1.What are the hazards of smoking?
Smoking is a risk factor for many diseases, and tobacco can damage almost all organs of the body, such as the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, reproductive system, endocrine glands, and skin. Diseases and lesions associated with smoking include COPD, asthma, hypertension, CHD, stroke, cancer (lung, lip, mouth, nose, throat, larynx, esophagus, stomach, liver, kidney, bladder, pancreas, and cervix), peptic ulcer, thromboembolic vasculitis, aortic aneurysm, peripheral vascular disease, impotence, granulocytic leukemia, pneumonia, cataract, clonorchiasis, hip fracture, periodontal disease, etc. The greater the amount smoked, the longer the duration of smoking, and the earlier the age at which smoking began, the greater the risk of smoking-related disease and death. COPD accounts for 45% of smoking-related deaths, lung cancer accounts for 15%, and esophageal cancer, stomach cancer, liver cancer, stroke, CHD and tuberculosis each account for 5% to 8%.
2.Is secondhand smoke more harmful?
Secondhand smoke is also known as environmental tobacco smoke. Secondhand smoke includes both mainstream smoke exhaled by smokers and sidestream smoke that comes directly from paper cigars or pipes. Secondhand smoke contains a variety of substances, including many toxic substances that have been linked to cancer. “Secondhand smoke” is also known as “passive smoking. People who inhale this smoke and fumes for more than 15 minutes a day are passive smokers. Components of secondhand smoke: The smoke emitted by burning cigarettes when smoking can be divided into two types of smoke: mainstream smoke and tributary smoke. Passive smokers mainly inhale tributary smoke. Active smokers inhale 70% of the mainstream smoke absorbed in the body, and 30% is exhaled and mixed into the tributary smoke. The composition of tributary smoke inhaled by passive smokers is qualitatively the same as that of mainstream smoke, but differs in quantity, and its harmful components are higher than those of mainstream smoke. Among them, the content of carbon monoxide tributary smoke is 5 times the mainstream smoke, tar and nicotine is 3 times, benzo(a)pyrene is 4 times, ammonia is 46 times, nitrosamines is 50 times, nicotine is 2 times or even dozens of times, in addition, formaldehyde, toluene, acetone, pyridine, nitrogen dioxide, aniline, phenol, cadmium, nickel content is also very high. When smoking a cigarette, to give off 2000 ml of smoke, containing about 300 kinds of harmful substances, more than 40 kinds of carcinogenic substances, more than 10 kinds of cancer-promoting substances. Endotoxins, which are produced by bacteria and occur naturally in the air, can also be produced in an environment with high concentrations of tobacco smoke; in a room filled with secondhand smoke, the concentration of endotoxins is more than 120 times higher than in a smoke-free room. At high concentrations, endotoxins can cause a severe inflammatory response in the respiratory tract, leading to bronchitis and asthma. The dangers of secondhand smoke are: The concentration of high-density lipoprotein, a beneficial lipoprotein in the blood, decreases after inhaling large amounts of secondhand smoke, and if its concentration decreases, it can affect normal cardiovascular function. Secondhand smoke is harmful to pregnant women: increase the chances of miscarriage and premature birth. Pregnant women who smoke secondhand smoke have a miscarriage rate that is one time higher than that of nonsmoking pregnant women, and a preterm birth rate that is two times higher than that of nonsmoking pregnant women. Secondhand smoke is harmful to children: children often eat in a smoky environment, will produce nausea and discomfort, if the resulting psychological stereotypes, the formation of conditioned reflexes, anorexia will occur in the long run. Affects children’s hearing and height; leads to the occurrence of asthma in children; affects the normal cardiovascular function of children. Secondhand smoke is harmful to the elderly: high exposure and passive smoking will increase the chances of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the elderly.
3.What are the advances in research on smoking cessation?
