Health | Smoke Free Methods

Smoke Free E-Cigarettes; are They any Better?

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Are the new smokeless electronic cigarettes a healthier alternative to smoking?

First, let’s understand how they work. As their name suggests, E-Cigarettes are electronic vapor-based cigarettes that use cartridges of nicotine to simulate a normal cigarette nicotine content. Many painstaking details have been built in to make the E-cigarettes as close to a real cigarette as possible, including a LED light at the tip to glow when the user inhales. Some E-cigarettes even have popular brand names printed on them to make them look like regular cigarettes.

Using E-cigarettes also reduces your costs by around 65%. Each cartridge will replace eight cigarettes and only costs a third of the price.

As the user breaths in, the nicotine solution inside is drawn through the “atomizer” or heater and is vaporized. As for second hand smoke, there isn’t any. E-cigarettes just produce a harmless vapor that quickly dissipates. Normal tobacco has more than 4,000 chemicals in it, but the liquid solution that E-cigarettes use can have as few as six, most of which are normal food additives.

Despite the decrease in chemicals and the harmless vapor, doctors are concerned. Since the E-cigarettes use pure nicotine, doctors think that this will increase nicotine addiction in the average person. They also aren’t sure what the long term effects of breathing pure nicotine can have.

Nicotine use causes your arteries to constrict and makes pumping blood harder for your heart. Doctors have linked nicotine to strokes and it is known to slow healing. Nicotine is also a known cause of reproductive toxicity and hypertension.

The benefits of using E-cigarettes versus regular cigarettes is yet to be seen beyond the reduction of cost and chemical content — as well as the lack of second hand smoke. Some doctors have theorized that E-cigarettes can help smokers quit by reducing the amount of nicotine in the cartridges over time.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health, Medication Tagged With: Electronic cigarette, Specific Substances, Tobacco smoking

Smoking Bans: A Momovement for Public Health

There has recently been a movement against smoking, citing it as a major health issue. While the health risks to smokers have been known for some time, the health consequences of second-hand smoke (smoke that people around the smoker breathe in) are now coming to light. These discoveries are behind the recent push for smoking bans and other anti-smoking legislation.

The health risks for second-hand smoke are very similar to those of the smoker himself – asthma, emphysema, bronchitis, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and more. However, the risks to the smoker are those he assumes for himself. Since those breathing in the second-hand smoke have no choice in the matter, legislation has been enacted to restrict or prohibit smoking in public places in many areas of the United States.

Restaurants and bars are often the target of anti-smoking bans. These laws are said to improve the air quality for both the patrons and the for staff in these establishments. These laws were strongly resisted by these establishments, reasoning that the ban in one area will cause patrons to simply frequent a bar or restaurant in an area not affected by a local ban. (Studies done by both bar and restaurant associations have shown a decline in revenue after anti-smoking legislation has been passed. Studies done by the government and other agencies have shown no negative economic impact, and some even show a positive one.)

Benefits to public health after the enacting of anti-smoking laws have sometimes been quite impressive. Some areas have reported as much as a 40% reduction in heart attacks after the introduction of anti-smoking laws (as was the case in Pueblo, Colorado, and Helena, Montana). Other research has shown an improvement in the overall health of bar workers after smoking bans have been put in place, especially for those workers that are plagued by asthma.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Passive smoking, Smoking ban, United States

Anti smoking aids – do they really help

Quitting a bad habit like smoking can be very difficult, however it is not impossible. After you quit you will notice how good you start to feel, your food will taste better and your clothes and hair will not longer smell of smoke.

There are several products that you can buy to help you quit smoking and you just have to try them to see how they work for you. Not every product will work the same with every person. Quite a few people have success with at least one of these products.

The way to choose an anti smoking aid is to read the instructions and figure out which one is most convenient for you. The aids can be quite expensive however smoking cigarettes is getting more expensive every day it seems. Consider the price of one product an investment in your health.

