How Smoking Affects Your Family - Health - Wellness

It is a known fact that smoking is extremely dangerous to your health. Health professionals and government officials have taken various measures in order to educate the public of the different unfavorable effects of smoking to our health. Yet, there are millions of people, who are addicted to their smoking habit. Smoking not only affects the smoker, but also the people around them especially your family. Here are just some ways on how your smoking habit can affect your family.

Increase in Health Risks

One of the ways how smoking affects your family is through their health. While it is true that smokers increase their risk of developing a variety of illnesses and diseases, this increase in health risk is not only confined to them and it extends to the rest of your family members. Studies have shown that second-hand smokers have an even higher risk of developing cancer and other health ailments compared to the smokers themselves. The term second-hand smokers refer to people who are exposed to the smoke emitted by smokers and their cigarettes. The reason why they are at a higher risk is that compared to smokers, the smoke that they inhale is not filtered. And because most of the harmful chemicals and carcinogens are found in the cigarette smoke, prolonged exposure to the smoke is just like making your entire family smoke a cigarette with the filter torn out.

Negative Influence to Your Children

Another way how smoking affects your family is by creating a negative influence to your children. As they grow up, your children look up to you and subconsciously model their behavior to mimic their parents. In fact, studies have shown that children that have taken up a smoking habit during their teenage years are those coming from families where one or both of the parents smoke as well. Even though government officials and school administrators do aggressive efforts to discourage teenagers from starting a smoking habit, seeing their parents smoke can be a whole lot more influential and a factor for them to actually become smokers themselves.

Depletion of the Family Income

With the nations across the world still feeling the effects of the financial crisis that struck them, many families are still coping in stretching the family budget. Smokers unknowingly spend hundreds of dollars each month in order to satisfy their habit by purchasing cigarettes, lowering the household income which is used to purchase basic commodities, pay your children's tuition fees and your mortgage payments. This depletion of the family income can oftentimes result in tension between you and your spouse regarding financial matters, which can eventually lead to constant arguments, the latter having a psychological effect on your children in the long run.

As you can see, the effects of smoking can be far reaching. Being a parent, you would want to make sure that you are able to keep your family safe, protected and their needs supported. Quitting your smoking habit would not only benefit your health. It would also ensure that your family would remain happy, harmonious and healthy.

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Things to think about before stopping smoking - Health

