“I didn’t want my patients to know I was a smoker nor did I want them to ever smell smoke on me or know that I was a smoker just because I felt guilty for it,” says Ellison, family medicine physician with the North. Dirksen Medical Associates in Springfield, part of Memorial Physician Services. “At the same time, now I feel empowered to tell my patients how I used to smoke and how I quit and how it can be done.” Ellison quit by using nicotine patches, which release nicotine (poisonous alkaloid that’s the chief active principal in tobacco) into the body through the skin.

“You basically just stop smoking and replace the nicotine in your body with either the lozenges or the gum or placing a patch on your body once a day. Interestingly, it really decreases the cravings,” Ellison says.

Various self-help and professional methods are available to help smokers quit smoking with methods that best suit them.

However, smokers might be confused after recent reports that researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health found people aren’t any more likely to quit smoking if they use nicotine replacement therapies (such as nicotine patches or gum) than if they rely on their own willpower.

Ellison, who found success with nicotine replacement therapies, says quitting smoking is “extremely difficult.”

“It is one of the hardest habits if not the hardest habit to kick in our lifetime because we are surrounded by availability of cigarettes, the ease of access as well as a multitude of people using them,” Ellison says.

First step

To be successful quitters, smokers must get to the point where it’s not the doctor, relatives or significant others telling them to quit, Ellison says.

“I can tell you the No. 1 important thing that people need to quit smoking is motivation,” Ellison says. “ … My motivation was purely based on health reasons and a family history of lung cancer. I was extremely motivated by the fact that I had family members that were dying of lung cancer
and emphysema.”

Ellison says he tries to motivate his patients to quit smoking by mentioning events they could miss if they die from smoking-related diseases — the graduation of a child or grandchild, for example.

It’s hard for patients to do something for themselves that they don’t feel bad doing right now, Ellison says.
“But what they don’t see is 20 years down the line when they can’t walk across the room without getting short of breath, or on chronic oxygen or dying from lung cancer.”

But do what you must to quit smoking before it’s too late; especially for your cardiovascular and cardiorespiratory health. Quitting tobacco and exercising is a healthy combination, which will help you in staying fit and healthy for the rest of your life. Today, with the help of expert inputs from Dr. Prakash Chandra Gupta, Director of Healis – Sekhsaria Institute for Public Health, we take a look at how you can quit smoking and get fit today.

Quit plan. As with most activities, drawing up a plan and then following it, is the best technique for success. Cigarette smoking creates a chemical dependency wherein the body develops a need for a certain level of nicotine at all times due to which it is very important to have a set plan of action for quitting smoking. All aspects of your addiction should be considered before putting together a comprehensive fool-proof quit plan.

- Number of cigarettes smoked per day.
- Places preferred while smoking.
- Activities associated while cigarette smoking (Tea breaks, talking on phone, driving etc.).
- Number of smokers in your social circle/friends/family members.

Set a quit date. Once you have identified your addiction pattern and triggers, it’s time to set a quit date. One might want to choose a day to quit smoking that has an extra special meaning as it can make the act of quitting smoking even more successful. This can also serve as motivation.

Involve friends and family. Your social circles need to know that you are changing your habits so talk about your decision to quit and ask for their support – way ahead. This social group, like friends, family, work colleagues etc. can be extremely helpful and inspiring for successfully quitting the habit and keeping you motivated throughout the 12 week span.

Avail Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT). The body begins to go through withdrawal symptoms when it is unable to get its daily dose of nicotine. People who are trying to quit tobacco usage experience various physical withdrawal symptoms like sweating, headache, nausea, constipation and other intestinal disorders. Also psychological withdrawal symptoms can be explained as irritability, anxiety, depression, frustration, insomnia or mental vagueness.

NRT products provide a small dose of therapeutic clean nicotine to the body which is sufficient to help control cravings for cigarettes and other withdrawal symptoms that smokers experience when they quit. This is a WHO recognized technique that provides a highly effective support system for helping to quit tobacco.

