Quit Smoking Now

The electronic cigarette online survey.

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which rush in popularity in 2008, may be the most promising product for tobacco harm reduction yet. E-cigarettes deliver a nicotine vapor without the combustion products that are responsible for nearly all of smoking’s health effects. Other than anecdotal accounts, there is little information about who uses e-cigarettes, and whether people who switch from cigarettes to e-cigarettes experience changes in symptoms caused by smoking. This pilot online survey, conducted by tobaccoharmreduction.org, investigated e-cigarette use for smoking cessation and changes in health status and smoking caused symptoms.

A convenience sample (n=303) was enrolled by e-mail and links on various blogs and forums in May-June 2009. Independent university researchers at the www.tobaccoharmreduction.org project analyzed the data.

All respondents previously smoked and 91% had attempted to stop smoking before trying ecigarettes.

Most respondents resided in the USA (72%) and 21% were in Europe. About half

(55%) were 31-50, while 32% were >50 years old. Most (79%) of the respondents had been using e-cigarettes for <6 months and reported using them as a complete (79%) or partial (17%) replacement for, rather than in addition to (4%), cigarettes. The majority of respondents reported that their general health (91%), smoker’s cough (97%), ability to exercise (84%), and sense of smell (80%) and taste (73%) were better since using e-cigarettes and none reported that these were worse. Although people whose e-cigarette use completely replaced smoking were more likely to experience improvements in health and smoking caused symptoms, most people who substituted e-cigarettes for even some of their cigarettes experienced improvements.

These are highly motivated and passionate e-cigarette users who may have different experiences than average e-cigarette users or smokers, and thus the estimates cannot be extrapolated to all smokers or e-cigarette users. However, the results still suggest that very few e-cigarette users are not using them to replace cigarettes and there are many switchers and current smokers who could have the reported experience. Unfortunately e-cigarettes have been banned in some jurisdictions (e.g., Canada, Victoria (Australia)) where switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes was documented. The lack of available and legal e-cigarettes may cause some users to resume smoking.

Introduction

Awareness and use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has dramatically increased in the past two years. These devices, which are manufactured and sold by several different companies, deliver nicotine by vaporizing a gel composed of water, propylene glycol, flavorings, and nicotine. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine without the products of combustion that are inhaled by smoking cigarettes. Therefore, the health risks are likely similar to those from smokeless tobacco, which has approximately 1% of the mortality risk of smoking. There is likely some remaining risk due to the stimulant effects of nicotine. E-cigarettes are one category of no combustion nicotine product (others being smokeless tobacco and pharmaceutical nicotine products) that are promising for tobacco harm reduction, the substitution of less harmful nicotine products for cigarettes [3,4].

E-cigarettes are widely available in the United States and Europe and are also available online through many different distributors. E-cigarettes have been banned in some jurisdictions including Canada [5,6] and Victoria (Australia) [6] and are subject to the indoor “smoking” bans in others (e.g., [7]). Although there are legitimate concerns about quality control and product tampering, the importation/sale bans have been criticized by public health advocates because they do not merely address the products’ flaws, but eliminate a promising smoking cessation intervention, offering few realistic options for bringing the product back to market. There is a high likelihood that some people who switched from cigarettes to e-cigarettes but lose access to e-cigarettes will resume smoking.

There are many testimonials and anecdotes on the internet about people switching from cigarettes to e-cigarettes but, to our knowledge, there have been no quantified data published.

One online e-cigarette distributor based in the United Kingdom conducted an online marketing survey of their e-cigarette users and made their data available to researchers at the University of Alberta School of Public Health for re-analysis.

The objectives of this study were to describe e-cigarette users’ patterns of cigarette and e-cigarette usage and smoking cessation attempts and to compare health status and smoking-attributable symptoms between people who completely switched from smoking to e-cigarettes, those who partially switched, and those who supplemented cigarette smoking with e-cigarette usage.

The survey assessed respondents’ use of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smoking cessation (including use of pharmaceutical products and switching to e-cigarettes) and changes in smoking-caused symptoms since using e-cigarettes. The dataset included 304 observations, one of which excluded from all analyses because only country of residence and comments were entered.

There were two sets of two observations each, which had the same IP address. There were no entries with the same e-mail address. In addition, there were 31 observations with no IP or email address.

Results

Approximately half of the sample was between the ages of 31 and 50, one-third were more than 50 years old and none were under the age of 18. Nearly three-quarters resided in the US, followed by 17% from the UK. Most of the respondents had been using e-cigarettes for less than six months and all had smoked prior to using e-cigarettes. Most of the respondents had previously tried to stop smoking multiple times.

The majority (86%) of respondents had tried pharmaceutical products to quit smoking, nearly two-thirds of whom indicated that these products did not help them to stop smoking. However, most of the sample was able to use e-cigarettes as a complete replacement for cigarettes.

The majority of the respondents indicated that their general health, smoker’s cough, ability to exercise, sense of smell and sense of taste were better since starting to use e-cigarettes and none indicated that these were worse when responding to these five questions.