Cigarette smoke contains a complex mixture of more than 4,000 compounds. Among these compounds, tobacco tar, carbon monoxide, hydrocyanic acid, ammonia and aromatic compounds are the main toxic substances, while nicotine is the substance that causes addiction. Quitting smoking is not an easy task for most smokers because of the greatest danger of nicotine – addiction. Tobacco dependence, also known as nicotine dependence, once a smoker becomes addicted, he or she needs to smoke a cigarette every 30 to 40 minutes to maintain a stable level of nicotine in the brain, and when this level is not reached the smoker will feel irritable, sick, nauseous, headache and desire to replenish nicotine. The essence of smoking addiction is nicotine dependence. In smoking cessation, special attention needs to be paid to correcting the psychological addiction of the smoker. The factor that gives smokers psychological pleasure is the nicotine in tobacco, which is an addictive substance with similar effects to morphine and cocaine. Smoking addicts have a strong craving for tobacco, the essence of which is drug dependence. Nicotine receptors exist on the cholinergic neurons of the central nervous system, and nicotine in tobacco combines with nicotine receptors to change the normal physiological state of the body, and over time the receptor level (number, sensitivity) changes, forming nicotine dependence, and once you stop smoking, you will experience cravings, anxiety, dizziness, headache, inattention, appetite and heart rate, cortisol and adrenaline secretion changes and a series of mental, psychological and physiological changes, this is withdrawal symptoms. Another aspect of nicotine addiction is the ease with which smokers can return to smoking after quitting, similar to what happens after quitting alcohol or drug treatment. If smokers are helped to release the pharmacological effects of nicotine (drug addiction), it is important for successful smoking cessation. Tobacco dependence is a chronic disease that requires assessment of the degree of tobacco dependence, intervention and treatment, including behavioral and pharmacological treatment.
4.What are the best ways to quit smoking?
There is now a full range of complementary therapies to reduce the pain caused by smoking cessation, specifically the following.
First, nicotine replacement therapy, that is, the use of products containing traces of nicotine to help smokers relieve the withdrawal symptoms of irritability, insomnia, anxiety and other withdrawal symptoms during the process of quitting. The nicotine in these replacement products enters the bloodstream at a much slower rate than smoking, but all can quickly and effectively relieve smoking addiction. However, pregnant women, patients with high blood pressure and coronary heart disease should not use these nicotine substitutes without permission and need to follow medical advice.
Second, medication-assisted treatment: the latest clinical use of a smoking cessation drug is the nicotinic receptor antagonist varenicline tartrate, with good efficacy. Other medications include colistin, antidepressants, and anxiolytics.
Useful tips: Before deciding to implement a smoking cessation program, you must have a thorough consideration and mental preparation of the problems associated with quitting smoking and learn some useful tips. These techniques include: doing exercises, meditation, breathing in and out slowly and counting silently from 1 to 10, and one thing you must be specially trained to do is to always say politely but firmly, “No, thank you,” when someone offers you a cigarette.
5. As a smoker, how can I reduce my addiction?
The first step
Write down the reasons why you feel you should quit smoking, and read them over every day.
Wrap your cigarette case in paper and tie it with a rubber band. Each day when you smoke, write down on the paper the time of day, how you feel and how important you feel the cigarette is. If it is particularly important, score 5, if it is not important, score 1.
When the paper is full, take it off and put it away and wrap it in a new piece of paper.
Step 2
Continue reading about your reasons for quitting. If a new reason comes up. Add more.
Do not carry matches or lighters with you. Try to keep your cigarettes out of easy reach.
Try to aim for one or two fewer cigarettes per day than you smoked the day before.
Step 3
Continue to achieve step two by
Never buy a second pack of cigarettes until you have smoked all the cigarettes in one pack.
Try to switch to a different variety of cigarette twice a week, with the latter cigarette containing less nicotine and nicotine than the former.
Aim for one opportunity per week to be smoke-free for 40 hours straight.
Step 4
Quit smoking completely.
Increase your physical activity.
Discover healthier alternatives to smoking.
Take deep breaths to distract yourself when you relapse.
6. What can I do to help my family quit smoking if I have a smoker?
Regardless of the method you use to quit smoking, it is important to have the full support of your family, friends and social groups who can effectively urge you to implement your quit plan and help you reduce the physical and mental stress you are under. The key to success, of course, is you. When you feel painful or desperate, remember the saying, “No one will die from quitting.