Research shows that it takes up to 12 weeks for the nicotine receptors in your brain to switch off when you quit, as tobacco dependence is caused by the very addictive drug, nicotine and its ability to produce pleasurable chemicals like (dopamine, endorphins, etc.). A complete course of NRT products taken up to 12 weeks can help the smoker break free from his addiction to embrace a healthier life. NRT products should be used as intended since it is a therapy that produces results when used properly.

Quitting tobacco for total fitness. Once an individual undergoes these 12 weeks therapy and quits smoking, he would be on his way to embrace a healthier life which would in turn have a positive effect on his entire physical system.

- Quitting tobacco helps in improving breathing functions. A better respiratory system equals to a higher stamina and thus, a better workout.
- Tobacco users tend to take a long time to recover from injuries and are more prone to illnesses. Ditching tobacco can improve your recovery time to injuries and also strengthen your immune system.
- High tobacco use can lead to poor blood circulation, along with easy fatigue, muscle weakness and reduced physical performance.
- One can also lead a stress-free life, after quitting tobacco. Thus, it helps in improving circulation and keeping you focused for exercising.
- Soon after you quit smoking, it is strongly recommended that you should start exercising. This will help in channelising your energy in a positive direction and thus, control urges.

Telephone counseling is an effective way to help Asian immigrants quit smoking, say the authors of a study published online January 25 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. The 6-month abstinence rate among participants who received culturally appropriate telephone counseling plus self-help materials was double that associated with self-help materials alone, report the authors. “This study, to our knowledge, is the first large randomized trial testing the effect of telephone counseling on smoking cessation in Asian immigrant smokers.”

The efficacy of telephone counselling services for smoking cessation, known as quit lines, among the general American population is well-established, but it has been less clear whether those services would help speakers of Asian languages, mainly because of cultural considerations, lead author Shu-Hong Zhu, PhD, from the Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, University of California, San Diego, and colleagues write.

Between August 2004 and April 2008, smokers calling the Asian-language line of the California quit line received self-help materials in their preferred language: Chinese (Mandarin or Cantonese), Korean, or Vietnamese. Some callers also were randomly assigned to undergo telephone counseling, consisting of a 30- to 40-minute prequit session followed by up to 5 relapse-prevention calls within 30 days of quitting. The follow-up calls lasted 10 to 15 minutes and were designed to provide support, encourage accountability, and make any necessary adjustments to the participant’s smoking cessation plan. All of the calls were conducted in the smoker’s native Asian language.

The study included 2277 participants, of whom 729 were Chinese, 848 were Korean, and 700 were Vietnamese. A total of 1124 people were randomly assigned to the telephone counseling group, with the remaining 1153 receiving self-help alone. The mean number of cigarettes smoked per day was 15.6 (standard deviation, 8.9).

In an intention-to-treat analysis that included all randomized participants, with nonresponders being considered current smokers, 6-month prolonged abstinence from cigarettes was 16.4% among the counseling group and 8.0% among the self-help group, the difference between the groups equaling 8.4% (95% confidence interval [CI], 5.7% – 11.1%; P < .001). In a complete-case analysis, which included only patients who participated in follow-up evaluations at 4 and 7 months, 6-month prolonged abstinence was 20.0% in the telephone counseling group and 9.5% in the self-help group, with the difference between the groups equaling 10.5% (95% CI, 7.3% – 13.7%; P < .001).

“[T]he odds of 6-month prolonged abstinence in the counseling group were 2.26 times higher than those in the self-help group in the intention-to-treat analysis (counseling vs self-help, [odds ratio (OR)] = 2.26, 95% [confidence interval (CI)] = 1.73 to 2.94) and 2.38 times higher than those in the self-help group in the complete-case analysis (counseling vs self-help, OR = 2.38, 95% CI = 1.82 to 3.12),” the authors write.