On average, respondents who lived in Europe had used e-cigarettes for longer than respondents in the US, but were less likely to use e-cigarettes as a complete replacement for cigarettes. There was a positive relationship between the number of times participants had tried to stop smoking and using e-cigarettes as a complete replacement for cigarettes. Most (81%) of the respondents who indicated that pharmaceutical products did not help them stop smoking used ecigarettes as a complete replacement for cigarettes.

Although the majority of respondents reported that their health and smoking-caused symptoms improved since using e-cigarettes, there were some notable trends in which groups were more

likely to report improvements. Respondents who had been using e-cigarettes for a longer period of time, who had completely replaced their cigarettes with e-cigarettes, or were younger, were more likely to report improvements.

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With the growing awareness of people on the adverse effects smoking has towards our health, more and more smokers are now trying to quit the habit once and for all. However, many smokers find this to be extremely difficult. This is partly due to the many withdrawal symptoms that smokers have to deal with the moment that they attempt to kick off their smoking habit.  Oftentimes, many smokers that are trying to quit smoking find it extremely difficult to deal with these withdrawal symptoms and they end up going back to the habit.

This is the reason why some smokers that are trying to quit the habit resort to alleviating these withdrawal symptoms through the use of nicotine patches. In fact, out of all of the different methods that were recommended to help ease the withdrawal symptoms that come along with quitting the smoking habit, this remains to be, by far, the most popular.

How does it work? Cigarettes contain a compound called nicotine. Although it is not addictive, nicotine binds with nerve endings in the brain to cause the release of the hormone dopamine.  This hormone is what makes us see smoking as a source of relief and pleasure. When the level of dopamine lowers in the bloodstream, the smokers begin to feel the withdrawal symptoms and as a result, end up lighting up another cigarette or getting back into the habit of smoking.

Nicotine patches help smokers quit the habit by slowly decreasing the amount of nicotine that binds in the nerve endings of the brain until the person comes to a point when he or she is now able to go around without having the urge to smoke anymore, even if they are no longer wearing the nicotine patches. Because the nicotine levels slowly decrease during the time when a person wears them, smokers, particularly those that have been smoking for a very long time, would be able to find the withdrawal symptoms a lot more bearable as opposed to quitting cold turkey without the help of a nicotine patch.  

There is no doubt that nicotine patches have helped thousands of smokers to kick-off the habit once and for all. However, there are a handful of people that still relapse into the habit and even find themselves smoking while they are wearing the nicotine patches. The ineffectiveness of the use of nicotine patches to help you quit smoking is not on the nicotine patches, but on the determination and discipline on the part of the smoker. For the nicotine patch to help you to quit smoking once and for all, you have to resolve that you will not light another cigarette during the entire phase. More often than not, many of the times that people end up lighting a cigarette is not really because of the lowering of the dopamine levels in the bloodstream. Rather, it is because they had already developed the habit of lighting up a cigarette along with certain activities and certain times of the day. By maintaining discipline throughout the entire process, there is absolutely no doubt that nicotine patches can help you quit smoking for good.

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It is a known fact that cigarette smoking is dangerous to one’s health. While this may be the case, there are still millions of people all over the world who are addicted to this habit.  Nevertheless, health professionals and different support groups continue to provide awareness on the hazards of smoking to the general public in the hopes of providing smokers sufficient reason for them to quit smoking once and for all. Part of these advocacy awareness efforts conducted, deals with making smokers aware of the different chemicals that cigarettes contain. Each stick of cigarette contains over 4,000 different chemicals, many of which have been determined to be carcinogens, which are primary causes for the development of different types of cancers. Although the amount of these chemicals is extremely small in quantity in each stick, the amount builds up with each stick that a person lights up during the course of an entire day. Mentioned below are just some of the numerous chemicals that are found in cigarettes.

Tar

One of the chemicals that cigarettes contain is tar. Each time you light up a cigarette, tar coats and lines the inside of your airways and alveoli. The longer that you smoke, the thicker the lining becomes. Just like soot that builds up on the sides of your fireplace and chimney, tar eventually builds up within your airway and alveoli, resulting in the lowering of the amount of oxygen that is absorbed in the bloodstream and delivered to the cells in our body.

Nicotine

Another chemical found in cigarettes is nicotine. While nicotine has been pinpointed to be the leading cause as to why it is difficult for people to stop smoking, nicotine is not an addictive drug. Instead, nicotine causes a release of dopamine (a hormone that provides positive and pleasurable feelings) into the bloodstream. When the level of dopamine depletes in the bloodstream, it can lead to the person feeling those withdrawal symptoms commonly experienced when you quit smoking.

Carbon Monoxide

Carbon monoxide is found in the smoke that goes in your body each time you take a puff of your cigarette. Carbon monoxide enters into the bloodstream, causing the oxygen molecules to bond with it, resulting in an increase of carbon dioxide in the body and lesser amounts of oxygen getting transported throughout the body.