This is the first of several articles directed to smokers. In order to better understand the psychology of nicotine addiction, I need to have input from smokers, and get inside your head. I look forward to your input and replies on my stop smoking discussion boardIn my practice as a pulmonologist as well as in my Quit Doc Clinic, I have finally acknowledged that I can not MAKE anyone quit smoking. I can not scare anyone into quitting smoking. Half of lung cancer patients go back to smoking!!! The drive to stop smoking has to come from within. Statistics tell us that over 80% of smokers want to quit smoking. My "on the street" interviews suggest that it is significantly less than this. Why the difference? When someone fills out an anonymous survey they can be more open. In the interview process I get the "yeah, I know I should quit but..." When I get to the one on one level, I find out that there are only a few reasons. Most of the time the failure to think about quitting i s driven by either fear or immaturity. It is further fueled by denial ("oh that will never happen to me"). The top fear is not of the health consequences (stroke, heart attack, cancer) but the FEAR OF FAILURE. Most of my patients that I treat are afraid of failing their smoking cessation attempt. The second most common fear is that of gaining weight. I hear the rationalization of "I'll probably gain so much weight that I will make myself more unhealthy than if I smoked!" Well, let's look at this. It is estimated that you would have to gain 150 pounds to have the cardiovascular effects of smoking. And still you would not have the cancer risks! The third most common fear is FEAR OF CHANGE. Yep, most of us do not want to change our lifestyle. I get the comment "I've done it this way for the last 30 years no need to change now!" My response is usually, "The way that you have been doing it has gotten you into the mess you are in. Look at your lifeless skin? What about your breath lessness? What about the silent plaque that is building up inside of your arteries or the slow dissolution of lung tissue with each puff of that poisonous crap! What about immaturity. Well you are full of it! There is the rebellious punk side of you that says "no one is going to make me do anything!" To this I say "Well Einstein, don't you think that the big tobacco companies are responsible for getting you hooked in the first place? Don't you think that addiction is controlling your life? Can you go over to a friend's house and have a wonderful dinner and conversation without crawling out of your skin for your nicotine fix? This addiction has total control over you and can make you grovel at its whim." In my Quit Doc Clinic, I usually do not treat patients younger than 30. The reason is that they generally lack the maturity to stay quit. They are invincible and have not suffered from health problems or faced their own mortality. I often tell my patients whom are children of the 60's,70's or 80's that the mind set that they need to quit smoking is the same as they had when they quit all that other childhood stuff. They must be able to say "I'm done" and walk away. If they are still doing the late nights, alcohol, drugs etc. chances are that they have not matured to the point of being a successful nonsmoker. I turn them away and tell them to come back when they grow up."Denial? I don't have denial!" This denial accounts for why many people go without even trying to quit. "It will never happen to me." Or "you gotta die of something?" Smokers know they are playing Russian roulette. They believe there is one bullet and one thousand empty chambers. In reality, there is one bullet and only one empty chamber. Yes, that is right! Out of every two smokers, one will die prematurely of a smoking related death. The good news is that for every 2 people that we can get to stop smoking, we will save one life!! So what is the point of this article? Well you ha ve to start somewhere. Before you decide to attempt quitting, you must look at your own reasons for not quitting thus far. You surely don't enjoy making the tobacco companies rich by giving them $1000/year for each pack per day that you smoke. You really don't enjoy the odor that reeks off of your body or breath (oh yeah, I forgot, you can't smell it until you quit). You may think it is your right to kill yourself by whatever means that you choose but what about the cancers, heart attacks and other illnesses that you are causing in those around you? That brings me to my next article on second hand smoke.Kirk G. Voelker MD FCCP - Quit Doc Smoking Treatment Network

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Passive Smoking - Health

Passive smoking is the involuntary inhalation of cigarette smoke of other people's cigarettes. Passive smoking, secondary smoke, second hand smoke or environmental tobacco smoke all relate to the same thing - that being the involuntary inhalation of tobacco smoke. Cigarette smoke is generally defined as either the exhaled smoke from a smoker or the 'sidestream' smoke from the cigarette tip. It is made up of over 4,000 chemicals of which, 40 or so are known to cause cancer, including numerous hydrocarbons, arsenic and polonium.

Smokers choose to inhale this noxious combination of chemicals and carcinogens but non-smokers do not. In the case of children or babies, there is normally no choice whatsoever and it is estimated that some 700 million children around the world are exposed to secondary smoke from the 1.2 billion smokers in the global population.

It is well documented now that secondary smoke or passive smoking has some adverse affects on the passive smoker and most significantly when they are children. Indeed, in an extract from the 1997 Declaration of the Environment Leaders of the Eight (G8) on Children's Environmental Health, they stated;

"We affirm that environmental tobacco smoke is a significant public health risk to young children and that parents need to know about the risks of smoking in the home around their young children. We agree to co-operate on education and public awareness efforts aimed at reducing children's exposure to environmental tobacco smoke."

So, what evidence is the G8 working from and why should we care? Well, a review by the World Health Organization in 1998 concluded that passive smoking is a cause of bronchitis, pneumonia, coughing and wheezing, asthma attacks, middle ear infection, cot death, and possibly cardiovascular and neurobiological impairment in children. Furthermore, a report in 1992 by the Royal College of Physicians in London estimates that 17,000 under 5s are admitted to hospitals in the UK every year as a direct result of passive smoking.

A report from Hong Kong in 2001 concluded that children living in homes where there are two or more smokers are 30% more likely to be admitted to hospital for treatment than those living in a smoke-free house.

UK reports from 2000 and 2001 have found that environmental tobacco smoke has a detrimental effect on children of any age and also that asthma is more prevalent in smoking households. It is thought that between 1,000 and 5,400 new cases of asthma are solely attributable to passive smoking every year in the UK.

