are unpleasant. There is the heightened anxiety that comes from trying to quit nicotine. People often have a much shorter temper and are irascible at the slightest thing.



Others include an inability to concentrate or to sleep sometimes compounded by other quit smoking side effects such as postnasal (back of your mouth) drip, sore throat, dry mouth and headache. An insatiable cough can be a big hindrance too!



Intestinal discomfort can also be suffered with increased flatulence, constipation, nausea and cramps being amongst some of the less pleasant side effects. It is recommended that if you are suffering from increased appetite when you quit smoking, eating more fruit and raw vegetables such as carrot or raw cauliflower and drinking plenty of fluids will help your digestion.



There are many, many more perceived quit smoking side effects and everyone suffers a different selection of the wide range - including breaking out in spots like a teenager, sweating profusely, fatigue and tingling extremities!



The downside of all of these quit smoking side effects is that whilst each one is not so bad on its own, the cumulative effect of so many negative side effects act as a trigger to break down your commitment to stop smoking. No matter what the inconvenience of the side effects, they are a small price to pay for the benefits of quitting smoking.



As ever, whatever you do and whichever method you use to quit smoking, never quit trying to quit!
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2/16/2013

Even the Marlboro man was not immune to the effects of cigarette smoking. Two actors who portrayed as ‘Marlboro Man’ died of lung cancer, a disease caused by cigarette smoking. The first Marlboro man Wayne McClaren appeared in the cigarette advertisement in the year 1976 and died of lung cancer in 1992. He lived for many years after being diagnosed lung cancer and promoted smoking-cessation campaigns. The second Marlboro man was David McClean who died of lung cancer in the year 1995. His family filed a suit against Phillip Morris, mentioning that David McClean had to smoke sometimes five packs of cigarettes a day, to complete commercial filming and print ad shoots for Marlboro cigarette.



This is a reality; no one can escape the effects of tobacco smoking. It is said that the first owner of the company which produced Marlboro cigarettes, Phillip Morris too, died of lung cancer. However, the validity of this statement is questionable because the cause of Phillip Morris’s death was not mentioned in biographies available online. But the possibility remains there…



In 1800s people used to smoke crude tobacco and cigars, then filters were introduced to save the cigarette industry from sales decline.



Popular books like Reader’s Digest’s have many a times conducted campaigns against smoking by warning people about its possible ill-effects on health especially cancer which made the medical and scientific journals address the issue of health concerns related with cigarette smoking.



Since then governments have taken different measures to regulate cigarette manufacturing and smoking. America recorded 124, 0000 deaths due to tobacco induced lung cancer from 1995 to 1999. Still men and women continue to take smoking pleasure. Some people just cannot imagine their life without puffs, how many of these know that smoking or other form of tobacco killed 440,000 people which make it about 20% of total deaths in the U.S. from 1995 to 1999!



As a smoker if you do not care about yourself its fine but what about your family? The environmental cigarette smoke can lead to passive smoking which may result in risk of lung cancer, heart disease, miscarriages and birth defects, developing asthma in children and adults, ear infections, aggravated asthma, allergies, and other conditions like learning difficulty in children and lung infection.



I understand that quit smoking is not easy, it takes a strong willpower and a lot of self discipline to fight against nicotine cravings. If you have tried to quit smoking and have failed to stand the nicotine cravings, I have good news for you. Chantix, the new medicine in the market, can help you immensely in your smoking cessation endeavor and help you stay quit for the rest of your life. Chantix is an anti-smoking medicine that helps you control your cravings. It has already helped many smokers to quit and has been included in many major anti-smoking programs because of its assured effectiveness. If you have really decided to quit smoking, but don’t know how to control your nicotine cravings, worry not! Chantix is there for your help. Just say YES to a smoke free healthy life and be a part of it.



___________________________________________________________________
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Chantix-Free yourself from nicotine



"Once you are addicted towards smoking, you can never stop!!" I wonder if this is a fact or just a myth. Many of us have been led to believe that it is very hard to quit smoking, especially for those who have been smoking for years. Many smoking cessation products have been released in the market to help people quit smoking. However, only a little percentage of people using the products manages to quit smoking. Expert believes that this is due to the implicit perception that we are all led to believe, smoking is impossible to stop once you started. Therefore, before an amazing product named Chantix being reviewed in this article. Please make sure that you set your mindset correctly, Stop Smoking is possible, and thousands of people have done that. So why can't you? You know that smoking habit is expensive; you know that it is dangerous to your health and the health of your family around you. Therefore, you need to stop.



Stop smoking will not be easy. Therefore you need a smoking cessation product to help you out. However, you must choose the correct product to help you with. Expert believes that Chantix is the answer that all smokers-who want to quit smoke, have been praying for.



Chantix



Many of you might have tested other products like nicotine replacement therapies, but still failed to quit smoking. The reason is simple, you are addicted towards smoking because of nicotine, and so how is it possible to help you terminate your addiction towards nicotine, while you are being supplied with small amount of nicotine every day? This just doesn't make sense.



This is where Chantix got an upper hand when compared to its competitor in the market. Chantrix is totally nicotine-free, with Varenicline as the main active ingredients. It works on specific part of the brain, providing some satisfaction that nicotine gives (placebo effect). Hence, person gets pleasure but without taking nicotine. This will eventually help you to give up smoking. Chantix gives you a much better chance to quit smoking. All you need to do is follow the directions and from that point on, you will get extra boost to gain control over this addiction and smoking habit will become your past.



