Smoking Cessation

Health

Smoking is a greater cause of death and disability than any other single disease, says the World Health Organisation. Going by their figures, it is responsible for approximately five million deaths worldwide every year.

Tobacco smoking is a known or probable cause of over twenty-five diseases, and even the World Health Organisation says that its impact on world health has not been assessed in its entirety.

Medical research has shown that smoking is a major contributing factor towards many health problems, in particular - lung cancer (which has a survival percentage of 16.4%), emphysema, and cardiovascular / heart disease.

Nicotine

Nicotine, an element of tobacco smoke, is one of the most addictive substances that exists. When tobacco is smoked, most of the nicotine is pyrolyzed; however, a dose sufficient to cause mild somatic dependency and mild to strong psychological dependency remains. According to studies by Henningfield and Benowitz, nicotine is more addictive than caffeine but of a lesser potential for somatic dependency than ethanol, cocaine and heroin. A study by Perrine concludes nicotine's potential for psychological dependency exceeds all other studied drugs even ethanol, an extremely physically addictive substance with a severe withdrawal that can be fatal. Many smokers use nicotine compulsively.

Giving Up

It can be difficult to quit smoking due to the withdrawal symptoms which can include insomnia, irritability, anxiety, decreased heart rate, weight gain, and nicotine cravings. The relapse rate for quitters is high: about 60% relapse in three months. Also, nicotine users sometimes don’t want to quit smoking because they do not see any short-term damages it may cause.

There are however, a few ways of quitting smoking:

Cold Turkey

This is where you set a date, and just stop using will power alone. Although a lot of people have proved that it can work, not everyone can cope with the loss of nicotine in the blood.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

This is done via Patches and Chewing gum that contains Nicotine. The idea is that you will not crave cigarettes because your system is getting the nicotine that it wants. The method has proven to be quite successful, and works for many people - although a lot of people find that stopping the patches or gum often gets them craving again.

Zyban

This is a prescription treatment that came out ten years ago. Originally for depression, it showed the dynamics in helping people to stop smoking. Although successful, this drug has been highly controversial because its anti-depressive effects and has proved addictive.

Champix

Champix this is a new drug approved in the UK in the latter part of 2006. Made by Pfizer, the drug works differently to Zyban and is much more effective, yet without the controversy of Zyban. Click here for more information on this drug.