A further report from Britain in 2006 linked smoking with a three-fold increase in the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), commonly called cot death. Many other studies have found environmental tobacco smoke exposure to directly correlate with increased incidences of ear infections, meningitis, mental impairment, autism, subdued vitamin C levels and poorer sense of smell and taste. On top of these malaises, there have also been found, links between childhood exposure to tobacco smoke and the risk of cancer in later life and with general malaise. A Norwegian study found that adults who had been exposed to smoke during their childhood had poorer attendance levels in their adult life at work.

Studies in Britain have found that there is widespread acknowledgement that passive smoking is not only bad for children but also for adults. However, the specific risks that increase because of passive smoking are not well known. The majority of people cited chest infections and increased risk of asthma as the most common outcomes of passive smoking. Two more common outcomes of environmental tobacco smoke in infants are cot death and glue ear (ear infection), but this was not recognised by most respondents in the survey. Despite this, two thirds of smokers say that they do not smoke in the same room as children and a quarter state that they would smoke less in the company of a child because of their knowledge of the dangers of secondary smoke.

In order to protect children, there are a number of things that parent should do to try and minimise their child's exposure to tobacco smoke:

Smokers should try to smoke only outside. If you must smoke inside limit smoking to a room where you can open windows to allow adequate ventilation. Smokers should never smoke in a child's bedroom and must not allow anyone else to smoke there. Smokers should not smoke while washing, dressing or playing with children. Finally, smokers should never smoke in the car with the windows closed or open.

Some children rights campaigners suggest that exposing children to cigarette smoke is a form of child abuse and should be punished accordingly. I am inclined to agree with them.

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Beat The Habit With These Quit Smoking Tips - Health

Reported by the American Society of Addiction Medicine (ASAM) you can quit heroin easier than quit smoking. In fact well-known star Ozzy Osbourne, who many know has tried many different drugs in his lifetime, reported that when it came to addictions, quitting smoking was the biggest challenge for him.

Nicotine is an extremely complicated substance to quit using, and the ASAM reports nicotine as one substance that has people relapsing often. Does this information require that individuals should not even attempt to quit smoking? Most definitely no! There are numerous individuals that have succeeded in quitting smoking and even without any form of relapse. With information, self-control and a few quality quit smoking tips, before you know it you too will be an ex-smoker.

Due to the control that nicotine has on many people it is difficult quit smoking by alone. It is advised that you seek the advice of your health care provider to quit smoking. Utilizing the various quit smoking tips, your opportunity for success greatly increases. Let's face it; unless you actually try the quit smoking tips you will not know which ones will work for you the best. Don't feel defeated without even trying.

The first step is to make a new routine in your life. Individuals that smoke cigarettes typically have an unintentional everyday practice in life of doing things that is centered on their smoking. For illustration, when the individual goes to their job and smokes a couple of cigarettes in route, take a different way to the job. Some individuals like to have a cigarette after eating and should do something different such as cleaning the kitchen and dishes. Using this type of quit smoking tips is changing the individual's behavior. Since having a cigarette is a learned type of behavior, unlearning and replacing with a new activity is going to help individual's quit smoking.

The second step for quitting smoking is to realize that you might actually slip and have a cigarette. However, you need to not give up hope. A good quit smoking tip is to accept imperfection. Everything is not over. It doesn't matter how many times the individual has a slip up as long as they keep trying again regardless of how frustrated they might be. Read more objective tips and information on stopping smoking at

A third quit smoking tip is to realize that smoking can be triggered by stress and even anger. Take the time to find a class that will teach you how to cope with daily stress and even anger without smoking. Many of these classes are free of charge and will help you greatly with quitting smoking.

To end with, if you enjoy smoking cigarettes while at group activities, an effective quit smoking tip is to inform your peers that you are quitting smoking. Be certain to request of them to not hand you cigarettes even if you really try to convince them of the reason you need one at the moment. You will find that your true friends will be more than willing to assist you and not provide you with one of their cigarettes.

Additional quit smoking tips can be found through many resources on the Internet. You have the power to quit!