Formaldehyde

Formaldehyde is a chemical agent that is commonly used in mortuaries during embalming to help preserve dead tissues.  This is an extremely poisonous substance that can lead to the development of intestinal disease and the failure of some of the body’s vital organs.

These are but a few of the harmful chemicals that can be found in each stick of cigarette.  Because of the fact that they are present in extremely minute quantities, it takes quite a long time before a smoker experiences its adverse effects.  The good news about it is that by quitting the smoking habit, you are able to eliminate these chemicals from building up further in your body, and even help your body expel these for good.

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Smoking cigarettes is a habit that has affected millions of people worldwide. It is a habit that is continually affecting everyone, and that includes athletes. Cigarette may be acceptable in our society and considered as a past time, nevertheless it can affect the performances of athletes.
If you are an athlete and you think that smoking can help you relax before or after a game then you are mistaken. Yes, some individuals may find smoking comforting and relaxing, but do not be fooled even for a bit that smoking has good benefit aside from the fact that it can help you relax. Smoking increases the airway resistance. The poisonous substances that get accumulated within the body after smoking a single cigarette, take 24 hours to clear from the system. If you smoke more than one cigarette each day, the body doesn’t get ample time to remove the toxins and toxins start getting accumulated within your body leading to health problems like cilia damage and throat cancer.  
The athletes train and build-up their endurance and strength to make them more competitive even under all stressful conditions. Therefore, if athletes smoke then their performance will deteriorate as they tend to use more energy just to breathe properly.
Keep in mind that one of the negative impacts of smoking is a week lung. As you continually smoke then you slowly destroy or fill your lungs with bad elements that in turn affect your oxygen intake. Since you are an athlete you will definitely need a good amount of oxygen to function properly and to become healthy. There will be less endurance and less oxygen capacity. The tar present in the smoke covers the lungs and the athletes find it difficult to breathe especially when they are training. Apart from this, Carbon Monoxide from cigarette also damages the lungs and has detrimental effects on the performance.
Yet another problem with smoking is that it slows down the process of healing knee ligament injuries as it hinders the employment of cells to the injury site. Apart from that if you perform Kraus-Webber test on the smoking athletes, you will see that their muscle strength and flexibility of some muscles have decreased significantly as compared to that of non-smoking athletes.  
At first, smoking cigarettes is deemed as cool and hip by everyone, and that most smokers even today feel that they will be more socially acceptable if they will smoke like other people do. However, now it is no longer just a matter of becoming the coolest person in the school, or the most influential man in your group as smoking is considered as dangerous to smoker’s health and the people that are around them. So whether you are a teacher, pianist or athlete, once you smoke cigarette, it can affect your health.  
The benefit of smoking does not compensate for the negative impact that it can bring to the smokers health. Most people only knew that smoking is dangerous, but what they do not know is the extent of the damage that smoking can do to their health.

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Over the past few years, efforts have been undertaken by local government officials in order to encourage smokers to quit this addiction because of the adverse effects it brings to one’s health.  Apart from the release of various reports and advertisements focusing on the negative side of smoking, a growing number of government officials all over the world have taken this a step further by enforcing laws banning smoking from public areas after reviewing positive reports regarding countries that have already done this for many years. This effort of government officials has caused many raised eyebrows and debates.  

Many people, especially smokers, have seen this effort made by the government to be extremely prejudicial and discriminatory. After all, they would often argue, choosing whether or not to quit their smoking habit is an exercise of their right to freedom of choice. While this may be the case, government officials are given the responsibility to look after the welfare of the vast majority and to ensure their safety and protection. Here are just some of the arguments justifying that smoking should be banned from the public areas.

Second-Hand Smoking Hazards

Studies have recently shown that while smokers increase their risk to develop a variety of different diseases and illnesses due to the smoking habit, the risk actually increases for the second-hand smokers. Second-hand smokers are individuals who may have never smoked in their entire life, but have been exposed for long periods of time to the smoke emitted by cigarettes and exhaled by smokers.  This is because the same chemicals that are inhaled by smokers are inhaled by the second-hand smokers without the benefit of the filter to eliminate a portion of the toxic chemicals and compounds found in each cigarette.  

Decrease in Revenues

Because of the fact that second-hand smoking affects the health of both smokers and non-smokers, this can lead to an increase of absenteeism in the workplace brought about by illnesses resulting from being exposed to cigarette smoke. A high absenteeism rate in a company can lead to the decrease of its output performance because of the lack of manpower. As a result, the company would suffer losses instead of earning profit. On top of that, some companies pay for the health fund of their employees. By frequently paying for their health expenses the company can experience further losses in the long run.

Environmental Hazards

Another reason why government officials want to ban smoking in public areas is that it has adverse effects on the environment. Many smokers might find this argument to be a little bit exaggerated. But in reality, this is based on factual studies that have been conducted. Millions of people all over the world smoke each day, releasing large quantities of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases into the air, contributing to the global warming issue we currently face. On top of that, the filters that are disposed by these smokers are not biodegradable or recyclable. As such, they are dumped into landfills, which take decades to get decomposed.

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