Your Health
Health concerns usually top the list of reasons people give for quitting smoking. This is a very real concern: About half of all smokers who continue to smoke will end up dying from a smoking-related illness.
Cancer
Nearly everyone knows that smoking can cause lung cancer, but few people realize it is also a risk factor for many other kinds of cancer as well, including cancer of the mouth, voice box (larynx), throat (pharynx), esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, cervix, stomach, and some leukemias.
Lung Diseases
Pneumonia has been included in the list of diseases caused by smoking since 2004. Smoking also increases your risk of getting lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. These diseases are grouped together under the term COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease). COPD causes chronic illness and disability, and worsens over time - sometimes becoming fatal. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis can be found in people as young as 40, but are more commonly diagnosed later in life, when the symptoms are more severe. Long term smokers have the highest risk of developing severe COPD.
Heart Attacks, Strokes, and Blood Vessel Diseases
Smokers are twice as likely to die from heart attacks as are non-smokers. And smoking is a major risk factor for peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels that carry blood to the leg and arm muscles. Smoking also affects the walls of the vessels that carry blood to the brain (carotid arteries), which can cause strokes. Men who smoke are more likely to develop erectile dysfunction (impotence) because of blood vessel disease.
Blindness and Other Problems
Smoking also causes premature wrinkling of the skin, bad breath, bad smelling clothes and hair, yellow fingernails, and an increased risk of macular degeneration, one of the most common causes of blindness in the elderly.
Special Risks to Women and Babies
Women have some unique risks linked to smoking. Women over 35 who smoke and use birth control pills have a higher risk of heart attack, stroke, and blood clots of the legs. Women who smoke are more likely to have a miscarriage or a lower birth-weight baby. Low birth-weight babies are more likely to die or have learning and physical problems.
Years of Life Lost Due to Smoking
Based on data collected in the late 1990s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that adult male smokers lost an average of 13.2 years of life and female smokers lost 14.5 years of life because of smoking. And given the diseases that smoking can cause, it can steal your quality of life long before you die. Smoking-related illness can limit your activities by making it harder to breathe, get around, work, or play.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Why Is It So Hard to STOP MOKING??
Why Is It So Hard to STOP Smoking?
Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times." Maybe you've tried to quit, too. Why is quitting and staying quit hard for so many people? The answer is nicotine.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive -- as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to, or dependent on, nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must deal with both the physical and psychological dependence to be successful at quitting and staying quit.
Where Nicotine Goes and How Long it Stays
When you inhale smoke, nicotine is carried deep into your lungs, where it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried throughout your body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormonal system, your metabolism, and your brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and even in cervix mucus secretions of smokers. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.
Several different factors can affect how long it takes the body to remove nicotine and its by-products. In general, a regular smoker will have nicotine or its by-products, such as cotinine, in the body for about 3 to 4 days after stopping.
How Nicotine Hooks Smokers
Nicotine produces pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. It also acts as a kind of depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and therefore the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increase in smoking over time. Over time, the smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then smokes to maintain this level of nicotine. In fact, nicotine, when inhaled in cigarette smoke, reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously (IV).
Nicotine Withdrawal
When smokers try to cut back or quit, the lack of nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is both physical and mental. Physically, the body reacts to the absence of nicotine. Mentally, the smoker is faced with giving up a habit, which calls for a major change in behavior. Both must be addressed in order for the quitting process to work.
If a person has smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer and suddenly stops using tobacco or greatly reduces the amount smoked, they will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a few days to up to several weeks.
Withdrawal symptoms can include any of the following:
* dizziness (which may only last 1-2 days after quitting)
* depression
* feelings of frustration, impatience, and anger
* anxiety
* irritability
* sleep disturbances, including having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and having bad dreams or even nightmares
* trouble concentrating
* restlessness
* headaches
* tiredness
* increased appetite
These symptoms can lead the smoker to start smoking cigarettes again to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms.
Smoking also makes your body get rid of certain drugs faster than usual. When you quit smoking, it changes the way your body handles these medicines. Ask your doctor if any medicines you take regularly need to be checked or changed after you quit.
Mark Twain said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times." Maybe you've tried to quit, too. Why is quitting and staying quit hard for so many people? The answer is nicotine.
Nicotine
Nicotine is a drug found naturally in tobacco. It is highly addictive -- as addictive as heroin or cocaine. Over time, a person becomes physically and emotionally addicted to, or dependent on, nicotine. Studies have shown that smokers must deal with both the physical and psychological dependence to be successful at quitting and staying quit.