This study “provided clear evidence of the efficacy of telephone quitlines in smokers of Asian ancestry,” Anthony J. Alberg, PhD, MPH, from the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Hollings Cancer Center, and the Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, and Matthew J. Carpenter, PhD, from the Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Hollings Cancer Center, and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Medical University of South Carolina, write in an accompanying editorial. “This suggests that telephone quitline interventions are also likely to be highly transportable to Asian countries. This is relevant to global tobacco control because Asia is one of the current epicenters of the worldwide tobacco addiction epidemic.”

According to the researchers, these findings provide the basis for increased public health interventions for Asian immigrants in the United States, as well as for “quitline counseling for smokers in Asian countries at large.”

If you quit smoking for your New Year’s Resolution, good for you, Quitter! This is one of the single greatest things you can do to improve your health. Dropping a nasty nicotine habit can be tough work, and most people end up replacing the oral fixation of smoking with something else oral- chewing and swallowing junk food. On an average, people tend to gain 5 pounds during their quitting process. The action of lighting up, bringing the cig to and from your mouth and inhaling and exhaling the smoke is one that many people become addicted to just as much as the chemical addiction to harmful nicotine.

In addition, when you smoke a cigarette, a chemical reaction occurs in the body and sugars are released into the blood stream. This is why many people consider cigarettes as an appetite suppressant. When cigarettes are removed, a former smoker may fiercely crave sweets.
The oral and chemical addiction can make quitting smoking a tough process, but there are things you can do to keep the cigarettes away and weight gain at bay.
If you don’t eat extra calories, you can’t gain weight. Dedicate yourself to working out a minimum of 3 times a week. This will also help reduce stress that can be a trigger to light up. Eat smaller meals every 3 – 4 hours to keep your metabolism revved.
Find something to replace the action of smoking. Bringing along celery or carrots with you wherever you go to munch on whenever a cravings hits that won’t put a dent into your caloric intake. If raw fruits and veggies aren’t your thing, many people find that chewing gum or sipping water flavored with a little bit of fruit juice is a great substitute.
Don’t let the fear of gaining weight deter you from quitting smoking. While weight gain is a typical side effect you can control it. Smoking kills millions of people every year, and while you can work hard to remove a few added pounds of weight, undoing the damage smoking causes is next to impossible.

My first week quitting smoking was not totally terrible, but that’s because I still smoked about one cigarette each day. Last week got off to a bad start, but ended with me being a Paragon of Willpower. And (gasp) even learning something in the process. Starting out last week, I still had that yellow pack of American Spirits tucked away behind a zipper in my purse. On Sunday, I smoked one. On Monday, I smoked two. When I reached for my second one Tuesday morning, I knew I had to get rid of the pack, even though it still had about eight cigarettes left in it.

I deposited it outside my favorite coffee shop and tried not to look like a terrorist. Since then, I have had zero cigarettes.Clearly, I am not good with moderation. I had kind of suspected going in that cold turkey would be what it takes for me, and the Case of the Emergency Cigarette Pack seems to prove it. ‘Emergency cigarettes’ do not stay emergency cigarettes with me. But out of possession? Out of mind. My thoughts about smoking were definitely more frequent when I knew I had a pack stashed.

Of course, maybe I’ve already been helped by the bupropion (aka Wellbutrin or Zyban, an antidepressant that’s also prescribed for quitting smoking). I’ve been taking it for about two weeks now, which is when the drug is supposed to start kicking in.

I suppose the fact that I’m taking bupropion means you can’t really classify my quitting strategy as ‘cold turkey.’ But I am avoiding nicotine replacement products, like nicotine patches or gum,* and last week, I got a little validation about this decision. A study of adults trying to quit smoking found those who used nicotine replacement products were no less likely to relapse than cold-turkey quitters.
There are many explanations for this, of course. But my pet theory is that the nicotine replacement versus cold turkey conundrum mirrors the dieting versus ‘lifestyle changes’ dilemma. Diets help people drop weight quick, but most dieters gain back some or all of the weight when they quit dieting. To keep the weight off (and stay healthier) long-term, people need to commit to healthy (not just low-calorie) eating, avoid the pervasive processed food culture in America and make physical activity a daily habit. It requires a mindset overhaul more than just simple behavior changes. Maybe nicotine replacement products help squash physical cravings for nicotine in the short-term, but backfire in the long-term, much as strict dieting often does.

