Stop Smoking Alternatives

When considering the occasion of past Great American SmokeOuts, my thoughts turn to the challenges of quitting smoking and my heart goes out to those who struggle with nicotine withdrawal and freedom from smoking. I know because I quit smoking a thousand times.

By now we all know there are personal health reasons to stop, and about the dangers of second hand smoke.

Sometimes it helps to look past the personal, to see ourselves and our actions in a larger context. Here are a few facts that go beyond the nasty pictures of scarred lungs, that may give even the most dedicated smoker pause to consider stop smoking alternatives and their choices otherwise. For example:

Not Smoking Alone: Think smoking is on the way out? The World Health Organization says there are 1 billion smokers in the world. The tobacco industry is thriving despite efforts to regulate it.

Suffering Farmers: In addition to the health hazards for smokers, there are substantial health risks for tobacco farm workers, from inhalation of pesticides and tobacco dust and from "Green Tobacco Sickness" caused by handling the plant's wet leaves.

Crime Spree: Cigarettes are the world’s most widely smuggled legal consumer product. In 2006, about 600 billion smuggled cigarettes were sold.

Emitting Pesticides: As much as ten percent of the pesticide applied to the tobacco crop can appear in the secondhand smoke and side stream smoke. The tobacco industry uses some 25 million pounds of pesticides a year. This means over 2 million pounds of pesticides in the air around us.

How Much Is That Professor in the Window? Tobacco companies fund university and lab researchers to study the effects of everything from stop smoking products to tobacco advertising to cancer drugs. Do you feel comfortable that results will be unaffected by the hand signing the check?

Hard on the Land: Pesticide and fertilizer runoff contaminate water resources, and the curing of tobacco leaf with wood fuel leads to massive deforestation. An often-cited, in-depth study shows that an estimated 200,000 hectares (about 772 square miles) of forest/woodland is lost to tobacco farming each year.

They Want Our Kids: Advertisers use Hollywood movies to target children and youth around the world to glamorize smoking, forget any quit smoking images you would like to see.

Women Are Being Used! Doctor Thomas Glynn of the American Cancer Society notes the targeting of women by tobacco companies in an interview with Voice of America: "As an example, in China, about 4… 5… 6 percent of women across China are using tobacco," he says. "But yet in places like Shanghai where tobacco companies are focusing, we are starting to see figures like 20 or 25 percent."

You Wanna Smoke or Eat? Tobacco replaces potential food production on almost 4 million hectares of the world’s agricultural land, equal to all of the world’s orange groves or banana plantations.

Quitting smoking is tough, but by rejecting an industry that is harming people and planet in the name of profit, you will be contributing to a healthier you and to a healthier world.  Good luck to all the potential ex-smokers out there….you can do it! Whether you quit smoking or cut back on the amount of cigarettes you smoke …. the effort is worth the fight.

New evidence that dark chocolate helps ease emotional stress was just published in “Metabolic Effects of Dark Chocolate Consumption on Energy, Gut Microbiota, and Stress-Related Metabolism in Free-Living Subjects.”

The study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed. The study found that eating about an ounce and a half of dark chocolate a day for two weeks reduced levels of stress hormones in the bodies of people feeling highly stressed.The daily dose also partially corrected other stress-related biochemical imbalances. And that’s not all…Sunil Kochhar, and colleagues note growing scientific evidence that antioxidants and other beneficial substances in dark chocolate may reduce risk factors for heart disease and other physical conditions. Although studies in the past have suggested that chocolate may ease emotional stress, there was little evidence until now from research in humans on exactly how chocolate might have those stress-busting effects.

In the study, scientists identified reductions in stress hormones and other stress-related biochemical changes in volunteers who rated themselves as highly stressed and ate dark chocolate for two weeks. “The study provides strong evidence that a daily consumption of 40 grams [1.4 ounces] during a period of 2 weeks is sufficient to modify the metabolism of healthy human volunteers,” the scientists say.

