There are new boxed warnings on the inserts of Chantix and Zyban. Boxed warnings are VERY serious !!!!!
Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs to Carry Mental Health Risk Warnings.
- ABC News
Popular Stop-Smoking Drugs to Carry Mental Health Risk Warnings
- ABC News
The US Food and Drug Administration said it will immediately require boxed warnings about the risk of serious neuropsychiatric symptoms on the packaging of two popular smoking cessation drugs -- varenicline (Chantix) and buproprion (Zyban ...
FDA Warning on Stop-Smoking DrugsWebMD
Two anti-smoking drugs to carry mental-health warningsCNNSuicide Warnings for 2 Anti-Smoking Drugs
- New York Times
Cigar smoking: Safer than cigarette smoking?
My husband insists that cigar smoking is safer than cigarette smoking. Is this true?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
Cigar smoking is often considered less dangerous than cigarette smoking. This simply isn't true, however — even if you don't inhale the smoke.
Most cigars contain as much nicotine as several cigarettes. A large cigar may contain as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes.
Regular cigar smoking increases the risk of various types of cancer, including cancer of the mouth, lip, tongue, throat, esophagus and lung. Regular cigar smoking also increases the risk of heart disease and various lung diseases, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
Secondhand smoke from cigar smoking poses concerns, too. For example, secondhand smoke from cigars contains higher concentrations of toxins than does secondhand smoke from cigarettes. Plus, cigars often burn for longer periods of time, which leads to greater amounts of secondhand smoke in the air.
The greater the intensity and frequency of cigar smoking, the greater the risks. Although occasional cigar smoking isn't thought to be as risky as regular cigar smoking, the only safe level of cigar smoking is none at all.
Why am I still coughing after I quit smoking?
I quit smoking six weeks ago, but now I'm coughing a lot, which didn't happen when I was smoking. What's going on?
Answer
from Richard D. Hurt, M.D.
Although it's not common, some people find that they seem to cough more than normal soon after they stop smoking. The cough is usually temporary and may actually be a sign that your body is healing.
Why some people seem to cough more soon after quitting smoking isn't clear. One explanation is that as the lungs heal, the microscopic hairs lining them — called cilia — begin working again. As the cilia attempt to clear out the inhaled particles, it can lead to coughing. This coughing may last as long as a couple of months, until the cilia are fully recovered. To relieve coughing in the meantime, try sipping water or sucking on cough drops.
If coughing persists for more than eight weeks or if coughing brings up sputum or blood or disturbs your sleep, see your doctor to check for a more serious cause of your coughing.
Quit smoking, gain weight: Is it inevitable?
Is weight gain inevitable after you quit smoking? What causes this?
Answer
from Edward C. Rosenow III, M.D.
It's fairly common to gain weight after quitting smoking, especially in the first few months — but it isn't inevitable.
The nicotine in cigarettes acts as an appetite suppressant. The nicotine may slightly increase your metabolism as well. When you quit smoking, your appetite and metabolism return to normal — which may lead you to eat more and burn fewer calories. Also, your ability to smell and taste food improves after you quit smoking. This can make food more appealing, which may lead you to eat more. And if you substitute snacking for smoking, the calories may quickly add up.
To avoid weight gain when you quit smoking, make diet and exercise part of your quit-smoking plan. It may help to:
Get moving. Include physical activity in your daily routine. Just 30 minutes of moderate exercise each day not only burns calories but helps relieve withdrawal symptoms and cravings.
Make wise food choices. Plan good-for-you meals and snacks, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. Eat smaller portions. Limit sweets and alcohol.
Keep your mouth busy. Chew on celery, carrot sticks, flavored toothpicks or sugarless gum.
Track your eating habits. Keep a food diary, including when, what and how much you eat every day.
Above all, remember that the health benefits of being smoke-free far exceed the problems associated with even moderate weight gain. Lung damage and heart disease are irreversible — weight gain is not.
Hookah smoking: Is it safer than cigarettes?
Is hookah smoking safer than smoking cigarettes? I've been told that the water used in the hookah makes the tobacco less toxic.
Answer
from Richard D. Hurt, M.D.
Hookah smoking is not safer than cigarette smoking. Also known as narghile, shisha and goza, a hookah is a water pipe with a smoke chamber, a bowl, a pipe and a hose. Specially made tobacco is heated, and the smoke passes through water and is then drawn through a rubber hose to a mouthpiece. The tobacco is no less toxic in a hookah pipe, and the water in the hookah does not filter out the toxic ingredients in the tobacco smoke. Hookah smokers may actually inhale more tobacco smoke than cigarette smokers do because of the large volume of smoke they inhale in one smoking session, which can last as long as 60 minutes.
While research about hookah smoking is still emerging, evidence shows that it poses many dangers:
Hookah smoke contains high levels of toxic compounds, including tar, carbon monoxide, heavy metals and cancer-causing chemicals (carcinogens). In fact, hookah smokers are exposed to more carbon monoxide and smoke than are cigarette smokers.
