Light Cigarette Smokers Less Likely to Quit

November 5th, 2009 by admin No comments »

A study posted to in the journal Tobacco Control on Nov. 4 describes how a team of researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and the National Cancer Institute surveyed 30,000 U.S. residents who have smoked whether they had smoked cigarettes during the past year. The residents were also asked whether they had switched to light cigarettes and whether the switch had been promoted by health concerns, taste or a desire to eventually quit smoking.

Among the 12,009 smokers who had smoked light cigarettes, had “46% lower odds of net quitting.” Smokers who switched because they intended to stop smoking had the lowest quit success rate. People with health concerns were neither more or less likely to quit than people who smoked only regular cigarettes.

Researchers said light cigarettes doesn’t wean smokers off of nicotine due to the fact that tobacco in both regular and light cigarettes has the same amount of the nicotine. The only difference between the two is how the filters work, which smokers can defeat by inhaling longer and stronger or by covering the holes in the filtered end of a light cigarette.

Light smokers tended to think they were more safe regarding lung cancer, heart disease, impotence, wrinkles, early death because they felt their health was not at risk.
If you can’t or won’t quit, consider a safer alternative……electric cigarettes. Products like Green Smoke are devices shaped like a cigarette but they contain a battery, water and nicotine. You’ll still get your nicotine fix but you and the people and pets around you won’t be inhaling the 4000 toxic chemicals that cause major health issues every day.

Electric cigarettes are not marketed as a stop smoking device however many people have been able to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes after making the switch to e-cigarettes.

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Tobacco Addiction Reduced by Virtually Crushing Cigarettes

October 29th, 2009 by admin No comments »

ScienceDaily reported today that smokers who crushed computer-simulated cigarettes in a virtual reality environment significantly reduced their dependance on cigarettes and had highter tobacco abstinence than smokers who used a computer simulated ball, as explained in the current issue of CyberPsychology and Behavior.

91 smokers who participated in a 12-week anti-smoking support program were split between the two treatment groups. One group simulated crushing virtual cigarettes, while the other group grabbed virtual balls. Both groups did this in a virtual reality environment.

The study found a very measurable reduction in nicotine addiction among the cigarette-crushers vs the ball-graspers group. In week 12 the abstinence rate was 15% for the crushers as opposed to 2% for the ball-grasping participants.

At the 6-month follow-up, 39% of the cigarette crushers reported not smoking the previous week, compared to only 20% of the ball graspers.

“It is important to note that this study increased treatment retention. All too often individuals drop out of treatment prior to completion. It will be interesting now to go further and compare this to other popular treatments such as the nicotine patch,” says Brenda K. Wiederhold, PhD, MBA, BCIA, Editor-in-Chief of CyberPsychology and Behavior, from the Interactive Media Institute, San Diego, CA.

The full study is available via PDF through the CyberPsychology & Behavior website

If you can’t or won’t quit, consider a safer alternative……electric cigarettes. Products like Green Smoke are devices shaped like a cigarette but they contain a battery, water and nicotine. You’ll still get your nicotine fix but you and the people and pets around you won’t be inhaling the 4000 toxic chemicals that cause major health issues every day.

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Second Hand Smoke Affects your Pets

October 12th, 2009 by admin No comments »

The life you save may be your pets!

There’s always been lots of information about second hand smoke and people but did you know there is considerable research proving secondhand smoke is harmful for pets too?

Think about this everytime you light up in your house with Fido on your lap, or when you’re taking Spot to his favorite park.

The American Lung Association of New Hampshire provides some stunning facts on why you should consider your pets when you smoke around them.

DOGS

• Dogs that inhale secondhand smoke are three times more likely to develop lung or nasal cancer than dogs living in smoke-free homes.
• Dogs can experience allergic reactions to secondhand smoke. Common symptoms of this allergic reaction are the scratching, biting, and chewing of their skin. Owners often confuse this reaction with fleas or food allergies.
• Cigarette butts can also be deadly. Two butts, if eaten by a puppy, can cause death in a relatively short period of time.

BIRDS

• Birds can react badly to secondhand smoke and may develop eye problems, as well as other respiratory problems like coughing and wheezing.
• Birds that sit on a smoker’s hand can experience contact dermatitis from the nicotine that remains on the smoker’s hand. This can cause them to pull out their feathers.

CATS

• Cats exposed to secondhand smoke in the home have a higher rate of an oral cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, which may be due to the way cats groom themselves. When cats groom themselves they eat the poisons from secondhand smoke that have settled on their fur.
• Cats exposed to secondhand smoke have a higher rate of feline lymphoma, a deadly form of cancer, than cats not exposed to secondhand smoke.
• Cats can develop respiratory problems, lung inflammation, and asthma as a result of secondhand smoke. There are 4,000 chemicals in secondhand smoke, and 43 are known to cause cancer.

Other dangerous issues can occur……

By ingestion of cigarette or cigar butts which contain toxins. Death- From 1-5 cigarettes and from 1/3-1 cigar can be fatal if ingested.
By drinking water that contains cigar or cigarette butts (which can have high concentrations of nicotine)
By ingestion of nicotine replacement gum and patches.


Think again of the health effects:

Breathing problems in dogs and asthmatic-like symptoms in cats
Salivation
Diarrhea
Vomiting
Cardiac abnormalities
Respiratory difficulties and respiratory paralysis
Feline lymphoma in cats
Lung cancer in dogs
Nasal cancer in dogs

Prevention:
As in the case of children and others in the home, don’t smoke.
If you must smoke take it outside- Don’t expose others to your smoke
Don’t allow others to smoke around your pets.
Keep ashtrays clean- Don’t leave butts in them for pets to find.
Dispose of nicotine gum and patches in receptacles that can’t be accessed by pets.
Consider quitting- The health effects of your smoking on pets is just one more good reason to quit.

If you can’t or won’t quit, consider a safer alternative……electric cigarettes. Products like Green Smoke are devices shaped like a cigarette but they contain a battery, water and nicotine. You’ll still get your nicotine fix but you and the people and pets around you won’t be inhaling the 4000 toxic chemicals that cause major health issues every day.

Electric cigarettes are not marketed as a stop smoking device however many people have been able to stop smoking tobacco cigarettes after making the switch to e-cigarettes.

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