He Hesitated

Genesis 19:16
When he hesitated, the men grasped his hand and the hands of his wife and of his two daughters and led them safely out of the city, for the LORD was merciful to them.

Five Keys for Quitting

Studies have shown that these five steps will help you quit and quit for good. You have the best chances of quitting if you use them together.

1. Get ready.
2. Get support.
3. Learn new skills and behaviors.
4. Get medication and use it correctly.
5. Be prepared for relapse or difficult situations.

1. Get Ready

• Set a quit date.
• Change your environment.
• Get rid of ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in your home, car, and place of work.
• Don't let people smoke in your home.
• Review your past attempts to quit. Think about what worked and what did not.
• Once you quit, don't smoke — NOT EVEN A PUFF!

2. Get Support and Encouragement

Studies have shown that you have a better chance of being successful if you have help. You can get support in many ways:

• Tell your family, friends, and coworkers that you are going to quit and want their support. Ask them not to smoke around you or leave cigarettes out.
• Talk to your health care provider (for example, doctor, dentist, nurse, pharmacist, psychologist, or smoking counselor).
• Get individual, group, or telephone counseling. The more counseling you have, the better your chances are of quitting. Programs are given at local hospitals and health centers. Call your local health department for information about programs in your area.

3. Learn New Skills and Behaviors

• Try to distract yourself from urges to smoke. Talk to someone, go for a walk, or get busy with a task.
• When you first try to quit, change your routine. Use a different route to work. Drink tea instead of coffee. Eat breakfast in a different place.
• Do something to reduce your stress. Take a hot bath, exercise, or read a book.
  Plan something enjoyable to do every day.
• Drink a lot of water and other fluids.

4. Get Medication and Use It Correctly Medications can help you stop smoking and lessen the urge to smoke.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved five medications to help you quit smoking:

1. Bupropion SR — Available by prescription.

2. Nicotine gum — Available over-the-counter.

3. Nicotine inhaler— Available by prescription.

4. Nicotine nasal spray — Available by prescription.

5. Nicotine patch — Available by prescription and over-the-counter.

• Ask your health care provider for advice and carefully read the information on the package.
• All of these medications will more or less double your chances of quitting and quitting for good.
• Everyone who is trying to quit may benefit from using a medication. If you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, nursing, under age 18, smoking fewer than ten cigarettes per day, or have a medical condition, talk to your doctor or other health care provider before taking medications.

5. Be Prepared for Relapse or Difficult Situations

Most relapses occur within the first three months after quitting. Don't be discouraged if you start smoking again. Remember, most people try several times before they finally quit. Here are some difficult situations to watch for:

• Alcohol. Avoid drinking alcohol. Drinking lowers your chances of success.
• Other Smokers. Being around smoking can make you want to smoke.
• Weight Gain. Many smokers will gain weight when they quit, usually less than ten pounds. Eat a healthy diet and stay active. Don't let weight gain distract you from your main goal — quitting smoking. Some quit-smoking medications may help delay weight gain.
• Bad Mood or Depression. There are a lot of ways to improve your mood other than smoking. If you are having problems with any of these situations, talk to your doctor or other health care provider.

Facebook Addiction

Yes, I have a problem with Facebook. It is addicting for me... and I seem to spend way too much time there. I have the habit of doing this with different applications, whether it is an online game, a video game system (like a Playstation or a Wii), and then as time goes on, I slowly spend less and less time with it. I am kind of hoping that is the case with Facebook.

