Archive for February, 2010

An Introduction To Why It Pays To Stop Smoking

Post date: February 22, 2010

There are more than a few compelling reasons why smokers ought to find out how to stop smoking. Today, there are over twenty percent of Americans that smoke and of these about 80 percent will light up a cigarette on a daily basis. Smoking is also dangerous to your health and will cause various serious illnesses including strokes, cancer and even heart attacks.

All this means that for a smoker every new day is the right day for them to stop smoking. Of course, this is easier said than done and though most smokers realize that they should quit smoking few ever manage to do so because of the addictive nature of nicotine. Fortunately, there are tips and also places where you can learn about effective methods that can help you quit smoking.

If you want to achieve your goal of becoming a non smoker you have to address two issues which include being strong willed and having the right mindset. You must actually deeply desire quitting and in addition you must also realize the dangers posed by cigarettes and both these factors should motivate and sustain you in your efforts to kick the butt.

Recent figures on people that smoke show that about fifteen million people that smoke are trying to give up this bad habit. Unfortunately, fewer than three percent actually achieve success. However, you should not let these low figures allow you to become disheartened because by persevering you stand a better chance of being able to achieve a non smokers status.

It is essential for you to also realize that tobacco is a major factor that causes people to fall ill and even experience disabilities and it will also lead to an early death. Actually, in the last forty years about 12 million deaths have been reported that were related to cigarettes and another 500000 deaths were also linked to this same problem. And, if you do not quit you may live anything from thirteen to fourteen years less than would be the case if you remained a non smoker.

Having made up your mind that you do not want to light up a cigarette you will then need to take some steps including planning and preparing your mind and body for the difficult times that lie ahead.

You should identify certain goals that you wish to achieve and you need to also be sure about the reasons why you are trying not to smoke and of course you have to remove any temptations that will cause you to lose focus and so experience failure in your quest to become a non smoker.

The most dangerous thing is the nicotine that you get from tobacco smoke which is addictive by nature and once you become a cigarette addict the way back will be long and very difficult. Fortunately, it is not impossible to stop smoking and so by making use of aids and following proven methods you too can become a non smoker.

Learn more about stop smoking. Stop by Jim Antonio’s site where you can find out all about stop smoking and what it can do for you.

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Exposing The Honest Truth – Propylene Glycol And Electronic Cigarettes

Post date: February 22, 2010

There is little reality in the efforts of big tobacco and big pharma to portray the use of propylene glycol as a danger ingredient in electronic cigarettes. In 1942, studies at the University of Chicago’s Billings Hospital seemed to show inhalation of vaporized propylene glycol might cause pneumonia and other respiratory diseases in mice. Later studies to follow up were conducted on monkeys and other animals in an attempt to understand long term effects. The results of the extended testing showed no ill effects or potential for accumulation of propylene glycol in the lungs.

Shouting “danger”, the FDA and tobacco companies point to an ingredient that has proven safe through many years of use. The misinformation about propylene glycol ignores one very important fact. We know e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco products when inhaled. We know smoking almost anything is safer than smoking tobacco.

Propylene glycol in e-cigarettes dilutes the nicotine in a solution that can be deliver to the smoker as a vapor. PG is commonly used as a food additive and is an ingredient in many products we buy. Propylene glycol is the substance that produces the fog generated by fog machines.

The warnings of the dangers of PG do not come from researchers, doctors or scientific journals. Online sites issuing warnings are full of anecdotal (and seemingly imaginary) stories and are blogs often devoted to conspiracy theories. Several comments contain the statement that “propylene glycol is antifreeze”. Well, no, it isn’t. That would be ethylene glycol. Natural healing sites and anti-smoking groups are also quick to talk about potential danger of the use of PG.

There is a vast array of information available on the internet. It’s important to remember that not all information is factual or backed by experience, research or knowledge. Baby wipes contain propylene glycol and it’s odd the FDA would allow a dangerous substance to be used in products for infants, isn’t it? Very little PG is ingested in the vapor inhaled by an e-smoker. There are some producers who sell e-liquid with a base of glycerol but PG is the most common ingredient in e-cig solutions.

Consumers are more conscious of food additives and harmful ingredients in the foods they eat than every before. Looking at the ingredients on products you buy is a smart thing to do. We know to look carefully at labels when buying products low in sugar. Ingredients such as sucrose and fructose and various types of “syrup” may be listed and each of those ingredients is sugar.