(1) Eliminate tension: Is a stressful work situation the main reason you smoke? If so, take away all the smoking paraphernalia from your surroundings and change your work environment and work routine. Put some sugar-free gum, fruit, juice and mineral water in your workplace, take a few short breaks, go outside and exercise for just a few minutes.
(2) Weight problems: Weight tends to increase significantly after quitting smoking, usually by 5-8 pounds. Smokers who quit will reduce the basic speed of the body’s metabolism and will eat more food instead of smoking, so smokers will gain a few kilograms in a short period of time after quitting, but can counteract the weight gain by strengthening the body’s exercise, because increased exercise speeds up the metabolism. It is best to eat snacks that are fat-free.
(3) Strengthen the awareness of quitting: With the clear goal of changing the work environment and old habits related to smoking, quitters will actively think of the determination to stop smoking. It is important to have this awareness that the sense of taste and smell will be better after a few days of quitting.
(4) Finding alternatives: One of the main tasks after quitting smoking is to find alternatives to not smoking if tempted to do so: doing skill games to keep both hands free, brushing your teeth to create a taste in your mouth that you don’t want to smoke, or distracting yourself with exciting conversations. If you like to smoke a cigarette every morning after coffee, then you must drink coffee every morning into a tea.
(5) Make bets: Some people who have smoked in the past have had good experiences with quitting bets, one of the effects of which is to quit publicly and to gain the support of friends and colleagues.
(6) Attend fewer parties: Avoid the temptation to smoke when you first start to quit. If a friend invites you to a very nice party and the people attending the party smoke, then at least in quitting; initially, you should politely decline to attend such parties until you feel free from the addiction.
(7) Swim, play soccer and take steam baths: Regular exercise will improve your mood and help you to fight your smoking habit.
(8) Throw away smoking paraphernalia: ashtrays, lighters and cigarettes can be stimulating to smokers and should be thrown away.
(9) Distraction: Especially in the early stages of quitting, spend more money on fun activities to distract from smoking. Instead of spending evenings in front of the TV as you usually do, get a massage, listen to laser records, surf the Internet, or talk to friends on the phone about the stock market.
(10) withstand the test of smoking again: quit smoking and then smoke is not the same as quitting smoking failure, after a puff or a cigarette is not “everything is too late”, but to carefully analyze the reasons for smoking again, to avoid future recidivism.
7.What is the best way to deal with the repeated failure to quit smoking?
Smokers who are determined to quit need to find a personal and important reason to do so. For example, if your wife is pregnant, if you care about the health of your family, if you want to improve your health and situation, etc. For smokers who have been smoking for a long time, they have developed a triple dependence on smoking physically, psychologically and habitually. If you are not prepared and suddenly stop smoking, you will feel very sad, your life will be disrupted, and your habit will be difficult to change. At this time, the use of effective smoking cessation medication can help to reduce withdrawal symptoms and promote successful cessation. It is also important to make arrangements to relieve or distract yourself from the difficult situation of smoking. Be prepared to deal with other smokers who intentionally or unintentionally interfere with and undermine the cessation of smoking.
8.How do I feel about the new version of the “Rules for the Implementation of the Public Health Regulations” issued by the Ministry of Health?
The Ministry of Health has issued a new version of the “Rules for the Implementation of the Public Health Regulations”, which means that new rules such as “no smoking in indoor public places” will be in effect. Public places should take measures to avoid passive smoking and reduce the public’s exposure to secondhand smoke, which is a very good thing for the protection of public health and a manifestation of the moral level of society and the improvement of personal knowledge. Smokers do not care about the health of non-smokers present and smoking, there is a lack of public morality and cultivation of suspicion, but also shows the lack of personal awareness and cultural standards. Smokers do three things: smoke less, do not smoke in public places, and quit smoking early. Non-smokers do three things: never start smoking, refuse to smoke secondhand, and enthusiastically help friends and relatives to quit. We all work together to build smoke-free families, work to create a smoke-free environment, and work together to make contributions to individuals, families, society, and the nation.
9.How are smoking cessation clinics conducted in our country?
In China, there are 300-400 smoking cessation clinics in the country, which provide treatment for tobacco dependence. Currently, there are 19 hospitals in Beijing with smoking cessation clinics. However, not enough people are coming forward to seek help to quit smoking.