Anti-Smoking Medication Is A Literal Killer

If you really a want a healthy life, then stop smoking. Living a healthy lifestyle is difficult when you cant stop smoking. It is usually a good thing for someone to quit smoking. There are countless campaigns being run to help convince smokers to kick the habit, usually citing benefits for their own long-term health. However, there are also a few problems with quitting. Aside from the fact that it can be very difficult to go through, there is always a high risk of someone relapsing. There are medications that can help a person slowly withdraw from smoking, but a recent suicide case has brought to light the dangerous side effects of anti-smoking medication. You see, Omer Jama, a perfectly normal, well-adjusted father and husband, killed himself shortly after going off smoking and going on the anti-smoking medication Champix.

Champix, which Jama had been taking for a period of about two months, has long been a cause of concern for some groups. The list of side effects of anti-smoking medication like Champix is not very long, but very dangerous. Depression and suicide attempts related to the drug are nothing new, but most have been dismissed as coincidences in the past due to the victim’s previous psychiatric history. The reason that Jama’s case is different from previous cases is because, unlike many others, he did not have any signs of depression or anxiety. He also did not, according to the coroner who examined his body, appear to have any concrete idea of what he was doing at the time he died. From all indications of the people that knew him and spent time with him, Omer Jama was not acting any differently than normal on the day he died.

Jama’s family had no known history of depression or any other mood or behavioral disorders. While he was experiencing a trial separation from his wife, both his wife and children did not see any noticeable changes in his behavior. The couple also met regularly and was largely on good terms with one another around the time he died. From all angles, there was no indication that he was suicidal, that he was contemplating such a course of action, or that he was in any way depressed. Had this been the first case, it likely would have been ignored. However, I the UK alone, there have been five suicides and four failed attempts that have all been similar to Jama’s case – no prior history of depression and nothing that would drive them to kill themselves. The only common factor was the drug Champix.

The side effects of anti-smoking medication have never really been too prominent in the public eye until this case. Nausea was listed as the most common side effect of the drug, but any pharmaceutical product that affects the central nervous system’s chemical balance can cause worse problems. That, in essence, is what Champix was designed to do. It was designed to stimulate the same receptors in the brain that nicotine does, making the brain think that the person was smoking. Julie Evans, a forensic toxicologist, worked with the coroner and found that it was likely Jama had killed himself under the influence of the drug’s side effects and was not effectively in control of his actions – with some doubt on whether or not he was even fully aware of what he was doing.

Effects of Smoking During Pregnancy

In USA, American smokers has been decreasing through out the years. Although Women smokers is decreasing much slower compared to male counterparts. Based on the study, it shows that smoking produces adverse effects in the mother and the baby is continued throughout the term of the pregnancy. If your are pregnant and you didn't yet stop smoking, think it.

You have to stop smoking in order for you and your baby have a good health.

Read some information on how smoking can affect your pregnancy and the unborn baby.

There are some naughty, saying that there are some pregnant women who smoke but still have a healthy baby. This is a wrong thinking I think, Yes they are lucky their babies are made of stronger stuff. But actually, they are the exemption rather than the rule as studies show that there is a great chance that you may not be able to carry the baby to full-term.

Babies of smoking mothers often have breathing problems upon birth especially if they are born earlier than scheduled. Miscarriages are also common among smoking mothers. The stakes are high so why take the risk of losing your baby just for a chance to puff a cancer stick?

Some effects of smoking during pregnancy:

1. The babies of smokers often have low birth weight.
2. Under size babies tend to have underdeveloped bodies.
3. Smoking during pregnancy can have lifelong effects on your baby's brain.
4. A shortage of oxygen can have devastating effects on your baby's growth and development.

Why You Need to Stop Smoking

It is good enough to get motivated from stopping smoking, you need a powerful, personal reason to quit. Choose a reason that is strong enough to outweigh the urge to light up. There are many terrible effects of smoking that we need to know in order for us to get motivated to stop smoking.

One is the pictures of a rotten lungs if we do not stop smoking..And If all those pictures of rotten lungs were not enough to scare us to stop smoking, maybe, looking at the benefits would be more appropriate for us.

* If we stop smoking, our blood pressure drops after 20 minutes. The temperature of our hands and feet begin to normalize.

* The level of carbon monoxide in our blood drops to normal level within eight hours after we cease smoking.

* Within two up to three months after we kick the habit, the function of our lungs is raised by 30% and our circulation improves.

* We automatically reduce our risk of getting heart disease within 24 hours after stopping.

* If we are able to stave off smoking for an entire year, we decrease our risk for coronary heart disease to only half that of a smoker.

* Within five up to fifteen years after we have kicked the habit, we greatly reduce our risk of having a stroke. In fact, our risk lowers to the same level as a non-smoker.