As with cigarette smoking, hookah smoking is linked to lung and oral cancers, heart disease and other serious illnesses.
Hookah smoking delivers about the same amount of nicotine as cigarette smoking does, possibly leading to tobacco dependence.
Hookah smoke poses dangers associated with secondhand smoke.
Hookah smoking by pregnant women can result in low birth weight babies.
Hookah pipes used in hookah bars and cafes may not be cleaned properly, risking the spread of infectious diseases.
Electronic cigarettes — A safe way to light up?
What are electronic cigarettes? Are they safer than conventional cigarettes?
Answer
from Richard D. Hurt, M.D.
Electronic cigarettes, often called e-cigarettes, are battery-operated devices designed to look like regular tobacco cigarettes. Like their conventional counterparts, electronic cigarettes contain nicotine. Here's how they work: When you inhale, an atomizer turns liquid nicotine into a vapor that can be puffed, creating a cloud that resembles cigarette smoke.
Manufacturers claim that electronic cigarettes are a safe alternative to conventional cigarettes. However, these products have not been submitted to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for evaluation or approval, so the public doesn't know the levels of nicotine or the amounts or types of chemicals they contain. Furthermore, when the FDA analyzed samples of two popular brands they found traces of toxic chemicals, including known carcinogens. This prompted the FDA to issue a warning about potential health risks associated with electronic cigarettes.
Until more is known more about the potential risks, the safe play is to say no to electronic cigarettes. If you're looking for help to stop smoking, there are many FDA-approved medications that have been shown to be safe and effective for this purpose.
Smoking: Does it cause wrinkles?
Is it true that smoking causes wrinkles?
Answer
from Richard D. Hurt, M.D.
Yes. So if you need another reason to motivate you to quit smoking, add premature wrinkles to the list.
Smoking can speed up the normal aging process of your skin, contributing to wrinkles. These skin changes may occur after only 10 years of smoking. The more cigarettes you smoke and the longer you smoke, the more skin wrinkling you're likely to have — even though the early skin damage from smoking may be hard for you to see.
And smoking doesn't cause wrinkles only on your face. Smoking also is associated with increased wrinkling and skin damage on other parts of your body, including your inner arms.
While the skin wrinkles may not be reversible, you can prevent worsening of wrinkling by quitting smoking now.
How does smoking lead to wrinkles? The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin doesn't get as much oxygen and important nutrients, such as vitamin A. Many of the over 4,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke also damage collagen and elastin, which are fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle prematurely because of smoking.
In addition, repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes and the facial expressions you make when smoking — such as pursing your lips when inhaling and squinting your eyes to keep out smoke — may contribute to wrinkles.
If You are a smoker who wants to stop…..
Within 20 minutes: Blood Pressure, body temperature and pulse rate will drop to normal
Within 24 hours: Smoker’s breath disappears, Carbon monoxide lever in blood drops and oxygen level rises to normal. Chance of heart attack decreases.
Within 48 hours: Nerve endings start to regroup. Ability to taste and smell improves.
Within three days: Breathing is easier.
Within two to three months: Circulation improves. Walking becomes easier. Lung capacity increases up to 30 percent.
Within one to nine years: Sinus congestion and shortness of breath decreases. Cilia that sweep debris from yout lungs grow back.
Within five years: lung cancer rate for and average former pack-a-day smoker decreases by almost half. Stroke risk is reduced. Risk of mouth, throat and esophageal cancer is half of that of a smoker.
Within 10 years: Lung Cancer death rate is similar to that of a person who does not smoke. The pre-cancerous cell are replaced.
Within 15 years: risk of coronary disease is the same as a person who has never smoked.
What is the easiest and most effective way to stop smoking?
According to the largest scientific comparison of way of breaking the habit, Hypnosis is the most effective way to giving up smoking. – New Scientist Magazine.
Who else says hypnosis is a good way to stop?
“Hypnosis is a viable means stop smoking” – 1989 Surgeon General Report to Congress on nicotine addiction.
I’ll just use the patch or nicotine gum Nicotine gum has a success rate of about 10 per cent. – New Scientist Magazine
I can tough it out by myself… New Scientist says willpower alone has a success rate of only 6 percent.
OK, but what’s the easiest way to stop smoking? “The easiest way to break bad habits is through hypnosis” – Newsweek Magazine
But will hypnosis last? In a study, Hall and Crasilneck* used a four hypnosis session protocol for smoking cessation. Eighty two percent of the people that responded to their follow-up survey had not smoked a single cigarette since their fourth session! They sent the surveys out between one and four years later, indicating hypnosis for smoking cessation is effective long term.
Are you ready to QUIT?
Please contact us to book a session.
Edmonton Hypnotherapy Clinic
10113 - 157 st.
Edmonton, Alberta
T5P 2T9
Call: 780. 700.0290
E-mail: info@edmontonhypnotherapyclinic.ca