This great news for smokers and those smokers that want to quit smoking with a natural stop smoking alternative. No nicotine side effects or those nasty quit smoking cravings.

When you have the urge to smoke look for some of the new dark chocolate products to feel good and reduce the nicotine withdrawal.

Common Nicotine Gum Use Adversities

Common complaints among long-term nicotine replacement gum users (one year or greater) include: nicotine addiction and with intense gum cravings realted to nicotine withdrawal, anxiety, irritability, dizziness, headaches, nervousness, hiccups, ringing in the ears, chronic depression, headaches, heart burn, elevated blood pressure, a rapid or irregular heartbeat, sleep disruption, tiredness, a lack of motivation, a heavy feeling, recessed, bleeding and diseased gums, diminished sense of taste, tooth enamel damage, tooth loss, jaw-joint pain and damage (TMJ), canker sores with white patches on the tongue or mouth, bad breath, dry mouth, sore or irritated throat, difficulty swallowing, swollen glands, bronchitis, stomach problems and pain, gastritis, severe bloating, belching, achy muscles and joints, pins and needles in arms and hands, uncontrollable foul smelling gas that lingers, a lack of energy, loss of sex drive, acid reflux, stomach ulcers, fecal impaction from dehydration, scalp tingling, hair loss, acne, facial reddening, chronic skin rashes and concerns about immune system suppression. All this means is that nicotine withdrawal is associated with nicotine replacement making NRT less than a best stop smoking aid because of nicotine's side effects.

Other Health Concerns

The U.S. Food & Drug Administration is not blind. It has seen industry commercials and knows that nicotine gum is addictive and that nicotine withdrawal is a problem encountered by long time users of nicotine replace as a stop smoking alternative. It is being marketed as both a great tasting supplement to smoking and a permanent stand-alone harm reduction solution. Sadly, this is being done without any meaningful long-term research regarding the consequences of long-term NRT use or the influence of harm reduction marketing in fostering youth nicotine addiction. In the initial clinical studies supporting FDA approval it was never intended for these uses. As a matter of fact during the 13 week trials regular gum shown to have a 60% placebo effect in subjects enrolled in the study.

Recent studies raise a host of use concerns as smoking alternative because of nicotine side effects that most users will not notice until it’s too late. Researchers are concerned that nicotine is a super toxin that appears to destroy brain gray matter, prevent unhealthy cells throughout the body from dying natural deaths (apoptosis), promotes lung, breast and pancreatic cancer, hinders bone healing, induces angiogenesis which causes plaque build-up within arteries to harden, and that it accelerates tumor growth rates.

Better to try a more natural smoking alternative when you have the urge to smoke.

Tobacco Taxes Expected to Help you Quit Smoking, Hurt State Finances

Sharply rising tobacco taxes may accomplish what state lawmakers largely failed to do when handed a pile of money from the nationwide tobacco settlement a decade ago: drive home the consequences of smoking and cut smoking rates.

Bloomberg News has reported that the new 62-cent increase in the federal tobacco tax, combined with rising state tobacco taxes, could cut U.S. tobacco consumption by up to 10 percent.

States, however, may not be celebrating this odd approach to a new stop smoking alternative. Many took the money from the 1998 tobacco settlement and used it for everything but tobacco prevention. But declining tobacco consumption maybe the governments best stop smoking aid even those it could reduce the industry's annual payout to the states by up to $500 million, and also poses a threat to the $37 billion in bonds that states issued based on expected future receipts of tobacco money. The bonds were issued so that states could get an upfront, lump-sum payout of the settlement money rather than waiting for each year's payments, which are based on sales.

"While settlement revenues may be shrinking, most tobacco bond structures have debt service requirements with built-in increases for future years," said Richard Larkin, an analyst at municipal-bonds firm Herbert J. Sims and Co. Some state bond issues might have to use their reserves to pay the interest on the bonds, he added.

"States that earmarked revenues from cigarette excise taxes for specific programs may be forced to make cuts to those programs or increase the cigarette excise taxes, to make up for the revenue shortfall caused by the volume decline resulting from the federal excise tax increase," noted a recent report from Fitch Ratings.

