Smoking is Bad for Mental health also

A common idea that smoking helps to relieve stress and depression.But research suggests the opposite may be true and that smoking could be detrimental to your mental health.As people are preparing to make a new set of new year resolutions, Ash Wales today said the new US research adds further evidence to the health benefits of stopping smoking.Tanya Buchanan, chief executive of Ash Wales, said: “This new research suggests that giving up smoking actually relieves symptoms of depression and pours cold water on the claim that smoking eases anxiety and depression.“We already know that quitting smoking results in significant health benefits, but this study suggests there are also mental health benefits as well.“There has never been a better time to quit smoking. Smoking kills around 5,650 people in Wales every year and it is the single most preventable cause of premature death.“Smoking is an addiction and I know how hard it can be for some people to give up, but there is help and support available from Stop Smoking Wales so you don’t have to go it alone.”

The study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, measured smokers’ moods during their first six months of attempting to quit.It found that those who were successful in quitting were the happiest, while those who gave up their quit attempt were the unhappiest of all the groups.The study involved 236 heavy-drinking male and female smokers who wanted to give up smoking and looked for symptoms of depression at different stages over a 28-week period.

The researchers concluded: “During the first six months following a planned quit attempt, being abstinent in a particular week appears to be associated with lower levels of concurrent depressive symptoms.“These results are not concordant with the view that intentional smoking abstinence exacerbates depressive symptoms.“Efforts to promote smoking cessation should highlight that individuals are likely to feel more rather than less psychologically healthy when they successfully quit smoking.”

In cigarette smoking, women beat males by age in India

An average Indian starts tobacco smoking at 17.8 years, the initiation age being the lowest, 14.9 in Chhattisgarh and the highest-20.4 years- in Himachal. Over 60 per cent daily tobacco users are so addicted that they want tobacco within half an hour of waking up, concludes the 2009-2010 Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) for India, conducted on 99.9 per cent of India’s population in 29 states, UTs of Chandigarh and Puducherry.

Though overall tobacco prevalence is lesser in females (20.3 per cent) as against males (47.9) so is overall cigarette use (2.9 per cent females smoke as against 24.3 per cent men), the fair sex is much more nicotine dependent than men. Cigarettes smoked a day, which is an indicator of nicotine addiction, is much higher for females who consume 7 cigarettes a day while men smoke 6.2. Urban male smokers smoke a higher number of cigarettes (6.4) than their rural counterparts (6), but female cigarette smokers in rural areas beat urban females by consuming 7.2 cigarettes a day against 5.8 sticks a day in cities.

In cigarette smoking, women beat males by age too: Boys aged 15 to 24 smoke 4.8 cigarettes a day; girls puff 9 a day. Men aged 25 to 44 smoke 6 cigarettes a day while women that age consume 8.4 sticks a day. Even beyond 65 years, males are smoking 6.3 cigarettes a day but women want 7.9 a day. Further, working males (government/private sectors) smoke lesser cigarettes a day (6.3) than their female counterparts (7.6).

Even a puff of tobacco is harmful, report says

As part of the Obama administration's campaign against smoking, the surgeon general released a new report Thursday detailing how tobacco causes cancer, heart attacks and many other ailments and why it is so addictive.

The 704-page report, the 30th surgeon general's report to address tobacco, "validates earlier findings, expands and strengthens the science base, and describes in great detail the multiple ways that tobacco smoke damages every organ in the body, resulting in disease and death," according to its executive summary.

Tobacco smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds, including hundreds that are toxic and at least 70 that cause cancer, according to the report. That means there is no "risk-free level of exposure" to tobacco smoke. Even a whiff of tobacco smoke can adversely affect the body, the report concludes.

"The chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly every time you inhale, causing damage immediately," Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said in a statement. "Inhaling even the smallest amount of tobacco smoke can also damage your DNA, which can lead to cancer."

The lining of the lungs becomes inflamed as soon as it is exposed to cigarette smoke, and, over time, the smoke can cause chronic lung diseases such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, according to the report. Even brief exposure to second hand smoke can cause heart disease and can trigger heart attacks. Chemicals in tobacco smoke quickly damage blood vessels and make blood more likely to clot, increasing the risk for heart attacks, strokes and aneurysms.

