Smoking is the action or habit of inhaling and exhaling the smoke of tobacco. Cigarette smoking is one of the greatest cause of illness and premature death. In other words, smoking is a practice in which a substance is burned that results in smoke, and which is breathed, tasted and absorbed into the bloodstream. Most commonly, that substance is the dried leaves of the tobacco plant which are rolled into a small square form of rice paper to create a small, round cylinder shape called as a cigarette.
Smoking is used to take in recreational drugs as the substance vaporizes and gets into the lungs where they are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream. In some cultures, smoking is carried out as a part of various rituals and traditions where the members use it to help induce trance-like states that they believe can lead them to spiritual enlightenment.
Smoking has negative effects on health because smoke inhalation poses challenges to various physiologic processes such as respiration. Diseases that are related to tobacco smoking have been shown to kill approximately half of long-term smokers in comparison to average mortality rates of non-smokers.Smoking is one of the most common forms of recreational use of drugs.
Stopping smoking can make a big difference to your health.Many people have quit smoking.It is never too late to stop smoking because it greatly benefits your health. For example, if you stop smoking in middle age, before having cancer or any other serious disease, you can avoid most of the diseases that can happen due to smoking.
Cigarette Smoke Ingredients
Nicotine is a substance in a cigarette that stimulates the brain. If you are smoking regularly when the blood level of nicotine falls, you will usually develop withdrawal symptoms such as:
These symptoms are relieved by taking the next cigarette. So, most smokers smoke regularly to feel normal and to prevent nicotine withdrawal symptoms.
These chemicals deposit in the lungs and can get into the blood vessels and then get carried to other parts of the body. Generally, cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals including over 50 known chemicals that cause cancer and other deadly diseases.
Carbon monoxide is a chemical that affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. In particular, if any pregnant woman smokes, it causes a reduced amount of oxygen to get to the growing baby.
Quit Smoking Benefits
The benefits of stopping smoking begin to show from the moment you quit the habit. You can reduce your risk of getting a serious disease, no matter what age you give up smoking. However, the sooner you stop this, the greater the reduction in your risk.
But, it is never too late to stop smoking to gain effective health benefits. Even if you already have COPD or any heart disease, your prognosis will improve a lot if you stop smoking.
Other benefits of quitting smoking include the following:
There are more than 4,000 harmful chemical substances in tobacco. Nicotine is one of the main causes that makes you addicted to smoking.
The idea of nicotine replacement products helps you gradually wean yourself off nicotine. These nicotine replacement products deliver a small amount of nicotine to relieve the symptoms of withdrawal. Giving up the replacement product is easier in comparison to giving up smoking.
Nicotine replacement products come in many forms, like:
Experts suggest that advice and support from others can make a big difference to long-term success in quitting smoking. There are some commonly used techniques that help control nicotine addiction; it includes one-to-one, group, and telephone counseling. These techniques help smokers quit and remain abstinent. Evidence states that even brief advice from a doctor can have an effect on cessation rates.
Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) can also help you to change your habitual thinking and behavior about smoking. For example, identifying, controlling and managing the things that make you want to smoke, developing alternative good habits such as relaxation, exercise or self-rewards for each day without a cigarette.
The techniques should focus not only on the time period leading up to and during quitting, but also afterward, helping you sustain the behavioral changes. You may find it helpful to stay motivated about quitting by staying updated with the science surrounding tobacco and smoking. Finding out how the other smokers faced and dealt with their challenges may also inspire you and help you on your quitting journey. You can also choose leaflets, books, motivational CDs or other resources at your doctor's local clinic, health center or library. Other products are also available to target the biologic basis of tobacco addiction such as bupropion hydrochloride. These quit smoking drugs are intended for use with a stop smoking behavior change program.
