Smoking causes numerous health risks and is highly addictive. Once someone becomes a smoker, they face increased risks of cancer, respiratory diseases, cardiovascular disease, fertility issues, and more. Symptoms of smoking include coughing, shortness of breath, fatigue, and poor circulation. Quitting smoking is difficult due to withdrawal symptoms like cravings, but medical help and social support can aid in successfully quitting for good.

3. Causes and symptoms
No one starts smoking to become
addicted to nicotine. It is not known how
much nicotine may be consumed before
the body becomes addicted. However,
once smoking becomes a habit, the
smoker faces a lifetime of health risks
associated with one of the strongest
addictions known to humans.

4. Smoking is recognized as the leading preventable cause of
death, causing or contributing to the deaths of approximately
430,700 Americans each year. Anyone with a smoking habit
has an increased chance of cancer (lung, cervical, and other
types); respiratory diseases (emphysema, asthma , and
chronic bronchitis ); and cardiovascular disease (heart attack,
high blood pressure, stroke, and atherosclerosis). The risk of
stroke is especially high in women who take birth control
pills.

5. Smoking can damage fertility, making it
harder to conceive, and it can interfere
with the growth of the fetus during
pregnancy. It accounts for an estimated
14 percent of premature births and 10
percent of infant deaths. There is some
evidence that smoking may cause
impotence in men.

6.  Smokers are likely to exhibit a variety of symptoms that reveal
the damage caused by smoking. A nagging morning cough
may be one sign of a tobacco habit. Other symptoms include
shortness of breath, wheezing, and frequent occurrences
of respiratory illness, such as bronchitis. Smoking also
increases fatigue and decreases the smoker's sense of smell
and taste. Smokers are more likely to develop poor
circulation, with cold hands and feet, and premature wrinkles.
 Sometimes the illnesses that result from smoking come with
little warning. For instance, coronary artery disease may
exhibit few or no symptoms. At other times, there will be
warning signs, such as bloody discharge from a woman's
vagina, a sign of cancer of the cervix. Another warning sign is
a hacking cough, worse than the usual smoker's cough, that
brings up phlegm or blood, a sign of lung cancer.

7. A smoker who tries to quit may expect one or
more of these withdrawal
symptoms: nausea , constipation or diarrhea ,
drowsiness, loss of concentration,
insomnia, headache , nausea, and irritability.

8. Smokers should seek medical help if they want to quit
smoking but are unable to do so, or if they exhibit signs of
any of the illnesses associated with long-term tobacco use.
Persons who are frequently around smokers should seek
medical advice if they show any of the symptoms associated
with illnesses caused by smoking since second-hand smoke
can be more damaging to health than first-hand smoke.

9.  It is not easy to quit smoking. That is why it may be wise for
smokers to turn to their physician for help. For the greatest
success in quitting and to help with the withdrawal
symptoms, smokers should talk over a treatment plan with
their doctor or alternative practitioner. They should have a
general physical examination to gauge their general health
and uncover any deficiencies. They should also have a
thorough evaluation for some of the serious diseases that
smoking can cause.
 Research shows that most smokers who want to quit benefit
from the support of other people.

10.  It helps to quit with a friend or to join a group such as those
organized by the American Cancer Society. These groups
provide support and teach behavior modification methods
that can help the smoker quit. The smoker's physician can
often refer him to such groups.
 Other alternatives to help with the withdrawal symptoms
include nicotine replacement therapy in the form of gum,
patches, nasal sprays, and oral inhalers. These are available by
prescription or over the counter. A physician can provide
advice on how to use them. They slowly release a small
amount of nicotine into the bloodstream, satisfying the
smoker's physical craving. Over time, the amount of gum the
smoker chews is decreased and the amount of time between
applying the patches is increased. This process helps wean
the smoker from nicotine slowly. However, if the smoker
smokes while taking a nicotine replacement, a nicotine
overdose may occur.

11.  The drug buproprion hydrochloride has shown some success
in helping smokers quit. This drug contains no nicotine and
was originally developed as an antidepressant. It is not known
exactly how buproprion works to suppress the desire for
nicotine.

