Brain, lifestyle changes needed to quit smoking
October 18th 2011 02:30
What you should know
Habitual smokers are addicts. Withdrawal from nicotine can be eased with medication, encouragement and support. Yet even when the physical effects of chemical withdrawal are over, many smokers feel the urge to smoke. The brain becomes hardwired to associate specific places, smells and situations with the sudden desire to smoke.
Situations, smells and environments provide mental triggers for craving. Smoking often provides an immediate chemical reward, which leads to a bad habit. The pleasure-seeking chemical dopamine causes the brain to seek the reward repeatedly. The cravings to get the reward cause the brain to link the reward with certain actions: break times from office stress, after-work fun with friends, a quiet time with a cup of coffee, or boredom relief.
The effects of smoking tobacco or pot can initially be pleasant, but in the longer term we see that smoking can lead to health and social problems and depressive symptoms, which all can have a high cost.
Nearly one in five adults still smoke. The number of adults who are heavy smokers declined from 2005 to 2010, but the percentage of daily U.S. smokers who smoked one to nine cigarettes increased from 16 percent to 22 percent. Smoking is more common in the Mid-South, among men, teens and the poorly educated. Smokers often use smokeless tobacco too.
Research shows that even occasional smoking and secondhand smoke harm health. Of the adults who smoke tobacco, about half will die an early death from smoking-related causes. Disability and treatment costs result from avoidable chronic conditions, including strokes, heart disease, emphysema, cataracts and high blood pressure. Current smokers are 70 percent more likely to develop dementia than those who never smoked. Smoking also increases the risk of developing diabetes.
Wrinkles, stained teeth, bad breath and social problems can also be worse due to smoking.
Children and people with asthma are often endangered by secondhand smoke and toxins that rest on surfaces.
In 2004, the CDC reported that health-related costs in Tennessee tied to smoking were more than $2 billion dollars.
Additional non-health care costs include the cost of tobacco and tobacco taxes, which could be better spent on daily needs. Smoking is also associated with wasted time, cleaning bills, the cost of odor removal and fires. Although smoking tobacco is legal, a growing number of employers will not hire smokers.
A 2010 survey reported that only about 28 percent of smokers are counseled on how to quit.
What you should do
Never start using tobacco. Teach children that it is silly to inhale the smoke from burnt objects, whether cigarettes, campfires, marijuana, hookah tobacco, or any other item that can burn.
Make your vehicle and home smoke-free.
Stop smoking. Set a quit date and a quitting method. You can improve the quality of a longer life if you stop smoking.
Save the cost of smoking for other things that you need.
Remember that long after you stop smoking, certain environmental or situation cues can trigger your cravings for a cigarette. Determine your triggers -- perhaps driving, phones, coffee, alcohol, smells, hunger or boredom while waiting. When possible, avoid tempting situations and triggers. Cut out routines linked to your bad habits.
Change your lifestyle to substitute other more health ful reactions to triggers. When a craving strikes, take a walk around the block without cigarettes. Substitute other things for oral satisfaction, such as sugar-free mints to suck on instead of a cigarette. Keep a supply of crunchy low-calorie, low-salt foods.
Keep in mind that stress and temptation can weaken your will. Develop coping skills. Practice your new good habits so that they instead become hard-wired in your brain.
If you smoke, get help. Willpower to quit is not enough for most people. Check your insurance policy for coverage of smoking-cessation medication and counseling. Medicines are most helpful when used correctly and combined with behavior-modification help.
Employers should establish 100 percent smoke-free policies on their property -- inside and outside. If they provide health insurance and employee benefits, they should cover ways to quit smoking with little or no copayment.
Support policies and regulations that restrict tobacco products and promote clean air in all workplaces.
If you are a man age 65 to 75 who smoked in the past, consider having a one-time ultrasound screening for a possible abdominal aortic aneurysm.
For more information
Visit the Quit Smoking link at the Getting Healthy tab at heart.org and Really Long Link
Better Health: Take Charge! is provided by the Healthy Memphis Common Table: www.healthymemphis.org. This article supports the care and advice of your doctor
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