According to Scientific research, Chantix has a great success rate, 45% of patients were able to stop smoking completely after only eleven weeks of treatment.



Side effect of Chantix.



Like all medication, we need to aware of the side effect when getting treatment with Chantix.



1) Nausea-Common 2) Sleep disorder 3) Decrease appetite 4) Skin rash.



If the conditions appear for two weeks since you first take Chantix, consult your doctor immediately.



Now that you know you can quit with the help of Chantix, Take Action!
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When you embark on your nicotine withdrawal or quit smoking process, you will experience many quit smoking withdrawal symptoms including having a greater urge to light up a cigarette. Why is this so?



Well, this is because when you decide to completely kick off the habit, you are depriving your bodies of the nicotine that you have grown quite accustomed to after years of smoking cigarettes. Nicotine is actually one of the most addictive substances and it really does take a while for the body to get rid of both its effect and presence.



So if you are a smoker who wants to quit and are tired of all the harmful effects it has, you need to be aware of some of the obstacles that you are likely to face. The most common quit smoking withdrawal symptoms include anxiety, having trouble sleeping, depression, cravings for a cigarette, and an increase in appetite for food as well as concentration problems.



By being knowledgeable about these things before hand, you can work out a kind of game plan on how to deal with these urges and symptoms. Some people become concerned about not being able to keep up and relapse back into smoking.



But today, there are plenty of products available that can help people cope. These products include nicotine patch which can help suppress the urge to light up a cigarette. Of course, these remedies can not be with you for long as you need to reduce your reliance on nicotine.



There are also other prescription drugs such as the Wellbutrin and Zyban that can help you out. These medications are said to be very helpful and effective when it comes to relieving the other symptoms that comes with quit smoking withdrawals. Do consult your doctor as to which one is more suited to you. The urge to light up a cigarette would come and go all throughout your day. The longer you can make do without lighting up, the less extreme the urges would be.



As soon as you start the process of quitting, you would feel these urges and they are tell-tale signs that your body is detoxifying itself of the nicotine. If you can, do you best to wait it out instead of lighting up. Try and distract yourself by doing other things or better yet, learn a few meditation chants to help clear your mind. Stock up on some healthy food that you can munch on instead of lighting up another cigarette.



Also, do not forget to let your loved ones know about what you are going through. You will experience erratic mood swings and unless they know why you are acting that way, they would mostly likely write you off as a jerk. Lastly, keep your eye on the prize and do not let quit smoking withdrawal symptoms throw you off course. Remember why you want to quit and stay with it.
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2/15/2013

It is widely accepted that the top quit smoking aids are nicotine replacement therapy, drugs and hypnotherapy. The question all smokers want to know is, which one works best?



What you are about to read about nicotine replacement may shock you, but these are the real facts.



The FDA approved prescription nicotine gum in 1984 and the prescription patch in 1992. Both became available over-the-counter in 1996.Today more than 50% of all smokers have attempted quitting while using replacement nicotine at least once.



While those addicted to smoking nicotine die in record numbers, Philip Morris USA continues to tell them that the best way to quit smoking is to buy more nicotine - replacement nicotine. What Philip Morris's quit smoking website will never disclose is that those relying exclusively upon the over the counter nicotine patch have a 93% chance of relapsing to smoking within six months. What it will not tell them is that two studies have shown that if they've already used the patch one time that their odds of relapse and defeat during a second attempt increase to almost 100%.



Chantix or Champix as it is known in Europe and Canada, is the latest of the top quit smoking aids to be heavily advertised around the world. Chantix entered the quitting product market as a prescription aid at a time when nicotine replacement therapy or NRT was the clear front-runner.



According to boasts by Pfizer, the drug's maker, "approximately one-in-five" users quit smoking for a year. This boast is based on their own study in which the subjects received intense counselling sessions for a entire year.



Pfizer's five clinical trials of varenicline were published in July and August 2006. Three are comparable in that they involved a 12-week treatment period using 1mg of Chantix twice daily. In the Chantix study headed by Gonzales, 21.9% of Chantix users were still not smoking at one year. In Oncken the rate was 22.4% and in Jorenby 23%.



That's an average one-year rate of 22% or, on the flip side, a relapse rate of 78%. But these rates were achieved under highly artificial clinic study conditions. History and common sense teach that use under real-world conditions will likely generate a significantly higher failure rate. If you believe that Chantix is one of the best quit smoking aids available you will be sadly mistaken.



Another favourite method to quit smoking is hypnotherapy. There are literally hundreds of hypnotherapists advertising their services on the internet. Their success rates are usually very high, but they would be wouldn't they? If you are thinking of taking this option my advice would be to make sure you get a recommendation from someone who has used them before. The power of suggestion can be very powerful, or it can be useless in the wrong hands.



Nicotine replacement therapy and stop smoking drugs are not the answer. You need to look behind the fanciful advertising and just look at the hard facts surrounding them. I can tell you that the best quit smoking aids are the self help sort. They cost a pittance compared to the other methods, and have much higher success rates.
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