The least expensive product would have to be the nicotine gum. Every time you crave a cigarette you pop a piece of this gum into your mouth. Be sure and read the instructions so that you know how many you can chew safely in a day. The gum delivers nicotine into the body thorough chewing the gum.

The next product would be anti smoking patches. You place one on your arm each morning and it delivers nicotine through your skin. There are three different strengths which are called steps. Step one is the strongest, step 2 is about half as strong and step three is rather weak. Each step you use for a number of weeks or days to gently wean you off the nicotine. One warning that goes with using this method is you can not smoke while using the patch because you could have a stroke or heart attack. This is stated on the package.

Whatever method you choose to use if it does not work try something else immediately while your mind is on quitting smoking, you will be successful.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Cigarette, Nicotine gum, Smoking cessation, Tobacco control movement

Smoking Ban Overview: California Laws

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Smoking bans are popping up in every city and state across the United States. Some of the states are fairly lax in their laws, allowing for a lot of provisions and wiggle room for businesses to still allow smoking in public places. Other states are stricter and have very restricting laws against smoking in public.

One of the strictest states for smoking bans is that of California. California has some of the strictest state and city smoking laws in the whole United States.

Here is a brief overview of the state smoking ban as proposed by California.

California bans smoking in any enclosed public business. This includes any bar, restaurant, club or area where smoking might be poplar. The law does not apply to 50% of hotel and motel rooms as those can be designated as smoking rooms, private residences, smoking bars, meeting rooms when food is not present and workplaces that have 5 or fewer employees. The state smoking ban goes even further then that and prevents smoking within 20 feet of a business’s window, doors or ventalation shafts. Rental properties are allowed to ban smoking completely but it is up to the landlord or company that owns the building, so it can vary depending upon location, company and landlord.

It is often believed that the state of California bans smoking on public beaches and sidewalks. That is true in many cities but it is not a state wide ban. However, in 2010 the state did try to ban smoking on public beaches, public sidewalks and parks but it was widely overturned by the public.

The strictest smoking ban is that of the city of Calabasas. It prohibits smoking in all indoor and outdoor areas except for a small portion of smoking areas in the city.

As the public’s opinion of smoking continues to change there are sure to be more and more stricter smoking laws being put into effect all over California.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: California, Smoking ban, United States

Smoking Ban Overview: Washington Laws

In 1985 Washington passed a bill called the Clean Indoor Air Act. This bill prohibited smoking in public places unless there was a seperate section for smoking and non-smoking. While the majority of places prevented smoking all together, some places such as bars and restaurants allowed smoking in public places.

In an effort to protect the public’s health against second hand smoke, in December of 2005 an ammendement to that law was passed. This law cracked down on the ability of people to smoke in public places such as bars and restaurants.

Here is a quick overview of the laws passed by Washington State on smoking in public places.

A ban on smoking in public places and workplaces. This ban prohibits smoking in any public facility and place of business. No longer can there be a non-smoking or smoking section.

Hotels and Motels. Hotels and motels are allowed to have 25% of their rooms reserved for smoking rooms.

25 feet rule. There is no smoking within 25 feet of public building. These buildings are defined as doors that open, windows and vents that can have the smoke of the cigarettes pulled into the building.

Private residences. Private residences are still allowed to have smoking indoors. However if that residence is used as a place of business in particular that of childcare, foster care, adult care or any other type of care for other, there can be no smoking indoors or within 25 feet of the building.

Some of Washington state is a designated Indian reservation. As Indian reservations are not under state law, they still allow smoking in public places such as casinos, gaming rooms and restaurants. These buildings have started to have designated non-smoking rooms and smoking is still prohibited outside of these buildings.

Washington state might not provide the strictest smoking bans but they do protect the general public health of the state.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Law, Public space, Smoking ban

Tax Increases Help in Anti-Smoking Movements

It is widely known that smoking of cigarettes is probably the most dangerous habit to ones health. Not only does smoking cause damage to oneself but it also effects others around them because of the chemicals and toxins that are found in second hand smoke.

