As people continue to explore the amazing ways of quitting smoking then it is imperative that they also look at the possibilities of changing their lifestyle. Of course there is a possibility that some of the advice that is given will not work but the person should be on the lookout for new developments. For example some people claim that multivitamin treatments help them to keep healthy and avoid smoke. That is a matter of personal choice and preferences. Here are a few pointers:

• Honesty is the best policy: An honest assessment of the journey that the person has taken and the vulnerability that they face might be the best way of ensuring that they do not give up on the journey. Knowing that smoking is bad is just the beginning of the battle. The next phase of the battle is to ensure that the person can effectively quit the habit in time. Honesty will help you to deal with the down times when nothing seems to work.
• Read about the consequences of smoking: Some people do not realize the gravity of the situation that they are in. It takes them time to fully understand that the smoke will kill them if nothing is done. That is where it is imperative that they take the time to look at the different elements that make this habit toxic. A few films showing the symptoms of lung cancer might wake you up.
• Complement the nicotine patches: It is important not to concentrate on just one strategy. It might fail and the person will have nowhere to run. It is better to complement the strategies with different elements so that if one fails there is always an alternative. The patches might be complemented by therapy. Of course it is imperative that the patient does not take an overdose of the patches.
• Hypnosis might not work: Some people say that hypnosis works for them while others say that it is not thing but a waste of time. It is important that the person is able to make the right distinctions and not fall into the trap of just taking up smoking for the sake of it. They also have to think about the down time when there will be no therapist to hold their hand. That is when quitting becomes a real challenge. They should be prepared for the good times and the bad times.

There is no doubt that smoking is an anti social activity. It elevates the personal wishes of the individual above the concerns of the community to maintain some sort of healthy environment for all. The people that insist on smoking are doing a disservice to the other people that live with them as well as the general public. It is not a habit that is to be tolerated easily. The amazing ways to quit smoking might be the best way of ensuring that the person avoids some of the health risks that have been associated with the habit in the past. Of course it is possible that the individual will make the choice to continue smoking. In that way they will need to spend time dealing with the health repercussions of the habit. For example they might need to find ways to treat mouth ulcers or even cancer.

Killing the smoking habit

• Some people will voluntarily give up smoking when something really terrible happens. They will then realize the kind of vulnerability that they are playing with. For example there have been incidents where the individual has had a heart attack at the time of smoking so that they are compelled to think of ways of stopping the habit with immediate effect.
• Smoking has long been accepted to be a bad habit and therefore it is imperative that people take the time to see whether it can be avoided. There are some booster foods such as ginger and garlic which help to get rid of the smoke bug. Whenever the quitter feels like smoking then it is a good idea to brush the teeth because it keeps the mouth occupied with a clean feeling rather than the smoke.
• Some people find that making a bet will help them to keep on the straight and narrow when it comes to smoking. They might even start to talk about their experiences on a blog or a FaceBook page. A public announcement will make it very difficult for the person to go back on their promises to quit smoking.
• It might pay to keep away from the places where smokers are likely to congregate. That means that you are keeping the temptation at bay and giving yourself the best chance to beat the habit. It is also the means that will ensure that you can continue to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

There are amazing ways to quit smoking safely. Some of these ways might include unorthodox solutions. The health market is constantly coming up with ideas that are meant to ensure that people can give up smoking with minimum fuss. Of course some of the schemes are not as straightforward as would be ideal. However they do offer the opportunity for people to change their lifestyle for the better. For example there is the anti chewing tobacco that is beginning to increase its fans through publicity as well as the real results that it has been able to show.

First of all there has to be recognition that people wish to stop smoking on a permanent basis. The schemes that stop and start all the time will never be able to get the best out for the individuals. Of course this is a long and tedious process. Many people are likely to fall before they even start. Nevertheless it offers opportunities for a change in lifestyle. It also opens up the doors on the things that people can do in order to change the way that smoking affects them. In due course it might turn out that people can quit smoking at the drop of a hat.

