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What You Need to Know About Chewing Tobacco Cessation

In the area now known as the United States, the tobacco leaf was used by Native Americans for hundreds of years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus. Tobacco was used only in ceremonies and rituals, and not at any other times. Thus, the early aboriginal tribes were probably unaware that tobacco contained the addictive drug, nicotine. The habit of chewing tobacco in America and European countries is a fairly recent tradition, really taking hold within the last two hundred years. Only in the last fifty years or so have Americans, including Native Americans, discovered the truth about nicotine addiction and the drastic health consequences of chewing tobacco.

“What’s in a name?” William Shakespeare asked. Chewing tobacco goes by a number of names, usually depending upon the place of birth and residence of the chewer. It’s important to remember that regardless of the name given, nicotine exists in all forms of chewing tobacco. In today’s world, we know that the effects of cigarette smoking long-term are very often fatal, but some chewers fail to understand that smokeless tobacco, chaw, chew, snuff, and dipping have similar consequences to a chewer’s health. In fact, since nicotine is addictive in all forms of tobacco use, many medical researchers believe that chewing tobacco is more addictive and has a more difficult nicotine withdrawal syndrome than cigarette and pipe smoking because chewing tobacco contains such a large amount of pure tobacco leaves.

The bottom line is that chewing tobacco has a very toxic and deadly mix of chemicals just like cigarettes, but without the smoke. In addition to nicotine, chewing tobacco contains carcinogens, or chemicals that cause cancer like nitrates, nitrites, nitrosamines and polycyclic hydrocarbons. In studying chewing tobacco, researchers gave laboratory animals these chemicals in amounts that simulate what humans ingest by chewing, and found that the animals eventually, over time, developed a number of serious, malignant cancers.

How many Major League baseball games have you attended where the outfield players spat a huge glob of saliva and chewing tobacco juices onto the field? Do they look tough, “manly” and intimidating? Unfortunately, they’ll be none of these when they develop malignant oral cancer, the number one killer of chewers. Unlike cigarette smoke, which causes esophagus and lung cancer, chewing tobacco stays in the mouth for a long time; the nicotine and carcinogenic chemicals are pressed and absorbed into the mucous membranes between the cheek and gums. These substances are very irritating to these delicate membranes, and cells in the mouth become chronically inflamed, eventually turning into unhealthy scar tissue. Oral cancer cells develop over time. Chewing tobacco causes white patches on the tongue, gums, and cheeks; these patches are called leukoplakia and are often large enough to be seen with the eye rather than through a microscope. Thus, chewing tobacco not only leads to nicotine dependence, but also to cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, stomach and bladder since an amount of tobacco juice is inevitably swallowed.

Just like cigarette smoking, chewing tobacco cessation is difficult because of the nicotine withdrawal syndrome. Nicotine is powerfully addictive, but also like cigarette smokers, those who find pleasure in chewing tobacco can, with medical and emotional support, overcome this addiction. By the time chewers notice a white patch in their mouth – a possible cancer symptom – it is not too late to receive treatment for a pre-cancerous condition and to succeed in chewing tobacco cessation. Oral cancer is most often fatal, with a five-year survival rate of only around 50%.

If you’re a chewer and notice white patches in your mouth, see your physician or dentist immediately while there is still time for you to halt cancerous growths through medical treatment. For more information about chewing tobacco cessation, contact the American Cancer Society.

Posted in Quit Smoking, Smoking Cessation, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Now that you have decided to quit smoking and allow your body to enjoy the immense benefits of smoking cessation, you are ready to undertake the challenge of quitting smoking.  At all times, do keep in mind the reasons why you decided to quit smoking.  That should keep you on your toes.