Shah Rukh Khan has often stated, “Apart from smoking, I do not think I have any other bad habit.” The chain-smoker acknowledges that smoking is injurious to health. He has tried every trick in the book to quit smoking, and now, his latest promise iss to kick that butt now that “Don 2” has released. A book on how to quit smoking has helped Hrithik Roshan quit this dangerous addiction and he has reportedly passed on the book to Bobby Deol, Sanjay Dutt, and others. But SRK seems to be far from the goal.

He admits that he feels guilty when people ask him when he will quit smoking all the time. He first took a vow on “World No Tobacco Day” and then reiterated it during the promotions of “RA.One.”

Now SRK wants to start working out and get into a healthier regime. One hopes that his current jaded and wizened look gives way with the dumping of the poison stick and — most important — his increasing his quota of sleep. Three to four hours of sleep are ultra-dangerous when it’s happening for years, intentionally.

Why St. Clair County has the highest percentage of smokers in the U.S. is not for certain, but the statistics do show that 27.4 percent of the county’s population smokes. Statewide 19.06 percent of the population smokes and the national average is at 17.9 percent, according to a report from the St. Clair County Community Health Program.

The St. Clair County Health Department has its work cut out for them, said Health Education and Planning Director Susan Amato.

“We don’t know why,” she said. “We are still scratching our heads at that one.”

Helping people give up a tobacco addiction to improve the quality of their life is one of the county health department’s roles. To play their role, the county recently scouted out six people during a contest called the Great American Smoke-out. The winners received a chance to try another option for quitting by local psychologist, William Miskell, Ph.D. Miskell joined the St. Clair County Smoke-Free Team after he recently moved to the area. He said he has worked with hundreds of patients to help them lose their nicotine habit through a process called “Change Your Mind.” The process is based around hypnosis.

The six participants submitted their top five reasons for wanting to quit smoking and why they believed hypnosis might help. Amato said the reasons for quitting were similar among the entrants, with the most frequent reason to be a better role model for their children and grandchildren. The smell, cost, health benefits and even the challenge were also commonly stated top reasons. Amato said one entrant stated, “because I am tired of quitting!”

“We know that there’s a lot of different ways to quit and one method will work with one and not the other,” she said. “But after they’ve taken the patch, medication, classes and support groups, they may agree to hypnosis. It is not harmful but could be helpful.”

Amato said Miskell places the subject in a relaxed state and then addresses their subconscious mind to look at themselves as a non-smoker.

The free sessions, would have cost the participants $249. After the sessions, they will be contacted to find out how they are doing. They will check back again in three, six and 12-months.

Miskell said most people think of hypnosis as a mystical experience, a time when subjects are put in a hypnotic trance to do embarrassing things in front of an audience. He maintained this is not the case for his work though.

Starting today smokers will pay at least MOP 6 more per cigarette pack, as the new tobacco tax duty comes into effect. The tax rise will encourage smokers to quit, the Health Services Bureau (SSM) assured, while vowing to continue increasing the tax in the future. According to the law approved last week, the tobacco tax will increase by MOP 0.5 for each cigarette, in order to be in line with the ban on smoking in public places that comes into effect from January 1. Taxes on tobacco in Macau will be MOP 10, around 38 per cent of the retail price, which is still a far cry from Hong Kong prices, where one pack costs MOP 50, MOP 35 of which are taxes.