There are plenty of anti-smoking movements all across the country that have tried to get smoking in public places and places of business banned. While these movements have helped to achieve this effect on smoking, another movement has helped get smokers to quit. The price of the cigarettes.

Over the past few years taxes on cigarettes have risen over 300%. Originally the federal tax on a cigarette was around 60 cents for a pack. Today the taxes involved with a pack of cigarettes can be as much as $3 per pack depending upon the state where the cigarettes are brought.

This huge increase in the amount of a pack of cigarettes has caused smokers to try an quit. Financially speaking, there just isn’t enough money to cover the cost of smoking.

While taxes are one reason for the increase in cigarette prices the other factor is that of the cigarette companies. When the tax increase was passed the cigarette companies knew that there would be a massive decrease in people buying cigarettes. In order to cover this potential loss of revenue cigarette companies raised the price of cigarettes, which caused stores that sold them to raise the prices also. this was just another reason people decided to quit smoking.

While it might have been about raising more revenue through taxes. The increase of taxes on cigarettes and the price of a pack of cigarettes in general, has led a massive movement for people to quit smoking. The less smokers there are in the world the healthier our public health will be.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Cigarette, Cigarette pack, Smoking cessation, Tobacco smoking

Smoking and memory

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Having a good memory is like a gift the few people have and a lot many wish they had. With a good memory you can get ahead in academics, in you professional live and may be even it could help you in your professional life. But people who have a good memory or even an average memory take it for granted and believe it can not be taken away from them. They are so wrong. Memory like your youth dwindles with age, the older you get, the more neurons in your brain die. It is said that after the age of 30 the number of neurons in the brain keeps reducing year after year. The human brain is a complex machine that has millions of processes going on simultaneously. There are many chemicals that come in the way of memory saving and retrieval. If any of these processes get blocked, the entire process of memory crashes.

A few of these memory killing substances are nicotine, malnutrition, etc. Nicotine is dissolved in the blood thought lugs by smoking. Smokers and non-smokers do not realize that smoking causes memorizing capacity to decline. This effect is more pronounced in heavy middle aged and old smokers who have smaller memories than their non-smoking counterparts. Smoking combines with other unhealthy habits like consuming large amounts of alcohol can further aid memory loss. Not just nicotine, the same is the case with smoking marijuana. Proper research needs to be carried out to completely lay off marijuana as memory killer. But do not wait for some research to be carried out to prove that marijuana is in fact a memory killer to completely let go of it. It is better that you stay away from all kinds of psychoactive drugs which alter functions in the brain. This is just a way to keep good memories when you age gracefully.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Brain, Cannabis, Nicotine, Smoking ban

Antismoking Tips: Health Risks Involved With Smoking

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Everywhere you go you hear that smoking is bad for your health. The media, other people and healthcare professional all say smoking is bad for you. While it might be known a handful of the issues that smoking causes do you really know what smoking tobacco cigarettes can do to your health?

There are over 100-200 known health issues that are directly linked to smoking. Some of them are a direct results of the toxins and chemicals in the cigarettes, while others are indirectly caused by smoking cigarettes.

Here is just a glimpse into the list of health issues that can be caused by smoking.

Cancers. There is a huge list of cancers that can be traced back from smoking. Lung cancer is the most widely known cancer that smoking causes however, oral cancer, esophageal cancer, gum cancer, liver cancer, kidney cancer and stomach cancer can all be traced to smoking cigarettes.

Asthma. When smoking the chemicals of the cigarettes are inhaled directly by the smoker. This can cause the lungs to become black and withered which causes breathing difficulties such as asthma or COPD.

Dental Issues. The chemicals and toxins of cigarettes go directly into the mouth. Because of this smoking can cause a number of dental problems. Lose teeth, gum disease, oral sores that don’t heal as long as a number of dental issues. Smoking will also cause discoloration of the teeth and plaque issues.