* We become less susceptible to cancer in the following areas: esophagus, mouth, throat, pancreas, bladder, and kidney.

* After a decade of quitting smoking, our risk of getting lung cancer would decrease greatly, to the point that it is just the same as a non-smoker.

* Shortness of breath, coughing, sinus congestion, and fatigue diminish in the span of one up to nine months.

* The Cilia, little strand-like structures in the lungs that is in charge of mucus removal, starts to function normally within a span of one up to nine months. This improves their capacity to cleanse the lungs, which decreases the chances for infection.

* Dragon breath—bad breath due to smoking—is eliminated permanently.

* The risk of getting gum disease is diminished when we stop smoking.

* When we stop smoking, we stop our nails from turning yellowish.

* Quitting smoking removes the cause of our stained teeth.

* When we stop smoking, we reduce our risk of getting premature wrinkles.

* Kicking the smoking habit will normalize our smelling ability.

* You would become more energetic and active.

* We would not easily run out of breath when we do strenuous activities.

* When we quit smoking, we would take more pleasure from doing exercises.

Major Reasons To Consider Quitting Smoking

There are a lot of smokers out there who are still unmotivated enough to actually stick to their plans to quit smoking. If you ask them, they simply have no reason to stop, so why do it?

As if friends of smokers haven't said this enough, the effects of smoking may not be as prominent at the moment, but soon enough, it'll take its toll on your health as well as theirs. So you might want to start thinking of getting rid of your smoking habit.

If you want more specific reasons to want to quit smoking, here are some of the conditions that may come about from constantly smoking:

Smoking causes heartburn. Smoking can bring about changes in the digestive tract that could cause heartburn. It slows down saliva production, stimulates stomach acid production, makes the stomach acids stronger, injures the esophagus, weakens the digestive valves, and slows down digestion altogether.

Smoking may cause eye problems like blindness and cataracts. Studies on cigarette smoking showed that it lowers the level of plasma antioxidant levels in the blood stream that serve as protection for the retinal cells. Smoking makes the retina's protective layer and blood vessels to erode, leading to poor blood flow, irritation, scarring, and eventually, blindness. On the other hand, the carbon monoxide from cigarette smoke causes an oxygen deficient that degrades night vision. Smoking also produces cyanide which is known to be toxic to the retina.

Smoking may cause erectile dysfunction. It has been observed that smoking can cause plaque to build-up in the arteries. This condition, called atherosclerosis, is one of the known causes of erectile dysfunction. The plaque build-up may occur somewhere in the blood vessels that bring blood to the penile shaft, causing improper blood flow, and thereby an inability to have an erection.

These are only a few of the many serious conditions that could arise from long-term chain smoking. If these don't give you enough reason to stop smoking, you might want to talk to your doctor to get a full rundown of diseases that smoking can cause.

Saving Lives With Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Experts say that smoke alone from cigarette already contains over 4,000 chemicals in it, 40 of which are known carcinogens, and at least 200 of those chemical are considered poisonous. That is why if second hand smoke can kill, how much more can smokers be in greater risk of its hazardous effects because they breathe in both mainstream and sidestream smoke?

While cigarette smoke is worse than nicotine in itself, it does not discount the fact that nicotine is a harmful drug. Long term use of nicotine may affect how the body's function, increases pain by putting stress on the heart and increases blood pressure. As nicotine harms the linings of our arteries, it leads to the build-up of plaque, thus, increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Moreover, nicotine suppresses insulin output creating a hypoglycemic condition. It could also lead to cancer.

For people who are trying to quit smoking cigarettes, there's a substitute for oral activity that provides a source of nicotine to reduce withdrawal symptoms usually experienced when smoking is stopped. This substitute is nicotine chewing gum.

Nicotine chewing gum has already helped many thousands of people to stop smoking successfully. It isn't easy to quit from smoking and nicotine chewing gum is just one of the many nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products in the market today. Having a wide variety of quit aid options ultimately means more lives saved.

However, NRTs are not intended for long-term use because some quitters are getting addicted to them, like the nicotine chewing gums and lozenges, that they find it hard to quit from the new habit. Aside from being expensive, the gum can also potentially stick to and damage dental work. Health professionals do not advise pregnant and nursing women to use nicotine products due to the side effects, such as headaches, hiccups, sore jaw and hives.

Treat NRTs the way you would a prescription drug. Consult your doctor and follow the product directions. Proper use helps ease the discomforts of recovery from nicotine addiction. Be sure to wean yourself off in the time period suggested. Being dependent on it may lead to an increased risk of a smoking relapse. As in the case with habit-forming drugs, tolerance will increase over time and so will the intake.