Smoking also makes it harder for diabetics to control their blood sugar and harder for women to get pregnant, and it increases the risk for miscarriages, premature births, and babies being born underweight and with damaged lungs and brains.

There is no evidence that adding filters to cigarettes has made them safer or that "low-tar" and "light" cigarettes are any less dangerous, according to the report. In fact, modern cigarettes are designed to be addictive, delivering nicotine more quickly and efficiently than ever, helping explain why so many people get hooked so quickly and have such a hard time quitting, the report concludes.

But "this report makes it clear - quitting at any time gives your body a chance to heal the damage caused by smoking," Benjamin said. "It's never too late to quit, but the sooner you do it, the better."

Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said in a statement, "This latest report is a stark reminder of how lethal and addictive smoking truly is, with every cigarette doing you damage."

smoking Damage brain cells...a new study

Research led by scientists in India suggests there is a direct link between smoking and brain damage whereby a compound in tobacco that turns into a cancer-causing chemical once it has been through the body's metabolism, triggers white blood cells in the brain's immune system to attack healthy brain cells.

The study is the work of lead investigators Debapriya Ghosh and Dr Anirban Basu from the Indian National Brain Research Center (NBRC) and was published online on 2 June in the Journal of Neurochemistry.

NNK is a procarcinogen commonly found in tobacco. A procarcinogen is a chemical that becomes cancer-causing (carcinogenic) once it has been metabolised in the body.

While alcohol and many drugs used by drug abusers damages brain cells directly, the researchers believe NNK damages brain cells indirectly, by first causing inflammation in brain cells, similar to that which leads to disorders like Multiple Sclerosis.

For the study, Ghosh, Basu and colleagues carried out two types of test: one in the test tube and the other in live mice ( in vitro and in vivo).

Using a technique called Western blot analysis they showed that treatment with NNK led to significant increases in signalling and effector proteins that promote inflammation, as well as other stress-related proteins. They also found increased levels of proinflammatory cytokines, compounds that help cells communicate with each other.

The researchers suggest the NNK caused the brain's immune cells or microglia, which normally only destroy damaged or unhealthy cells, to overreact and attack healthy cells.

"Immunohistochemical staining of the brain sections of NNK-treated mice reveals massive microglial and astrocyte activation along with distinct foci of neuronal damage," they wrote and concluded that:

"Both in vitro and in vivo results provide strong indication that NNK causes significant upheaval of the inflammatory condition of brain and inflicts subsequent neuronal damage."

Basu said these findings prove that:

"Tobacco compound NNK can activate microglia significantly which subsequently harms the nerve cells."

NNK passes into the body not just through smoking tobacco, it can also pass into the body from chewing tobacco.

Second hand smoking or so called "passive" smoking is another way that NNK can enter the body since it is present in tobacco smoke. A smoke-filled room may contain as much as 26 nanograms of NNK, which is on a par with the amount of NNK found in cigarettes which ranges from 20 to 310 nanograms, said the authors.

Smoking causes brain stroke for women

Increased instances of smoking is pushing up brain stroke cases among women, according to doctors. Doctors say women are at higher risk of stroke due to anaemia, blood loss during periods and pregnancy-related factors and smoking only aggravates the problem. They say that nicotine present in the cigarettes smoking causes blood vessels to thin and leads to stroke.

"At AIIMS, we conducted a survey on stroke patients recently. It was found that 33% patients smoked. Young girls and office-going women are increasingly taking to smoking these days as they find it fashionable or a stressbuster. Smoking adds to the risks of stroke and it should be avoided,'' says Dr Kameshwar Prasad, a professor in the department of neurology at the premier institute. He says that smoking, combined with the intake of contraceptive pills, increases the risk of stroke by two to three times.

Dr J D Mukherji, head of the neurology department at Max Hospital, Saket, says the risk of stroke is higher in pregnant women or those who have recently delivered a baby due to natural changes in the body, including high blood pressure, increased production of blood clotting factors and significant blood loss during delivery. "A decreased level of estrogen during menopause can increase the risk of stroke,'' he says.