Issues to help stop smoking

• First of all the person has to set a definite date for quitting. Without a definite timescale for quitting everything becomes haphazard in its approach.
• It is important to tell the people around that you are quitting because they will help to keep you on track if you are beginning to backslide. They will also provide you with support during the difficult times when it would appear that the whole thing is not going to work.
• You should take the time to liaise with these people so that they can help you with the smoking addiction.

It is important that the process of giving up smoking is taken very seriously. It is not a walk in the park and the individual might have to make certain sacrifices in order to get to the summit of their objectives. The temptations such as cigarettes that are lying around should be removed. This is because they will eventually overcome any resistance to the habit and the person will go back to their old ways. This might have catastrophic consequences for their general health. The local doctor might also be able to provide some bespoke support.

A list of possible solutions for smokers

Smokers are in something of a conundrum. They have to find ways of quitting the habit. It is a bit like learning how to stop smoking pot. There will be many temptations and the person has to have the discipline to overcome them. Here are ten tips to quit:

• Drinking water: This is a good habit in any case but it also cleanses the body. In any case the process of preparing the water might help the person to overcome the temporary urges.
• Honest assessment: The individual that is trying to quit has to look at their problem squarely in the face and then start the process of healing and recovery. Pretending to give up is not a good idea.
• Get rid of the memories: The aids to smoking will be a temptation and therefore must be removed from the environment. They are unnecessary distractions to the things that you are trying to achieve.
• Independence: Do not rely on others to tell you why you should quit. The decision is personal. This is not an area where you can rely on the props from other people in order to succeed.
• Publicize the decision to quit: This will ensure that you cannot be openly hypocritical about the situation. The publicity will mean that you are under an obligation to remain clean.
• Increase the exercise regime: It will keep you occupied and help you to look much better. It is also part of the healthy lifestyle that you are trying to emulate. Certainly it has worked for people that wish to achieve certain goals.
• Keep a diary of progress: This will focus your mind on the task ahead. This might be a private affair or you could put it on the social media networks. People normally respond to share their experiences. Of course you might get some abuse but that goes with the territory.
• Ask for help when you need it: This means that you are not dealing with the problem in isolation but with the support of the community around you. The family will be especially important at this time in your life.
• Get friends that do not smoke: They will put pressure on you not to smoke in their presence. They will also keep you occupied with activities that are not likely to get you back to the habit.

He said that 30% of those above the age of 30 suffer from up to 40 kinds of illnesses which include heart problems and 57 types of cancer.

“Statistics show that every day about 50 teenagers below the age of 18 start smoking and most of them become hardcore smokers,” said Chua in a speech read by Kuala Dipang state assemblyman Dr Chong Fah during the anti-smoking run here Sunday.

He said that according to a recent World Health Organisation report, more than 100,000 youths started smoking daily.

“In 1998, the Government introduced therapy for smokers in four major hospitals in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Ipoh and Seremban.

“Today, 44 hospitals and 111 health centres provide this treatment,” he said.

Chua said that in 1999, about 1,000 smokers were able to kick the habit.

He added that the ministry had compounded 11,211 people for smoking in public places that year.

Of the number, 1,366 were youths.

Chua said the ministry was taking various steps to reduce the use of cigarette advertisements by sports and cultural organisations.

He said another measure taken was to direct manufacturers to reduce cigarettes’ tar content from 20mg to 15mg and nicotine from 1.5mg to 1.3mg.

About 1,000 adults and schoolchildren participated in the 4km run which was organised by the Malaysian Anti-Smoking Organisation.

In its Aug. 14 edition, Newsweek reporters Dan Ephron and Michael Isikoff uncovered a federal indictment against Imad Hammoud and other Lebanese Americans who allegedly would buy cigarettes in North Carolina where taxes are low and truck them to Michigan, where they’d sell them for a $10-per-carton profit. The federal agents said Hammoud, who has ties to Hezbollah, the terrorist group at war with Israel in Lebanon, would funnel cash from the illegal smokes scheme in Detroit to Hezbollah operatives in the Middle East.