Where Nicotine Goes and How Long it Stays
When you inhale smoke, nicotine is carried deep into your lungs, where it is absorbed quickly into the bloodstream and carried throughout your body. Nicotine affects many parts of the body, including your heart and blood vessels, your hormonal system, your metabolism, and your brain. Nicotine can be found in breast milk and even in cervix mucus secretions of smokers. During pregnancy, nicotine freely crosses the placenta and has been found in amniotic fluid and the umbilical cord blood of newborn infants.
Several different factors can affect how long it takes the body to remove nicotine and its by-products. In general, a regular smoker will have nicotine or its by-products, such as cotinine, in the body for about 3 to 4 days after stopping.
How Nicotine Hooks Smokers
Nicotine produces pleasant feelings that make the smoker want to smoke more. It also acts as a kind of depressant by interfering with the flow of information between nerve cells. As the nervous system adapts to nicotine, smokers tend to increase the number of cigarettes they smoke, and therefore the amount of nicotine in their blood. After a while, the smoker develops a tolerance to the drug, which leads to an increase in smoking over time. Over time, the smoker reaches a certain nicotine level and then smokes to maintain this level of nicotine. In fact, nicotine, when inhaled in cigarette smoke, reaches the brain faster than drugs that enter the body intravenously (IV).
Nicotine Withdrawal
When smokers try to cut back or quit, the lack of nicotine leads to withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal is both physical and mental. Physically, the body reacts to the absence of nicotine. Mentally, the smoker is faced with giving up a habit, which calls for a major change in behavior. Both must be addressed in order for the quitting process to work.
If a person has smoked regularly for a few weeks or longer and suddenly stops using tobacco or greatly reduces the amount smoked, they will have withdrawal symptoms. Symptoms usually start within a few hours of the last cigarette and peak about 2 to 3 days later. Withdrawal symptoms can last for a few days to up to several weeks.
Withdrawal symptoms can include any of the following:
* dizziness (which may only last 1-2 days after quitting)
* depression
* feelings of frustration, impatience, and anger
* anxiety
* irritability
* sleep disturbances, including having trouble falling asleep and staying asleep, and having bad dreams or even nightmares
* trouble concentrating
* restlessness
* headaches
* tiredness
* increased appetite
These symptoms can lead the smoker to start smoking cigarettes again to boost blood levels of nicotine back to a level where there are no symptoms.
Smoking also makes your body get rid of certain drugs faster than usual. When you quit smoking, it changes the way your body handles these medicines. Ask your doctor if any medicines you take regularly need to be checked or changed after you quit.
Sunday, August 24, 2008
Do You Know ???^_^
Do you know ....
This is awesome - I bet you didn't know this...
Letters 'a', 'b', 'c' & 'd' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 99
(Letter 'd' comes for the first time in Hundred)
Letters 'a', 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999
(Letter 'a' comes for the first time in Thousand)
Letters 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999,999,999
(Letter 'b' comes for the first time in Billion)
And
Letter 'c' does not appear anywhere in in the spellings of entire English Counting
This is awesome - I bet you didn't know this...
Letters 'a', 'b', 'c' & 'd' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 99
(Letter 'd' comes for the first time in Hundred)
Letters 'a', 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999
(Letter 'a' comes for the first time in Thousand)
Letters 'b' & 'c' do not appear anywhere in the spellings of 1 to 999,999,999
(Letter 'b' comes for the first time in Billion)
And
Letter 'c' does not appear anywhere in in the spellings of entire English Counting
Fighting Cancer
There is much debate about the success or lack of success in treating cancer. Treatment approaches are regarded as barbaric and risky. After all, it is a fight and cancer must be attacked. These words conjure up a fierce battle that becomes exhaustive and draining.
Can we consider cancer to be curable while there is disagreement on the survival rates?
The questions concerning “curability,” if it really exists, are spurring on the exploration of a more holistic or comprehensive approach that addresses what keeps the body healthy rather than what gets rid of cancer.
Cancer is defined as uncontrolled or abnormal cell division that invades the tissues of the body. It begins as a mutation in the DNA and “rewrites” the vital programming that promotes cellular life. According to the Mayo Clinic website, cancer is caused by DNA damage/mutation. Factors such as personal habits, family history, health conditions, and environmental concerns increase the risk of cancer.
Basic cancer treatment consists of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
These are designed to kill cancer cells, shrink cancerous tumors, and remove tumors or the organs they have overrun. Removing cancer is a good idea so it does not continue to spread. However, nothing is mentioned about stopping cancer at its source so it never recurs. This has encouraged researchers and the public to think “outside the box” to have a better understanding of cancer and the body.
Because chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for cancer have risks of their own, alternative cancer therapies are highly sought after by a public that is willing to do its homework and find out all that is available. Dr. Ralph Moss, has a unique referral service for people interested in researching their options. He has an online information site called “The Moss Reports.”