How to quit smoking

* Medical Care - Drug companies have developed medication to help the campaign against smoking.  For example, the antidepressant Bupropion lessens nicotine cravings and withdrawal symptoms.  This drug is comparable to most nicotine replacement therapies.  Studies show people have successful stopped smoking in as short as three months with this method. Read the rest of this entry »

Quit Smoking Tips

Statistics reveal that smoking not only kills 120,000 people in United Kingdom every year but causes a variety of diseases as well.  There are more than 4000 different chemical compounds found in the cigarette smoke, including  nicotine, carbon monoxide, ammonia, formaldehyde and arsenic, which are harmful to our bodies whether you are the smoker or someone being affected by second hand smoke.  More than fifty of these chemical compounds have been shown to cause cancer and it is not uncommon to see many smokers being stricken by lung cancer.. 

Smoking is an addiction to nicotine.  Just a few sticks a day can be harmful to your health and damaging to your cells in the long run.  Many smokers do think to quit smoking but because it is not easy to do so and requires a big commitment and strong desire to want to quit smoking, many avoid going through the actual quit smoking drive and continue with what they are most comfortable with.  Read the rest of this entry »

Relapse Prevention

Congratulations on completing your quit smoking program! Regardless of the nicotine withdrawal system you used, you’ve made a wonderful, healthy decision that will make a tremendous difference in your health and your life. It wasn’t easy, was it? Nicotine addiction is a powerful enemy; more people successfully quit using narcotics and cocaine combined than those who successfully quit smoking. Because of the extremely potent nature of nicotine addiction, relapse prevention is a major issue for you. Not only is it very difficult to quit smoking, it’s also difficult to remain smoke-free.

For example, many smokers choose to quit “cold turkey.” This is clinically referred to as abrupt cessation meaning that you simply go from being a smoker to a non-smoker in a day. The term is actually slang for the cold, bumpy, pale skin of a plucked turkey that most narcotic addicts develop with abrupt cessation; it doesn’t actually occur with smoking cessation. Like other methods, but to a greater degree, relapse prevention for former cold turkey smokers is especially difficult because today you have a high volume of nicotine in your body, and tomorrow, you will have none. Nicotine addiction creates uncomfortable physical and psychological withdrawal symptoms that must be the primary focus of your relapse prevention plan. Read the rest of this entry »

Understanding the Benefits of Quitting Smoking

When you think of Sigmund Freud, chances are you think of his role in the development of psychology and psychiatry. In virtually every picture of Freud, you’ll see him holding a cigar. Since the health benefits of quitting smoking were unknown, Freud developed smoking-related cancer of the jaw; after several surgeries to remove most of his jaw, Freud died from this cancer.

Today we have information about smoking-related cancers and other illnesses, and the benefits of quitting smoking. We’re also well-informed about the dangers of second-hand smoke. Tobacco smoke is deadly, whether you actively inhale it or are exposed to it through other smokers. Read the rest of this entry »

Stop Smoking Through Behaviour Modification

There are as many ways to stop smoking as there are smokers who, through stop smoking aids, wish to become ex-smokers. To be successful in potentially life-saving smoking cessation, you need to understand both the physiology of human behavior as well as the psychology of behaviour modification.

You already know that nicotine is a powerfully addicting substance that creates the delinquent (unhealthy) behaviour of continuing use of tobacco. When you’re ready to quit, there are a variety of stop smoking aids to help you, including medications that reduce physical cravings for nicotine and nicotine replacement patches that, over several weeks, gradually weaning users off this drug. These stop smoking aids are very effective, but they only address the physiology of smoking behaviour. Unless your smoking cessation program includes a component that addresses breaking the psychological habit, your chances of relapse is high, especially if you quit smoking “cold turkey.” Read the rest of this entry »

Smoking Cessation: Smoker’s Journal

Keeping track of how much, where, when and why you smoke is an important step in quitting.

Here’s why: Recording your smoking habits in a smoker’s journal helps you identify your smoking triggers and moods, so you can better devise your quit-smoking plan. You might think you know why you’re lighting up, but writing down the these information can give useful insight into your smoking patterns or triggers. For example, you might be chain-smoking when you’re hanging out with your friends, or you might be smoking partly to kill time. This new insight into your stressors can help you strategize ways to beat your urge to smoke.