For this reason lawmakers and smoking prevention associations said the increase was too low.
The SSM disagrees: “There are several steps to encourage smokers to quit. One of them is to increase the tobacco tax,” they said in a statement.
Other measures include restrictions on the sale of tobacco and a ban on tobacco vending machines. Tobacco brands and producers will also no longer be allowed to advertise, sponsor public events or launch promotional campaigns.
The bureau also pledged to boost its stop-smoking service, as well as to enhance promotional awareness and the enforcement of the anti-smoking law.

Price benefits

The SSM released figures that show that more than 200 persons quit smoking every year after the tobacco tax rise from MOP 1 to MOP 4 was implemented in May 2009. After this increase the number of smokers that ditched tobacco increased from 194 in 2008 to 223 the following year.
In 2010 the number of individuals undergoing the stop-smoking treatment amounted to 421. So far there were 1,272 people who resorted to this service and more than a third (36 per cent) have managed to stay away from tobacco for at least six months in a row.
Most of the people who seek help are men between 50 and 59 years old. Only 12 per cent of the stop-smoking service users are women.
“Most of those who fail to quit do so because they don’t have a strong will to stop smoking. Some smokers are influenced by friends and a small number continue smoking because of stress at work,” the bureau said.
The first stop-smoking service was created in November 2006 at the northern district’s health centre and is currently available in all public health centres.
Media reports showed that vendors increased the tobacco price last week, even before the law was approved. Shopkeepers’ claim sales dropped by one third since the announcement of the increase in tobacco tax.

No rush

“We have received information of some complaints” about tobacco prices, SSM director Lei Chin Ion confirmed to Macau Daily Times. If people notice there are unlawful practices they should report the case to the Economic Services Bureau, he added.
Lawmakers also asked the government to introduce stricter rules for duty-free cigarettes, claiming that people were likely to start buying tobacco in mainland China where it is much cheaper.
Both visitors and locals are allowed to enter Macau with as many as 10 packs of tobacco, while in Hong Kong it’s forbidden to enter with more than 19 cigarettes.
But Lei Chin Ion said so far there was no sign of any rush to buy tobacco in mainland China. “We have kept in touch with Zhuhai authorities and they say no increase in the sale of tobacco products was registered,” he said.
Also starting next month, smoking will be prohibited indoors and in some other public places. Only casinos and bars will enjoy a grace period of one and three years, respectively.

The SSM director was yesterday at the Horta da Mitra market distributing official signs that must be posted in all locations where the ban will be enacted.

Do you want to quit smoking in 2012? Are you tired of being addicted or of spending your spare cash on cigarettes? Perhaps you are worried about the effects of passive smoking for your relatives. Unfortunately cigarette smoking causes the deaths of 443,000 Americans every year, making it the biggest preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the United States. About 49,000 of these deaths were people who were breathing in second-hand smoke. Smoking can also reduce your life by 13 to 14 years, on average, but it’s extremely addictive.

So, how do you quit?

1. Tell all your friends and family that you are quitting to get them on board. It will be easier for you if you have support from others. Remind them before you quit that you don’t want them to make jokes about it or smoke around you as you are serious about not smoking anymore.

2. Consider joining a support group to help you quit. If you find it hard to stay off the cigarettes on your own, a trained coach will help you and you can also meet others who are in the same situation as you. There are telephone helplines available if you are struggling out of hours.

3. If you want to have something in your hand, hold a pen or a stress ball. If you want to have something in your mouth, chew on gum or another food.

4. Don’t drink alcohol during the time you are trying to quit as this may make you want a cigarette.

5. Distract yourself. There are many public places where smoking is banned, such as shopping malls or the library. Spend as much time out as you can.

6. If you normally have a smoking routine and smoke at specific times, change your routine. For instance, you could listen to music instead of smoking, or even go and brush your teeth if you crave something in your mouth.

7. Socialize as much as you can with non-smoking friends. This should be easy as the majority of people don’t smoke.

8. If you normally smoke in the car (for example, if you have children at home) and you associate the car with smoking, you could take the bus or walk as a temporary measure until you no longer have any cravings.