The news magazine reported that Hammoud allegedly was running as much as $500,000 in cigarettes across state lines in 2002 – coincidentally, during Hezbollah’s successful military build-up in southern Lebanon.

While Hezbollah rockets have killed dozens of Israeli citizens, in part financed by the sale of cigarettes in Detroit, if the FBI is correct, the direct connection between cigarette smoking and mortality is very well-established.

Cigarette smoking causes lung cancer, heart attacks, emphysema and a host of other types of cancers.

Perhaps the health message is reaching Southern Californians, where the number of smokers has been steadily decreasing.

For instance, smoking among Los Angeles County residents reached an all-time low 14.6percent, according to the county’s Department of Public Health.

Yet, the number of Asian and Latino men are smoking at higher rates – affixed at 19.6percent and 16.6percent, respectively. Many Asian and Latino men smoke in their home countries, where taxes are lower and health data on tobacco use more scarce. They are bringing their unhealthful habits to these shores, often to local parks and public places where children play. This type of cultural vestige has no redeeming value.

That’s why we are supporting the targeting of Asian and Latino males, who smoke twice as much as their famale counterparts, by the county Department of Public Health and the San Gabriel-based Asian Youth Center.

Two fronts emerge.

One, the new countywide anti-smoking campaign or “cig-alert” helped by health groups and pharmacists as well. The county’s “It’s Quitting Time, L.A.!” campaign will try to convert 200,000 smokers by 2010, according to the county’s Tobacco Control and Prevention Program.

The Asian Youth Center has urged a crackdown on smoking in Rosemead parks, where group volunteers recently picked up 1,500 butts in a single afternoon amid playgrounds, ball fields and picnic areas.

Last, the the city of Rosemead responded by banning smoking in public parks, which went into effect Aug.11. We hope other cities move ahead with similar bans and health campaigns that protect the public’s lungs and help smokers of all ethnicities to kick the tobacco addiction.

Source: Whittier

To get business owners ready, the River Valley Tobacco-Free Coalition hosted meetings and handed out information clearing up the laws.

“Our assistance is to show the best practices, and lay it all out in a kit. We will come in and do it for you for free… so basically we’re just kind of like a guide [to] offer a clear statement on what this actually means,” said Mona Clemons.

Business owner Jim Jenkins said the information he received helped clear the air.

“It was really informative, because there is a lot of stuff flying around, different rumors,” Jenkins said.

After the law takes effect July 21, business owners will have 30 days to make their restaurants comply.

Source: TheHometownChannel

Smoking will not cause damage to fertility and can in fact fight disease – according to some “pro-smoking campaigners.

Sophie Goodchild and Martin Hodgson say that tobacco companies are taking a new marketing approach to play down risks of smoking. Philip Morris has even funded research which would suggest that smoking does not interfere with the process of conception.

Because of this, the anti-smoking lobby has accused the tobacco giant of deception.

Anti-smoking groups such as Ash come down hard on tobacco giants arguing they have moved towards treatments which may boost fertility to change their image. The study they are referring to was funded by Philip Morris and claimed that supplements such as mineral selenium and vitamin E boost fertility in men who have poor quality sperm.

Over the past several years, the tobacco industry has seen a drastic reduction in sales in Western Europe and North America. This is mainly due to higher taxes, tougher laws, and a growing awareness of the implications of smoking.

What a load of rubbish!

Source: World Fitness

Dr John Greenwood from the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s burns unit is treating a 67-year-old Loxton woman who suffered burns to a large area of her body when she fell asleep while smoking a cigarette in her lounge room.

He says the woman’s condition has now improved and she will receive surgery to begin closing her wounds early this week.