1. Click to download and print out your Smoker’s Journal.
2. Record your daily smoking patterns by noting down in your journal each time you have a cigarette, where you have it, with whom, and your reason for lighting up. Keep track of your need to smoke under the Urge column with a scale of 1 to 5 (1 being low, 5 high).
3. At the end of each day, review your journal to identify patterns or triggers in your smoking habit.

Medical Management of Smoking Cessation

Whether you’re a casual smoker or have a four pack a day habit, it’s important for you to understand that nicotine addiction is extremely difficult to overcome, as evident in relapse rates that are the highest of any drug addiction.  Fortunately, stop smoking aids are only one phone call away to your physician’s office.  You don’t necessarily need the assistance of a specialized addiction physician; most family practice physicians are very competent in providing stop smoking aids that really work! Although there is no easy way to stop smoking, there are many medications that can help you quit smoking for good!

There are numerous immediate benefits of quitting smoking. Within eight hours of your last tobacco use, nicotine and deadly carbon monoxide levels in your body decrease by half, and oxygen levels return to normal.  Within twenty-four hours of your last tobacco use, whether you use stop smoking aids or not, all nicotine and carbon monoxide is eliminated from your body.  Your lungs begin to expel excess mucous caused by smoking.  This is usually the point when you experience urges to smoke and realize that easy ways to stop smoking are a myth.  Within forty-eight hours, all nicotine has left your body; your sense of taste and smell improves greatly but your urges to smoke are still powerful, and you may find that stop smoking aids help you resist the urge to “feed your addiction” to nicotine.   Within seventy-two hours, your bronchial tubes relax and your energy levels increase as the urge to smoke begins to wane.  Within three months of being smoke-free, your circulation has improved, your lung function increases by 30%, and all your breathing is further increased by 10%. Read the rest of this entry »

Why You Should Try Hypnosis to Quit Smoking

Have you tried hypnosis to quit smoking?

If you are a smoker, you probably wish you could quit the disgusting habit. You are most likely tired of throwing money away on cigarettes, and sick of looking for an appropriate place to smoke in public. After all, it’s hard to ignore what smoking is doing to your teeth and your complexion, not to mention the long list of deadly health risks associated with each cigarette.

You may have attempted to quit in the past, but failed. If you have tried patches, gums, stop smoking medication and help quit smoking programs, but have not yet tried hypnosis to quit smoking, don’t throw in the towel yet. Hypnosis to quit smoking is a truly effective, and many even call it the easy way to stop smoking. Read the rest of this entry »

What is Nicotine Addiction

Many people who smoke tobacco have questions about why cigarettes, cigars, pipe tobacco and chewing tobacco are habits that are very hard to break. What’s needed is an understanding of nicotine addiction and why this addiction is so difficult to overcome. More people stop using cocaine and heroin combined than those who stop using tobacco. To comprehend this problem, let’s take a look at nicotine addiction and nicotine withdrawal for an explanation. It’s not that you’re weak-willed or that you have an “addictive personality.” Rather, it is the powerful nicotine addiction syndrome that frustrates your efforts to quit.Nicotine is the psychoactive ingredient in tobacco leaves that causes nicotine addiction and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. The term “psychoactive” means that by using nicotine, you are changing your mental state.

Nicotine is a central nervous system stimulant; many people use smoking tobacco and other forms of nicotine use as a “pick me up” when they are tired, stressed, or feeling depressed. For example, alcohol is a central nervous system depressant, causing relaxation in small doses. Tobacco leaves contain the drug nicotiana, the chemical name of nicotine. It can be inhaled (smoked), or absorbed through the mucous membranes as in chewing tobacco. Nicotine addiction is the hardest addiction to overcome due to the uncomfortable nicotine withdrawal syndrome that occurs within only a day of nicotine cessation. These withdrawal symptoms are truly troublesome and most often cause the smoker or chewer to relapse to avoid them.

Read the rest of this entry »