The saccharin scare thirty years ago is a valuable example of the folly of acting on incomplete information and drawing incorrect conclusions. The FDA banned saccharine which was a very popular sweetener used as an additive in many packaged foods and. The FDA stated saccharin had caused cancer in mice and panic ensued. Companies lost a lot of money in changing the ingredients in their products and the public tossed out boxes of Sweet and Low which was a popular saccharin product.

To induce cancer in mice who ingested saccharin researchers had provided extremely high doses of the ingredient. The scientific “proof” offered by the FDA was rejected by the scientific community. The affected mice were given a daily dose of saccharin that could only be ingested by a human drinking 400 cans of diet cola a day for many months. Saccharin is totally available to the marketplace today.

Propylene glycol is a necessary ingredient for delivery of e-cig vapor. There is no evidence ths PG causes any danger to electronic smokers despite the efforts of tobacco companies worried about the competition.

Mary Kay Rivers has become a true expert on all facets of electronic cigarettes. Her articles about the less harmful electronic cigarettes for COPD patients and about the best electronic cigarette are well-known.

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No Muss, No Problem With This High Tech E-Cigarette Gadget

Post date: February 21, 2010

An excellent smoking alternative is the new gadget for smokers today. First launched in 2003, the electronic cigarette provides an alternative solution for those addicted to tobacco. It’s a product welcomed by many smokers unable to quit the habit yet worried about health concerns.

You can smoke the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes for about $2 when using e-cigs. That’s quite a bit better than the five to ten dollar cost of a pack of tobacco cigarettes. The electronic cigarette is a nicotine delivery system providing smokers with the”fix” they want without the necessity of inhaling toxic chemicals of tobacco products. You can choose the best e-cigarette gadget available and still spend less than you will for tobacco products.

The two parts that make up a typical electronic cigarette were made possible by recent technological advances. The battery and atomizer are separate pieces that are screwed together. The atomizer is the mouthpiece and the design of the assembled e-cigarette may resemble a tobacco product or a ball point pen depending on the model chosen.

The mouthpiece may be round like a cigarette or may be shaped like the plastic tip on a small cigar. The small cup inside the mouthpiece is filled with absorbent material that is saturated with e-liquid. The liquid is a solution of nicotine and flavor, usually in a propylene glycol base, that may taste like regular or menthol tobacco products. Other flavors are available for those with adventurous tastes.

E-liquid is used to refill the cup in the mouthpiece by dripping the liquid from a small bottle. The bottle of solution is only two inches high yet one bottle is roughly equivalent to the nicotine in five cartons of tobacco cigarettes.

The battery is the second component of the electronic cigarette gadget. It is the lower section of the product and has an LED light that glows at the tip when the e-cig is in use. Although the original versions consistently used red LED lights to simulate a burning cigarette, consumers now can choose from almost any color they like.

Starter kits for this gadget for smokers include a battery charger and usually are sold with two battery sections. That allows the smoker to use one battery while the other is being charged. Manual designs are not the most popular as they require the smoker to press a small button to activate the heating element to provide vapor. The best electronic gadgets are automatic and operate when the smoker draws air through the mouthpiece.

When the smoker draws on the mouthpiece, this gadget for smokers activates a small heating element that vaporizes the nicotine solution into a mist the user inhales. Better electronic cigarettes complete this process quickly and automatically to provide a realistic smoking experience.

The cartridge model is the best electronic cigarette gadget according to many users. No liquid is needed as the small mouthpiece is a disposable cartridge equivalent to one pack of standard cigarettes. Maintenance and cleaning are not necessary with an e-cigarette using replaceable cartridges. Occasionally removing an old cartridge and adding a fresh one is a simple task.

Mary Kay Rivers has become an acclaimed expert on all facets of e-cigs. Her publications such as a review of the Green Smoke e-cigarette or about the freedom to smoke anywhere you want with electronic cigarettes are well-known.

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Discussing Safety Of E-Cigarettes – The Argument Is Never Ending

Post date: February 21, 2010

The debate swirling around the subject of safety of electronic cigarettes has not abated since the products were first introduced. In fact, the flow of misinformation has increased in the past two years fueled by big tobacco companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and even the FDA.