Dr Greenwood says while the woman’s injuries are not common, the community should be cautious, particularly about smoking in bed.

“People who go to bed and smoke in bed, you know you go to bed for a good reason and that reason is usually to sleep,” he said.

There have been plenty of cases of people actually dying because they were smoking in bed and fell asleep, another great reason to quit smoking!

An example here:

An older woman and her daughter were slightly hurt early Friday after a fire broke out in their apartment in north Seattle near Shoreline.

Seattle firefighters were called to the apartment in the 13500 block of Linden Avenue North shortly after 4:30 a.m., fire spokeswoman Helen Fitzpatrick said.

Fitzpatrick said both women received minor injuries and were taken to Northwest Hospital. The cause of the fire was found to be smoking in bed. Damage was estimated at $15,000.

Source: Seattle PI

“You usually go to bed because you’re ready to sleep and you know this kind of injury … it might be dwindling … as less and less people smoke, it’s still phenomenally dangerous.”

Source: ABC News

The aim is to initially get smokers to quit for four weeks from May 2 to May 29, and then hopefully for good.

Quit & Win is an international anti-smoking contest for adults that has been organised since 1994.

More than 80 countries are participating in the competition, which is supported by the World Health Organisation (WHO) and has several partners.

At the end of the Bahrain competition on May 29, 10 winners will be selected and called to take a biochemical test to check if they have been smoking.

The first prize-winner will receive BD300, donated by the society, and the others will receive prizes donated by the International Hospital of Bahrain, Bahrain Specialist Hospital, Alba, GPIC, Al Jishi Pharmacy and other sponsors.

The first prize-winner will also be eligible to enter an international draw with prizes of $10,000 (BD3,780) and six regional prizes of $2,500 (BD945).

Source: Gulf Daily

THE chances are high that Filipino children aged 11 to 16 have already have tried smoking cigarettes. The probability that a child has already lighted his first stick–or worse, is a full-blown smoker–is even greater when members of his family are smoking, too. And then, of course, there is peer pressure.

A Youth Tobacco Survey by the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) Philippine Chapter among grade school and high school students in Metro Manila has reinforced what many people have been thinking all along about youth and smoking.

The survey of 2,932 respondents with an average age of 13, from twelve elementary and secondary private and public schools in Metro Manila was conducted by the ACCP after a series of “tobacco or health workshops” in these schools from 1998 to 2001.

Source: Cigarette Smoking Amongst Teens is High

The Philippines has concentrated on high cigarette tax to be used to anti-smoking campaigns since 2004.

The proposed foundation in the Philippines would get five percent or about P1 billion in funding annually from tobacco industry taxes.

Navarra also said that anti-tobacco advocates in the House of Representatives were also keen on filing a bill that would impose higher taxes on tobacco companies, which currently remit 25 percent of their revenues in excise tax.

The heavy taxation is projected to raise the prices of cigarettes by five percent every year and discourage buyers, especially the poor, from smoking, Navarra said.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

They also have tough anti-smoking regulations (national Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003) around the capital Manila, people feel the suffering even in the commercial areas like Makati City.

Makati City, Philippines – Smokers thought they would no longer enjoy the nightlife in trendy Makati City after the local government enforced the toughest anti-smoking policy in the Philippines three years ago.

With a strict smoking ban, restaurants, bars, discos, cafes, hotels, shopping malls and cinemas in the Manila suburb were forced to shun smoking patrons to avoid being penalized or even shut down by authorities.

Source: M & C News

They have even had anti-smoking stamps!

Source: Trussel

You can find the Philippines Youth Smoking Survey Here.

Recent studies have shown that Honey can help with quitting smoking.

Writings on the healing and curative powers of honey date from ancient Egypt. Fortunately for us, these writings have been faithfully documented and archived through the ages, leaving us a legacy of honey that is truly unique in recorded history.

It is probably safe to say that no other food source in the world is as rich. In fact, the variety of components contained in honey range across such a broad spectrum of vitamins, enzymes, proteins and amino acids, that it is actually classified as a complete food.