Sex, Men and God

I've been thinking about this on and off today, kinda meditating on it. At times, I think I rate pretty good, and then other times, I think I rate pretty bad on this thing. Here are the groups and you can make your own decisions about yourself. I wouldn't (and the book backs me up on this) that you don't go rating others and then telling them that rate as a child in an area that they probably don't want to hear about...
What's great about these charts is that they cover a lot of information and make it easy to see where you are in any particular area.
I believe that at times I am socially inept. I find it hard to build relationships to a deep level. I think I rate somewhere in adolescent and adult on this one.
Yeah, I am a child here. I know it, but I don't want to be a child when it comes to finances. My wife is SSSOOO much more mature in this. I can balance the check-book and I can make sure the bills are paid, blah-blah-blah... and being a math geek, you would think I would flourish in this, but the opposite could not be more true. So, this is where I need to grow...
I used to be in the childish column. Now, I have taken this and grown over the past few years. I teeter between adolescent and adult on this... it's a strong area of struggle for me.
Talking about feelings... guys view that as a weakness, but the opposite couldn't be more true. This is another area in which I need to grow. And the good thing is that I have... and I still need to grow a whole lot more. I know I am in the adolescent column. I have hints of the adult and child column. There is much to do...
It is actually supposed to say "plan" in the adult column. I am adult with hints of adolescent. And that is nice to say that I have one area down pretty good. Too bad it is the "fun" column.
I hope this have been informative for you. Johnny Out.

Back to Home

Understanding Addiction to Tobacco

Understanding Addiction

There are more than 4,000 chemicals found in the smoke of tobacco products. Of these, nicotine, first identified in the early 1800s, is the primary reinforcing component of tobacco that acts on the brain.

Cigarette smoking is the most popular method of using tobacco; however, there has also been a recent increase in the sale and consumption of smokeless tobacco products, such as snuff and chewing tobacco. These smokeless products also contain nicotine, as well as many toxic chemicals.

The cigarette is a very efficient and highly engineered drug delivery system. By inhaling tobacco smoke, the average smoker takes in 1 to 2 mg of nicotine per cigarette. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine rapidly reaches peak levels in the bloodstream and enters the brain. A typical smoker will take 10 puffs on a cigarette over a period of 5 minutes that the cigarette is lit. Thus, a person who smokes about 1-1/2 packs (30 cigarettes) daily gets 300 "hits" of nicotine to the brain each day. In those who typically do not inhale the smoke, such as cigar and pipe smokers and smokeless tobacco users, nicotine is absorbed through the mucosal membranes and reaches peak blood levels and the brain more slowly.

Immediately after exposure to nicotine, there is a "kick" caused in part by the drug's stimulation of the adrenal glands and resulting discharge of epinephrine (adrenaline). The rush of adrenaline stimulates the body and causes a sudden release of glucose, as well as an increase in blood pressure, respiration, and heart rate. Nicotine also suppresses insulin output from the pancreas, which means that smokers are always slightly hyperglycemic (i.e., they have elevated blood sugar levels). The calming effect of nicotine reported by many users is usually associated with a decline in withdrawal effects rather than direct effects of nicotine.

The Power of Nicotine

Most smokers use tobacco regularly because they are addicted to nicotine. Addiction is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, even in the face of negative health consequences. It is well documented that most smokers identify tobacco use as harmful and express a desire to reduce or stop using it, and nearly 35 million of them want to quit each year. Unfortunately, only about 6 percent of people who try to quit are successful for more than a month.

Research has shown how nicotine acts on the brain to produce a number of effects. Of primary importance to its addictive nature are findings that nicotine activates reward pathways—the brain circuitry that regulates feelings of pleasure. A key brain chemical involved in mediating the desire to consume drugs is the neurotransmitter dopamine, and research has shown that nicotine increases levels of dopamine in the reward circuits. This reaction is similar to that seen with other drugs of abuse, and is thought to underlie the pleasurable sensations experienced by many smokers. Nicotine's pharmacokinetic properties also enhance its abuse potential. Cigarette smoking produces a rapid distribution of nicotine to the brain, with drug levels peaking within 10 seconds of inhalation. However, the acute effects of nicotine dissipate in a few minutes, as do the associated feelings of reward, which causes the smoker to continue dosing to maintain the drug's pleasurable effects and prevent withdrawal.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms include irritability, craving, cognitive and attentional deficits, sleep disturbances, and increased appetite. These symptoms may begin within a few hours after the last cigarette, quickly driving people back to tobacco use. Symptoms peak within the first few days of smoking cessation and may subside within a few weeks. For some people, however, symptoms may persist for months. While withdrawal is related to the pharmacological effects of nicotine, many behavioral factors can also affect the severity of withdrawal symptoms. For some people, the feel, smell, and sight of a cigarette and the ritual of obtaining, handling, lighting, and smoking the cigarette are all associated with the pleasurable effects of smoking and can make withdrawal or craving worse. While nicotine gum and patches may alleviate the pharmacological aspects of withdrawal, cravings often persist. Other forms of nicotine replacement, such as inhalers, attempt to address some of these other issues, while behavioral therapies can help smokers identify environmental triggers of withdrawal and craving so they can employ strategies to prevent or circumvent these symptoms and urges.