Blood Pressure. Smoking causes an increase in blood pressure. Elevated blood pressure can put a person at risk for heart attacks, strokes and a number of other diseases.

Heart Issues. Smoking can also cause the valves of the heart to widen, which puts a person at a higher risk for heart attacks. Smoking can also cause the valves to be lined in a plaque like substance which can cause heart attacks to occur also.

There are just a handful of the health issues that can be cause by smoking.

Filed Under: Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Cigarette, Food & Drug Administration, Tobacco smoking

AntiSmoking: Stop Smoking to Protect Children From Eating Cigarette Butts

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Young children will put anything and everything into their mouths. They don’t care what it is or what it tastes like they will put it in their mouths and likely swallow it. What starts out as a way for children to explore their surrounds can quickly turn into a dangorouse act.

Did you know that over 500 children every year are taken to the emergency room because they ingested a cigarette butt?

Smokers who were careless or not paying attention, discarded their cigarette butts around the child. When the parent or loved one was not looking the child picked it up and placed it in their mouth. It caused them to swallow it. In many of the cases the parent or loved one did not even know if the child swallowed the cigarette, it wasn’t until the child was sick that they knew something was up.

In a study conducted by the Rhode Island Department of Health, it showed that over 40 children ages 6 to 24 months, in one year were admitted to the hosptial as a result of ingesting cigarette butts or partial cigarettes. These children exhibited signs of coughing, stomache aches, withdrawal and vomitting. No child was fatally injured due to this problem but it did cause illness.

While the effects of swallowing a cigartte as a child are not known, it is very concerning to many people who study public health. The first issue to come up is what happens to the body because it is coming into contact with such harmful chemicals directly. The other issue is that of where the cigarette butt came from. Sometimes the cigarette butt did not even come from the house of the child, there are concerns over STDs and other types of diseases that can be contracted via the transfer of body fluids. In this case the cigarette butt into the body.

Prevent children from eating cigarette butts and consider the ability to start on your journey to quit smoking.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Cigarette, Health, Rhode Island Department of Health, Tobacco

Toxins Found In Cigarettes

Every ad for antismoking says that there are over 4000 chemicals and toxin within a single tobacco cigarette. That is a lot of toxins to be inside a small item like a cigarette. While most places will quote the number of 4000 chemicals no one will really list what those chemicals are.

Here is a look at some of the chemicals that are inside that cigarette. If these toxins aren’t enough to help you consider quitting smoking, who knows what will help you stop.

Ammonia. This is found in most cleaning agents and is very powerful.

Arscinic. Remember rat poisoning, just one drop and the rat eats it and dies. That’s what is in that cigarette you are smoking.

Carbon Monoxide. Car fumes have high levels of carbon monoxide. It is often known to suffocate people and cause their deaths. You might as well directly inhale a car exhaust system, instead of smoking a cigarette.

Acetone. You know that powerful smelling, nail polish remover? That chemical is also inside that cigarette that you are smoking.

Formaldyhyde. A chemical that is used to preserve dead bodies or items used in dissecting is inside cigarettes.

Tar. Not directly inside that cigarette but the chemicals that are in cigarettes once inhaled turn into tar inside the body.

Most of these items are items that a person wouldn’t even dream of eating or drinking. Rat poison has on the side of the box, do not ingest. Other items are just as bad as that. The listed chemicals were just a small sample of the chemicals that are found inside cigarettes, there are still over 3900 chemicals that are too complex or complicated to list. All of the listed ingredients have directly effected the health of the smoker involved.

With all these items that a person wouldn’t even dream of ingesting, it’s a wonder why so many people are still smoking cigarettes at an alarming rate.

Filed Under: Addiction, Anti-Smoking, Health Tagged With: Chemical substance, Cigarette, Smoking cessation