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Quitting Smoking - What actually happen after you quit? - Health

Statistics show that if time can be turned back, 82% of smokers wish they never have started the habit. Everyone knows that it's obviously healthier for you to quit smoking as soon as possible, but there are more than just long-term health benefits from it.

Psychologically you gain better self-esteem and hence leaving space for career improvements, socially you will never feel like an outcast again in public places such as shopping malls and restaurants, and financially you may get to save more money which, when added up may amount to the price tag of a nice home!

Think the damages done by smoking irreversible? Not really. Your body loves you, and just within the first 20 minutes after you quit smoking, it initiates an auto-healing process to restore your heart rate and blood pressure to normal. Oxygen levels return to normal after 8 hours. Your lungs start to clear out mucous and other smoking debris, while carbon monoxide will be completely purged out from the body on the next day.

Shortly after quitting smoking you will suffer from nicotine withdrawal and an intense craving for cigarettes, which reach a peak on the third day. This is the most crucial time for your smoking cessation efforts, and will determine its success or failure. Only strong will power and determination can effectively curb this irritation. Once you overcome it, nicotine is permanently out of your body in Day 4 (though nicotine addiction may still persist for years)

Just a couple of months after you quit smoking, you'll notice your lung function increases. Perhaps you can now walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for air. Nine months later you'll no longer cough as much and you're capable of taking deep breaths. This is because the cilia in your lungs are able to move the mucus out so they function better to clean them and to clear out infections.

Over the course of time, you'll find yourself getting along with more people. Foul odor no longer clings to your hair and clothes, your yellowish nails and teeth will be something in the past, and no one will ever shun you again out of fear for the consequences of second-hand smoke. Your skin will now have ample of room to repair itself (tobacco damaged your physical appearance and caused premature aging), and without doubt you will be much more pleasant to look at than before.

When you're celebrating your first year after quitting smoking, you should toast the fact that your risk of coronary heart disease, lung and pancreatic cancer are cut in half from what it was when you were labeled a smoker - and that your lifespan can perhaps be extended by 20% under normal circumstances.

Your reasons to quit smoking may be listed within this article, or you may have your own personal reasons to do so. Either way, you'll reap the rewards of your efforts once you say goodbye to tobacco for good. It's definitely a decision you will never look back and regret.

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Some very good reasons to quit smoking for your baby's sake. - Health

Research shows that around two-thirds of smokers want to give up. What are the effects if you smoke whilst pregnant?

Why give up? Your partner/best friend/kids might want you to give up, but you have to want to quit as well, or their dreams will come to nothing.

For many women, discovering they are pregnant provides the perfect incentive to stub out the cigarettes and abandon other unhealthy recreational habits. There's no use denying it, smoking has been proved to harm your unborn child and stunt the development of your child in further life. Get clued-up here and then ask yourself...is it really worth it?

Some very good reasons to quit for your baby's sake:

1. Smoking can cause long-term damage including breathing difficulties to your child

2. The consequences of your smoking can affect your child for the rest of its life

3. Amongst other harmful actions, smoking raises the levels of carbon monoxide in the blood and nicotine constricts the blood vessels, which means that less oxygen can reach your baby in the womb

4. Smoking can slow down brain development and stunt the growth of your child

5. The harmful chemical cocktail that is in cigarettes is passed on to your baby in the womb. As a result, your baby may not develop as well and may be lighter at birth. This may cause problems in terms of resistance to disease, and general pace of development

6. Smoking can encourage premature birth

7. Mothers who smoke are more prone to complications during their pregnancies which can lead to premature birth. The detachment of the placenta and rupture of foetal membranes as a result of smoking can bring on the early birth of your child

8. Women who stop smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy reduce the risk of having a low birth-weight baby

9. There is a higher risk of your baby developing asthma in childhood if you smoke whilst pregnant

10. Smoking is also linked to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

11. Babies and children raised in a household where there is smoking have more ear infections, colds, bronchitis, and other lung and breathing problems than children from non-smoking families

12. Second hand smoke can also cause eye irritation, headaches, nausea, and dizziness

Speak to your doctor who can expand and clarify the effects of smoking whilst pregnant.