"The striking irony of the [tobacco settlement] was that it made states dependent on the sale of a deadly product that dramatically increases their health-care costs," said Allan M. Brandt, dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University.  

Researchers say that there is no doubt that nicotine gum, nicotine lozenges are products to quit smoking but would you use them as part of your stop smoking program if you knew they could cause oral cancers.

Now new genetic research from the U.K.'s Medical Research Council suggests that nicotine-replacement drugs like nicotine gum and lozenges when used to stop smoking could raise the risk of mouth cancer, Medical News Today reported on April 26.

Researcher Muy-Teck Teh of the Institute of Dentistry, Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University London said that nicotine appears to increase expression of the gene FOXM1 in the mouth; increased levels of the gene is known to be associated with some forms of cancer.

 "Our study found that FOXM1 was enhanced during the early progressive stages of mouth cancer. This means if someone has increased levels of FOXM1 in their mouth, it could indicate the early stages of mouth cancer," said Teh. "We were surprised to find that nicotine increased the levels of FOXM1 in the cells. We used the same amount of nicotine found in nicotine  replacement therapies such as chewing gums and the amount was enough to activate the gene."

Most mouth cancers are caused by smoking, chewing tobacco, and/or drinking alcohol. Although several recent studies seem to confirm nicotine is mutagenic, it has not previously been considered to be a carcinogen.

"Although we acknowledge the importance of encouraging people to quit smoking, our research suggests nicotine found in lozenges and chewing gums may increase the risk of mouth cancer," Teh said.

This research published online in the journal PLos One may cause those smokers seeking the best way to to quit smoking to look for more natural stop smoking alternatives which are easily found by searching the internet.

How Smokers Can Improve Cancer Treatment Outcomes

A recent research summary shows improvement in cancer treatment and cancer surgery even without permenantly stopping smoking.

Smokers who dont quit smoking but abstain from smoking for 4 to 8 weeks prior to having non-elective surgery for mouth or throat cancers experienced improved wound healing, and those who quit smoking for good reduced the odds of having their cancer recur, Reuters reported June 18, 2009.

On the other hand, a research review by Richard O. Wein of Tufts Medical Center found that 40 percent of patients who didn't choose to stop smoking but continued to smoke had a cancer recurrence or developed a second malignancy.

Wein noted that many patients diagnosed with throat or mouth cancer don't have a long window to quit smoking since surgery usually is performed quickly. However, he said, "In these scenarios, although the impact of short-term (less than 2 weeks) preoperative smoking cessation further reduces the danger of smoking on the immediate postoperative course may be modest, the long-term cardiopulmonary benefits and the potential decrease in the development of future smoking-related (malignancies) with sustained cessation are undeniable."

SmokerZchoice is a product specifically developed to help smokers abstain from smoking when they can’t smoke and are seeking a stop smoking alternative in the short term when there is no other choice than immediate short term (less than 2 weeks) non-elective cancer surgery.

Reuters reported this research summary June 18, 2009

Ohio Smoker Doesn't Want To Quit Smoking And Grows His Own Tobacco!
 

Some people brew their own beer or make their own wine; now, an Ohio man is testing the viability of growing his own tobacco in the face of rising no smoking regulations and increased cigarette costs.

The Akron Beacon Journal reported June 28 that Don Carey of Peninsula, Ohio is testing 40 varieties of tobacco on three-quarters of an acre of land. Carey said the experiment was a response to a federal tax hike on roll-your-own tobacco; he is a lifelong cigarette and cigar smoker with no plans to stop smoking.

Carey used the Internet to find tobacco seeds and planted 7,000. A spokesperson for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which recently gained the authority to regulate tobacco products in addition to the management of many stop smoking alternatives, said it is legal for Americans to grow their own tobacco for personal use.

Others have also expressed interest in growing their own tobacco since the new tax hikes went into effect. However, growing tobacco can be a challenge, said David Dugan, an agricultural expert at Ohio State University.