Spontaneous healings have caught the attention of scientists who have looked for similarities among cancer survivors. The Institute of Noetic Sciences published their findings in a book titled, Spontaneous Remission: An Annoted Bibliography.
Keeping the immune system healthy is one of the most important ways to help the body fight cancer on its own. Under normal circumstances, the immune system prevents damaged DNA from allowing cells to proliferate.
Addressing the above mentioned risk factors is important in keeping the immune system healthy whether or not someone has a cancer diagnosis:
Personal habits: smoking, drinking, drug use, overeating, poor nutrition, little or no exercise, overpowering emotions, negative emotional/behavior patterns, and social/spiritual isolation all stress the body and weaken the immune system
Family history – cannot be changed but can encourage a proactive approach to self-care.
Health conditions left untreated or poorly treated weaken the body’s immune system. Many serious health conditions are results of poor personal habits mentioned above.
Environmental concerns: toxic chemicals in the home, personal products, appliances/electromagnetic energy, chemicals in the community, and second hand smoke are known to damage DNA and weaken the immune system.
The immune system should not be burdened with unhealthy stimuli since it becomes distracted from the ever important job of destroying cancer cells.
Two unique ways to enhance the immune system are chiropractic care and fucoidan supplementation.
Chiropractic patients under regular care have been shown to possess healthier DNA. A published study made Medical News Today headlines March 7, 2005.
Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide found in brown seaweed, has been shown in hundreds of studies to assist the major body systems, especially the immune system by enhancing cellular communication so cancer cells are quickly destroyed. With the concern of providing high quality and therapeutic levels of fucoidan, the recent expansion of the gelceutical industry has made it available in a convenient form.
Although this is a very brief and introductory article, it brings up the question: should we try to learn more about cancer or more about the workings of the body?
Can we consider cancer to be curable while there is disagreement on the survival rates?
The questions concerning “curability,” if it really exists, are spurring on the exploration of a more holistic or comprehensive approach that addresses what keeps the body healthy rather than what gets rid of cancer.
Cancer is defined as uncontrolled or abnormal cell division that invades the tissues of the body. It begins as a mutation in the DNA and “rewrites” the vital programming that promotes cellular life. According to the Mayo Clinic website, cancer is caused by DNA damage/mutation. Factors such as personal habits, family history, health conditions, and environmental concerns increase the risk of cancer.
Basic cancer treatment consists of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.
These are designed to kill cancer cells, shrink cancerous tumors, and remove tumors or the organs they have overrun. Removing cancer is a good idea so it does not continue to spread. However, nothing is mentioned about stopping cancer at its source so it never recurs. This has encouraged researchers and the public to think “outside the box” to have a better understanding of cancer and the body.
Because chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery for cancer have risks of their own, alternative cancer therapies are highly sought after by a public that is willing to do its homework and find out all that is available. Dr. Ralph Moss, has a unique referral service for people interested in researching their options. He has an online information site called “The Moss Reports.”
Spontaneous healings have caught the attention of scientists who have looked for similarities among cancer survivors. The Institute of Noetic Sciences published their findings in a book titled, Spontaneous Remission: An Annoted Bibliography.
Keeping the immune system healthy is one of the most important ways to help the body fight cancer on its own. Under normal circumstances, the immune system prevents damaged DNA from allowing cells to proliferate.
Addressing the above mentioned risk factors is important in keeping the immune system healthy whether or not someone has a cancer diagnosis:
Personal habits: smoking, drinking, drug use, overeating, poor nutrition, little or no exercise, overpowering emotions, negative emotional/behavior patterns, and social/spiritual isolation all stress the body and weaken the immune system
Family history – cannot be changed but can encourage a proactive approach to self-care.
Health conditions left untreated or poorly treated weaken the body’s immune system. Many serious health conditions are results of poor personal habits mentioned above.
Environmental concerns: toxic chemicals in the home, personal products, appliances/electromagnetic energy, chemicals in the community, and second hand smoke are known to damage DNA and weaken the immune system.
The immune system should not be burdened with unhealthy stimuli since it becomes distracted from the ever important job of destroying cancer cells.
Two unique ways to enhance the immune system are chiropractic care and fucoidan supplementation.
Chiropractic patients under regular care have been shown to possess healthier DNA. A published study made Medical News Today headlines March 7, 2005.
Fucoidan, a sulfated polysaccharide found in brown seaweed, has been shown in hundreds of studies to assist the major body systems, especially the immune system by enhancing cellular communication so cancer cells are quickly destroyed. With the concern of providing high quality and therapeutic levels of fucoidan, the recent expansion of the gelceutical industry has made it available in a convenient form.
Although this is a very brief and introductory article, it brings up the question: should we try to learn more about cancer or more about the workings of the body?
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