In response to the heated debate, electronic cigarette suppliers recently formed a trade association to provide factual information about e-cigs to the buying public. Tobacco companies want to eliminate competition from electronic cigarettes and have followed an agenda of issuing warnings about e-cig dangers that have no basis in fact. The FDA conducted a very limited test of a few hand chosen e-cigarettes and then pronounced the products were not safe because trace amounts of a dangerous chemical were found in some of the products tested.

The FDA did not conduct followup testing or test to see if the same chemical was present in tobacco product. Although the statements made by the FDA were not factually incorrect they were also not scientifically proven but were conclusions based on a flawed example.

Consumers who ask “are electronic cigarettes safe” will find e-cigarettes contain only 20 ingredients compared to 599 ingredients in tobacco cigarettes. Tobacco smokers inhale over 4000 different chemical compounds and additives. Although tobacco companies state additives used were judged safe by the FDA that is not quite the full truth. Many additives in cigarettes were not tested for compounds released when the additive is burned. Chemical elements can change when exposed to high levels of heat.

Tars and additives in tobacco are known to be harmful to smokers but nicotine suffers guilt by association. The smoke from tobacco can cause various forms of cancer of the mouth, throat and lungs. Heart disease can result from smoking tobacco and use of tobacco has been associated with a lowered immune system that may lead to an increase in colds, bronchitis and pneumonia in some users.

When separated from tobacco, nicotine does not promote cancer in healthy tissues and shows no mutagenic properties. Nicotine is the reason we become addicted to tobacco and is the fix we crave when we want a cigarette.

You can buy nicotine stop smoking patches and gums at your local Walmart. Initially, the patches were only available with a doctor’s prescription but years of wide usage with negligible side effects resulted in nicotine replacement products being freely available..

Nicotine provided in a safe form is the antidote to the risks taken when smoking tobacco. The Royal College of Physicians concluded there is no suspicion of adverse health effects posed by long term use of nicotine in controlled doses. The safety of e-cigarettes is more apparent with every passing year the products are available for public consumption.

Mary Kay Rivers has become an acclaimed expert on all aspects of e-cigarettes. Her articles “How do Electronic Cigarettes Work?” or about the best electronic cigarette have become very famous.

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Hypnosis – How Real Is It?

Post date: February 19, 2010

Hypnosis has long been on the scene as a way to curb the most destructive habits, to make people cluck like chickens and all sorts of other reasons. When most people hear of hypnosis, they probably roll their eyes. Hypnosis isn’t for real, after all. It’s a parlor trick, it’s entertainment, and it’s a scam if you’ve paid for any sort of medical hypnosis or bought a self hypnosis book or audio tapes.

But the other side of hypnosis tells us another story; its real side is certainly useful when utilized in a proper manner where many problems can be solved, such as habits that can be destructive for the person himself or habit of smoking or overeating. Hypnosis is definitely beneficial for those who practice it in a right way as it helps to gain back ones self esteem, or make you strong from within and take charge of yourself.

The process

A person must relax themselves completely for them to get into the subconscious and deep mind state which is required for undergoing hypnosis. If you visit a hypnotist the first thing that he would ask you to do is relax yourself completely. You will be asked to have your eyes closed feel the relaxing effect of every part of your body. You will be asked to feel part by part like first feeling the toes of your feet relax, then the insteps, the bottom, ankles, shins etc

If a body part still feels tense, you’ll likely be told, tell it to relax. Do this until your entire body is relaxed from the bottoms of your toes to the tops of your head. When you’re completely relaxed, then the person taking you under will tell you to listen to the sound of their voice, or their use some other verbal or audio technique in order to take you further into your subconscious mind.

Now what happens is, you are under the influence of hypnosis and so you are going through a state of your conscious mind that is when you castoffs things that you basically are not willing to let go such as smoking for one.

A conscious state will say yes to smoking, instead a subconscious mind is in a vulnerable state and thus any instructions or advice given in this state is readily acceptable hence you are successful to discard any bad habits that are a bad influence on you.

You Have To Want It

Hypnosis has been quite effective, for physical well being as well as for amusement purposes, its benefits have been seen in building confidence in you as well. Nevertheless all this depends on how hard you are willing to try and go under the influence of hypnosis.

If you do not go through this process voluntarily then there is no use of the suggestions that will be given and will turn out to be a waste of time for all those involved in the process. This exactly is the reason for most people saying that it did not give the desired results as they were only trying to attempt to get into the process or had lots of doubts on its success level.

Quit smoking hypnosis is one of the way to treat quit smoking. Learn more information on free hypnosis here.

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