A recent survey on use of tobacco in India released by the Union health ministry showed use of tobacco among women has increased from 11.5% in 2005 to 20.3% in 2010. "Signs like sudden severe headache, weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, trouble in speaking or understanding speech, blurred vision are some of the symptoms of stroke. One should be cautious and must approach a doctor for proper diagnosis and treatment,'' says Dr Rohit Bhatia, associate professor of neurology at AIIMS.

Easy Ways To Quit Smoking....

It is important that smokers genuinely 'resolve to give up smoking' when they 'decide' to give up. Resolving to give up smoking properly makes a significant difference in your chances of success. By making a 'proper' decision, you increase your chances of success in overcoming the evil weed several fold. It is important that smokers genuinely 'resolve to give up smoking' when they 'decide' to give up. Resolving to give up smoking properly makes a significant difference in your chances of success.



Some ways to quit smoking:

1. Talk with your doctor about quitting. Support and guidance
from a physician is a proven way to better your chances to quit.

2. Set a quit date. Decide what day you will extinguish your
cigarettes forever. Write it down. Plan for it. Prepare your
mind for the "first day of the rest of your life". You might
even hold a small ceremony when you smoke you last cigarette, or
on the morning of the quit date.

3. Write down why you want to quit (the benefits of quitting):
live longer, feel better, for your family, save money, smell
better, find a mate more easily, etc. You know what's bad about
smoking and you know what you'll get by quitting. Put it on
paper and read it daily.

4. Ask your family and friends to support your decision to quit.
Ask them to be completely supportive and non-judgmental. Let
them know ahead of time that you will probably be irritable and
even irrational while you withdraw from your smoking habit.

5. Begin an exercise program. Exercise is simply incompatible
with smoking. Exercise relieves stress and helps your body
recover from years of damage from cigarettes. If necessary,
start slow, with a short walk once or twice per day. Build up to
30 to 40 minutes of rigorous activity, 3 or 4 times per week.
Consult your physician before beginning any exercise program.

6. Do some deep breathing each day for 3 to 5 minutes. Breathe
in through your nose very slowly, hold the breath for a few
seconds, and exhale very slowly through your mouth. Try doing
your breathing with your eyes closed and go to step 9.

7. Visualize your way to becoming a non-smoker. While doing your
deep breathing in step 8, you can close your eyes and begin to
imagine yourself as a non-smoker.

8. Cut back on cigarettes gradually (if you cut back gradually,
be sure to set a quit date on which you WILL quit). Ways to cut
back gradually include: plan how many cigarettes you will smoke
each day until your quit date, making the number you smoke
smaller each day; buy only one pack at a time; change brands so
you don't enjoy smoking as much; give your cigarettes to someone
else, so that you have to ask for them each time you want to
smoke.

9. Believe in yourself. Believe that you can quit. Think about
some of the most difficult things you have done in your life and
realize that you have the guts and determination to quit
smoking. It's up to you.

10. After reading this list, sit down and write your own list,
customized to your personality and way of doing things. Create
you own plan for quitting.

Dangers Of Smoking....

One of the main dangers of smoking is due to Nicotine. Nicotine is found naturally in tobacco. It has no odor and no color. It is, however, both physically and psychologically addictive, and it causes those who use it to want to smoke one cigarette after another.

Nicotine enters the body as tiny droplets resting on particles of tar in cigarette smoke. Inhaled into the lungs, the drug passes quickly into the bloodstream, reaching the brain within about 10 seconds. In another 5 to 10 seconds the nicotine has spread to all parts of the body.

The nicotine raises both the heart rate and blood pressure. The smoker quickly feels more alert and relaxed. In less than 30 minutes, however, about half of the nicotine has left the bloodstream, and the smoker starts feeling less alert, more edgy.

So he or she reaches for another cigarette to get a new “hit” of nicotine. Over time, the smoker starts needing more cigarettes throughout the day to satisfy the craving.

One more of the dangers of smoking are Carbon monoxide. Smoking also increases the level of carbon monoxide in the lungs. This poisonous gas is quickly absorbed into the blood, reducing its capacity to carry oxygen.

As a result, the smoker has to exert more physical effort to attain a given task than does a nonsmoker. The heart in particular must work harder, particularly during rigorous exercise. Increased levels of carbon monoxide in the blood can impair vision, perception of time, and coordination.