12.  There are a wide range of alternative treatments that can
help a smoker quit the habit, including hypnotherapy, herbs,
acupuncture, and meditation. For example, a controlled trial
demonstrated that self-massage can help smokers crave less
intensely, smoke fewer cigarettes, and in some cases
completely give them up.

13. How do smokers give up their cigarettes for good and never go back to
them again? Here are a few tips from the experts:
 People should tell their friends and neighbors that they are quitting.
Doing so helps make quitting a matter of pride.
 They should chew sugarless gum or eat sugar-free hard candy to
redirect the oral fixation that comes with smoking and to prevent
weight gain.
 They should eat as much as they want, but only low-calorie foods and
drinks. They should drink plenty of water, which may help with the
feelings of tension and restlessness that quitting can bring. After eight
weeks, they will lose their craving for tobacco, so it is safe then to
return to their usual eating habits.
 They should stay away from situations that prompt smoking, avoiding
other people who smoke and dining in the nonsmoking section of
restaurants.

14. Stop at once. This has been found to be the
best way to quit smoking. But in the case of
heavy smokers and those who have been
smoking for a long time. “Cold Turkey” may
not be the best method. Gradual: Reduce the
number of cigarettes gradually each day till
you reach the no smoking stage. Another
option is to delay lighting up another
cigarette until you can go through a day
without smoking.

15.  is one of the most important things you will ever
do:
• You will live longer and live better
• Quitting will lower your chance of having a heart
attack, stroke or cancer.
• If you are pregnant, quitting smoking will
improve your chances of having a healthy baby.
• The people you live with, especially your
children, will be healthier.
• You will have extra money to spend on things
other than cigarettes.

16.  1. Get Ready
• Set a quit date
• Change your environment
 2. Get rid of ALL cigarettes and ashtrays in
your home, car, and place of work.
 3. Don’t let people smoke in your home.
• Review your past attempts to quite. Think
about what worked and what did not.
• Once you quit, don’t smoke – NOT EVEN A
PUFF!

17.  Studies suggest that everyone can quit smoking. Your
situation or condition can give you a special reason to
quit.
• Pregnant women/new mothers: By quitting, you
protect your baby’s health and your own. •
Hospitalized patients: By quitting, you reduce health
problems and help healing.
• Heart attack patients: By quitting, you reduce your
risk of a second heart attack.
• Lung, head, and neck cancer patients: By quitting,
you reduce your chance of a second cancer.
• Parents of children and adolescents: By quitting, you
protect your children and adolescents from illnesses
caused by secondhand smoke.

18.  Antioxidant —Any substance that reduces the damage
caused by oxidation, such as the harm caused by free radicals.
 Chronic bronchitis —A smoking-related respiratory illness in
which the membranes that line the bronchi, or the lung's air
passages, narrow over time. Symptoms include a morning
cough that brings up phlegm, breathlessness, and wheezing.
 Emphysema —A chronic respiratory disease that involves the
destruction of air sac walls to form abnormally large air sacs
that have reduced gas exchange ability and that tend to retain
air within the lungs. Symptoms include labored breathing, the
inability to forcefully blow air out of the lungs, and an
increased susceptibility to respiratory tract infections.
Emphysema is usually caused by smoking.

19.  Epinephrine —A hormone produced by the adrenal medulla.
It is important in the response to stress and partially regulates
heart rate and metabolism. It is also called adrenaline.
 Flavonoid —A food chemical that helps to limit oxidative
damage to the body's cells, and protects against heart disease
and cancer.
 Free radical —An unstable molecule that causes oxidative
damage by stealing electrons from surrounding molecules,
thereby disrupting activity in the body's cells.
 Nicotine —A colorless, oily chemical found in tobacco that
makes people physically dependent on smoking. It is
poisonous in large doses.

20.  Nicotine replacement therapy —A method of weaning a
smoker away from both nicotine and the oral fixation that
accompanies a smoking habit by giving the smoker smaller
and smaller doses of nicotine in the form of a patch or gum.
 Secondhand smoke —A mixture of the smoke given off by the
burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar and the smoke
exhaled from the lungs of smokers.
 Sidestream smoke —The smoke that is emitted from the
burning end of a cigarette or cigar, or that comes from the
end of a pipe. Along with exhaled smoke, it is a constituent of
second-hand smoke.