Grape Juice – Grapefruit

There are claims that a six week-treatment with grape juice has been known to wash cancer out of the blood. There are also numerous claims that skin cancer will dry and “flake off” using this remedy. If your stomach becomes queasy or loose, start the treatment from the beginning but use smaller amounts of grape juice, mixed half-and-half with water, and gradually increase your intake of the grape juice. When your stomach adjusts, take the grape juice straight. Continue this treatment for six weeks.

This cure is thought to have been brought to New York by English doctors and is said to have been used sucessfully to cure hopeless cancer patients. One undocumented report states that of 100 patients sent home to die after being diagnosed as terminally ill with cancer, all subscribed to the treatment and were saved. The total treatment can be had for under $25. The treatment is especially recommended in the case of leukemia patients. Six weeks of this treatment is supposed to be enough.

Natives of the West Indies like to chew on licorice sticks or on sugar cane stalks. Inspired by this, one doctor recommended that his patients chew licorice sticks to break the smoking habit. The idea has apparently been very successful. Ex-smokers like having something to chew on or hold in their mouths. The licorice stick is a safe substitute for a cigarette.

Other Names of Licorice Root
Liquorice, Glycyrrhiza Uralensis Fisch., Radix Glycyrrhizae, Gan Cao, Kan-Tsao.

Used Part, Taste and Property
Root and rhizome; Sweet and neutral; non-toxic.

Common Use in Chinese Herbal Formulas
Vital energy tonic, fatigue, weakness; Sore throat, cough, Addison’s disease. Used in Patent Formulas of Si Jun Zi Tang, Shao Yao Gan Cao Tang, Er Chen Tang and this herbal quitting formula.

Main Chemical Components
Triterpenoid, saponin (glycyrrhizin), flavonone (liquiritin, liquirigenin), chalcones, isoflavan, licoricone, etc.

Many people do recommend if you trying to quit smoking you should eat licorice. Black or Red makes no difference. Licorice has a ‘calming the nerves’ affect, helps lower Cholesterol and is non-fattening.

Sensation seeking traits are often linked together.

Common triggers can be :

• After a Meal
• After Sex
• In a Traffic Jam
• With Alchohol
• With Coffee
• After Excercise

The mind links things all the time… if you smell something you like to eat, you salivate… because your mind has made a link between the smell, and the action of eating it… links like this also occur with smoking… for example, if you regularly used to smoke with a cup of coffee in the morning, then there will be a link in your subconscious between the smell of coffee, and smoking.

If you can, avoid the ‘stimulant’ or trigger… in the above example of the morning cup of coffee, perhaps switch to tea or fruit juice. This idea is simply designed to stop you even thinking about having a cigarette in the first place. After all, the difference between a smoker and a someone who has never smoked, is that the person who has never smoked, doesn’t even think of having a cigarette in the first place.

If these triggers are really the problem, it’s better that you avoid them until you have full control over your habit.

They say it makes sense to get used to a smoke free pub now rather than wait for the law to change. Mike and Elaine believe that far from losing trade, a smokeless pub will encourage more people to use their restaurant.

And as both of them are smokers themselves they’ll be sharing the sacrifice, and hoping the ban will give them the encouragement they need to kick the habit.

But what do you think? Should pubs and clubs be exempt from the ban? Should there be a ban at all?

Should all clubs and bars in Malaysia be smoke free?

What about eating places and mamaks?

The BBC went into York city centre one lunchtime to find out what people thought.

“Certainly ban in restaurants, but not pubs because people go there to drink and smoke.”
Mr Faulkner

“It’s too easy at the moment, you can smoke anywhere.”
Steve Jones

“It [smoking] is just very unsociable, I think.”
Mr & Mrs Bailey

“I think it’s great actually; it’s a good idea.”
Mari Samperio

Source: BBC Lifestyle