Passive smoking

Even if you don't smoke, inhaling the smoke of others can also harm your unborn child. Plus, it's not just unborn babies that are affected - allowing your child to be a passive smoker can cause asthma attacks, respiratory disease and middle ear disease. They also have a higher risk of developing allergies. Infants under two years old are more prone to severe respiratory infections and cot death. Don't make them breathe your second-hand smoke.

Plus, think of the money you're saving (which you could spend on the baby, or giving yourself a treat after the birth), and how your health will improve by cutting your chances of cancer, strokes, bronchitis, stomach ulcers and diabetes. And you'll look so much better too, so what have you got to lose?

The material contained in this article is presented for information purposes only. It is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. The information in this article cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment.

Copyright World of Freedom and Ken Lobley

Ken Lobley is a Master Practitioner in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP) and has researched the area of "stopping smoking". He has had fantastic success with helping people to stop smoking as well as other challenges.

Whilst in the domestic and industrial cleaning profession he was able to see first hand the horrible effects smoking has on the environment, especially the inside of buildings and furnishings.

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New Year Resolution: Stop Smoking - Health

If you are a long-time smoker and you are hoping to quit smoking this New Year, you have adopted a rather difficult resolution. First of all, you are ridding yourself not only of a habit, but an addiction. You need to recognize smoking as an addiction not only to nicotine, but to the act and comfort of smoking itself. Second of all, you need some degree of medical assistance, depending on how long you have been smoking and what you have been smoking. For some people, the withdrawal from nicotine can be extremely painful, so that they have to check into a facility to avoid returning to their bad habits.

In order for you to stop smoking, there are many things that you have to do. First, you have to recognize that it is not only your problem: your cigarette smoke and your smoking habits affect a lot of people around you, and second-hand smoke does kill. You need to recognize, however, that it is only you who has the power to quit smoking: you cannot rely on anyone to force the decision upon you, and you cannot rely on other people to keep you motivated. This is your health, and you have to take control of it and be in charge. You cannot surrender to the lure of the cigarette and you must not let nicotine enslave you.

Second, you need to determine what it is that you need to quit. As mentioned earlier, you are quitting smoking, but you have to recognize that it is not only a habit that you are letting go of, but a debilitating addiction. Moreover, what kind of smoking are you quitting? Is it just cigarette smoking, or have you also smoked pot, pipes, and other addictive things? By recognizing the exact problem and giving it a definite name, you are giving yourself an easier time solving it.

Third, determine when you are going to quit smoking. Will you go cold turkey and quit smoking immediately? By going cold turkey, you can force yourself into sweats and convulsions if you have been entirely dependent on smoking for the longest time; if you have not been on cigarettes for a long time, then maybe going cold turkey will work for you. On the other hand, if you want to withdraw slowly from smoking, what is your timetable? Will you go from a pack a day to a pack a week, then a pack a month? How fast will your pace be? By outlining your quitting goals, you make it easier for yourself to plan how you will quit, as well as see how far you've come since you've started trying to quit.

You might also want to limit your smoking: will you go from being a chain smoker to being a social smoker? Or will you smoke only outside your house, then work your way free of smoking eventually? Places have a certain pressure exerted on people who smoke: for instance, cold areas, bars, restaurants, and the presence of other smokers can make potential quitters relent and take up the habit once again. When planning your quitting regimen out, you also need to take note of how often you will smoke, and how much less you want to smoke and where in a certain amount of time.

Are you going to do all this on your own, or will you be going into a rehabilitation program? Although you alone know your body's capabilities, and you alone are aware of your smoking habits, and what weaknesses would compel you to smoke again, you may need the help of outside forces to keep you clean. For instance, you could enlist the help of concerned friends and family to help you get through your painful withdrawal. You could enroll in a rehabilitation program and consult regularly with your physician. You do not have to do all this alone, and it would pay if you had a good circle of support around you.

These are only a few tips that you might want to follow as you start learning how to quit. Take note of these tips as you start formulating your New Year's resolution on quitting smoking, and make sure that you recognize your problems and stare them fully in the face. By acknowledging that you have a problem, you have already taken the first step in successfully keeping your New Year's resolution.

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