''If the crop grows well, [Carey] is going to need a lot of space to hang this stuff to get it to cure and then a lot of space to store it once it is stripped,'' he said. Curing tobacco is weather-dependent and humidity must be controlled, and the drying leaves must be protected from insects and rodents, said Dugan.

On the other hand, Ohio is a proven tobacco-growing region: 1,450 acres of tobacco were harvested in 2006 in Brown County, where Carey is located.

Carey said he is a pack-a-day smoker and needs approximately 17 pounds of tobacco for a year's supply. "So if I get a thousand pounds, it will be good for 50-something years," he said.

''I'm not trying to start a revolution or anything,'' said Carey. "I'm trying to end up with a finished product I can use whenever I have the urge to smoke cigarettes and cigars."

Reported in the Akron Beacon Journal June 28, 2009

 New Jersey Senator Calls for FDA to Ban E-Cigarettes

On March 27, 2009 Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ) is calling for a ban on 'e-cigaret-- electronic nicotine delivery-devices that resemble normal cigarettes but don't burn tobacco -- until the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) certifies that they are safe.

It has been reported that the battery-powered cigarettes are growing in popularity and some members of Congress have even been spotted using them on Capitol Hill, where smoking is banned (and even the President has encouraged "Quit Smoking").

"Manufacturers and retailers of these type of stop smoking alternative products claim that e-cigarettes are safe, and even that these products can help smokers quit smoking traditional cigarettes," Lautenberg said in a letter to the FDA. "However, there have been no clinical studies to prove these products are not effective at helping smokers stop smoking , nor have any studies taken into consideration the consequences of smoking or have they independently verified the safety of these products or their long-term health effects", even though they may reduce harm from second hand smoke.

The question remains with FDA's new regulatory authority over tobacco whether or not these devices are actually nicotine delivery systems and therefore should be regulated as such.

However, Rep. Cliff Stearns (R-FL) who has used e-cigarettes in the House Speaker's Lobby, said the FDA should give the product the benefit of the doubt. "Before the FDA takes any immediate action, it should put forward scientific evidence that these products are harmful or unsafe," he said.

The other side of the coin is how deeply the federal government wants to get involved in dictating legal behavior like smoking? It seems telling citizens where they can smoke is one thing, but who can smoke and who should quit smoking is quite another.

The hype about cigarette smoking and stopping smoking has become a magnum-opus for those anti-smoking advocates and the laws banning smoking in restaurants and targeted to get smokers to quit smoking.

I can respect such a regulations banning smoking being instituted in public buildings and trying to encourage smoers to stop smoking, but when it includes dictating a social smoking environment, smokers feel that it's a violation of one's constitutional right to enjoy a cigarette with a cocktail and after dinner. Before smoking was completely banned, a host or hostess asked a customer "smoking or non-smoking section?"

Those freedom of choice questions dealing with social smoking are "gone with the wind," and a civil war of a different nature. Though smoking doesn't enhance our health, statistics can't state that it's a death sentence. I've cut way down. There are good stop smoking alternatives. It can be done. The issue of "second hand smoke" would be a valid "issue" if non-smokers were exposed to it eight hours daily, but that's not the case.

Anyone who thinks logically would have to conclude that the emphasis on second hand smoke as being a health hazard to non smokers is a trumped up assessment as it didn't take eight hours to dine in the smoking section of a restaurant and it has nothing to do with whether a smokers chooses to quit smoking or to continue to smoke.

It appears that medical reports have put smoking and second hand smoke on the top of their list as being dangerous to one's health. Point taken. But nevertheless you don't have to quit smoking cold.

But by the same token why do they refrain from informing the public as to how to maintain good health, such as obtaining a homeopathic or naturopathic doctor to treat illnesses without drugs or surgery.

 More thoughts from Cecilia in a later post to follow

 This post is excerpted from an article originally written on June 12, 2009 by Cecilia Sacco

 Fusco in the Pocono Record.