Why Quit?

Quitting smoking is one of the most important things you will ever do. Why? Here are just a few good reasons:

• You will live longer and live better.
• Quitting will lower your chance of having a heart attack, stroke, or cancer.
• If you are pregnant, quitting smoking will improve your chances of having a healthy baby.
• The people you live with, especially your children, will be healthier.
• You will have extra money to spend on things other than cigarettes.

Immediate and Long Term Benefits

Within 20 minutes after you smoke that last cigarette, your body begins a series of changes that continue for years.

20 Minutes After Quitting Your heart rate drops.

12 hours After Quitting Carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

2 Weeks to 3 Months After Quitting Your heart attack risk begins to drop. Your lung function begins to improve.

1 to 9 Months After Quitting Your Coughing and shortness of breath decrease.

1 Year After Quitting Your added risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

5 Years After Quitting Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker's

5-15 years after quitting.

10 Years After Quitting Your lung cancer death rate is about half that of a smoker's. Your risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decreases.

15 Years After Quitting Your risk of coronary heart disease is back to that of a nonsmoker's.

Need more convincing? Compared to smokers, your:

• Stroke risk is reduced to that of a person who never smoked after 5 to 15 years of not smoking
• Cancers of the mouth, throat, and esophagus risks are halved 5 years after quitting
• Cancer of the larynx risk is reduced after quitting
• Coronary heart disease risk is cut by half 1 year after quitting and is nearly the same as someone who never smoked 15 years after quitting
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease risk of death is reduced after you quit Lung cancer risk drops by as much as half 10 years after quitting
• Ulcer risk drops after quitting
• Bladder cancer risk is halved a few years after quitting
• Peripheral artery disease goes down after quitting
• Cervical cancer risk is reduced a few years after quitting
• Low birth weight baby risk drops to normal if you quit before pregnancy or during your first trimester the benefits of quitting

Questions to Think About

Think about the following questions before you try to stop smoking. You may want to talk about your answers with your health care provider.

1. Why do you want to quit?

2. When you tried to quit in the past, what helped and what didn't?

3. What will be the most difficult situations for you after you quit? How will you plan to handle them?

4. Who can help you through the tough times? Your family? Friends? Health care provider?

5. What pleasures do you get from smoking? What ways can you still get pleasure if you quit?

Here are some questions to ask your health care provider.

1. How can you help me to be successful at quitting?

2. What medication do you think would be best for me and how should I take it?

3. What should I do if I need more help?

4. What is smoking withdrawal like? How can I get information on withdrawal?

TERMS:

• addiction: A chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug seeking and abuse and by long-lasting neurochemical and molecular changes in the brain.
• adrenal glands: Glands located above each kidney that secrete hormones, e.g., adrenaline.
• craving: A powerful, often uncontrollable desire for drugs.
• dopamine: A neurotransmitter present in regions of the brain that regulate movement, emotion, motivation, and feelings of pleasure.
• emphysema: A lung disease in which tissue deterioration results in increased air retention and reduced exchange of gases. The result is difficulty breathing and shortness of breath.
• hyperglycemic: The presence of an abnormally high concentration of glucose in the blood.
• neurotransmitter: A chemical that acts as a messenger to carry signals or information from one nerve cell to another.
• nicotine: An alkaloid derived from the tobacco plant that is responsible for smoking's psychoactive and addictive effects.
• pharmacokinetics: The pattern of absorption, distribution, and excretion of a drug over time.
• rush: A surge of euphoria that rapidly follows administration of some drugs.
• tobacco: A plant widely cultivated for its leaves, which are used primarily for smoking; the N. tabacum species is the major source of tobacco products.
• withdrawal: A variety of symptoms that occur after chronic use of an addictive drug is reduced or stopped.

Back to Home