The Bad and The Good News about Smoking
Nicotine constricts your arteries and causes blood clots, at the same time it increases adrenalin production and raises your blood pressure in order to overcome the extra constriction in narrowed arteries.
Also did you know!
- Chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of your blood vessels and increase the risk 'hardening' of the arteries.
- Put a cigarette in your mouth and you are at risk!Tar from cigarettes ends up in your lungs and over time obstructs or narrows the small airways in your lungs and destroys the air sacs there.
- Nicotine is a super toxin that is more lethal – drop for drop than strychnine or diamondback rattlesnake venom and three times deadlier than arsenic!
- Put just 1/60th of a gramme of nicotine on your tongue, you would be dead within ten minutes.
- Nicotine is a highly toxic nerve poison. In some areas of the world, it’s used by vets to destroy sick animals and is highly efficient at this task
- Nicotine is present as a liquid in tobacco leaves. When the leaves are burned, the nicotine evaporates, and is inhaled with the cigarette smoke, it then passes into the bloodstream and is in the brain within 20 seconds.
- Nicotine constricts your arteries and causes blood clots, at the same time it increases adrenalin production and raises your blood pressure in order to overcome the extra constriction in narrowed arteries. Your entire nervous system is stimulated which makes your heart beat faster.
- It is a powerful stimulant and does not relax you. When you smoke, less oxygen reaches your lungs. Tar from cigarettes ends up in your lungs and over time obstructs or narrows the small airways in your lungs and destroys the air sacs there.
- Every year, around 120,000 smokers in the UK die as a result of their habit. Smoking tobacco causes more deaths in the UK every year than road accidents, HIV, drug abuse, suicides and alcohol put together.
- At today's prices, a 20-a-day smoker will spend more than £37,000 over the next 20 years. Just think of all the wonderful things you could do with all of that money and have the health to enjoy them.
Known Health Hazards Associated with smoking
Lung cancer - About 30,000 people in the UK die from lung cancer each year. More than 8 in 10 cases are directly related to smoking.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD - Thousands of people die each year from this serious lung disease. More than 8 in 10 of these deaths are directly linked to smoking. People who die of COPD are usually quite unwell for several years before they die.
Heart disease is the biggest killer illness in the UK. About 120,000 people in the UK die each year from heart disease. About 1 in 7 of these deaths are due to smoking.
Other cancers - of the mouth, nose, throat, larynx, gullet
(oesophagus), pancreas, bladder, cervix, blood (leukaemia), and kidney are all more common in smokers.
Circulation - the chemicals in tobacco can damage the lining of
your blood vessels and increase the risk 'hardening' of the arteries.
Heart disease and strokes.
Peripheral vascular disease (poor circulation of the legs), and
aneurysms (swollen arteries which can burst causing internal bleeding).
Sexual problems - Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to
become impotent or have difficulty in maintaining an erection in middle life. This is thought to be due to smoking-related damage of the blood vessels to the penis.
Ageing - Smokers tend to develop more 'lines' on their face at an earlier age than non-smokers. This often makes smokers look older than they really are.
Stopping smoking not only reduces the risk of getting serious smoking-related diseases, it means you're less likely to have other health problems, such as:
- Gum disease and bad breath
- Coughs and shortness of breath
Thinking of starting a family? Men who smoke may suffer from impotence and produce less sperm. Women who smoke take longer to conceive and are more likely to have a miscarriage or stillbirth. Stopping smoking can improve your chances of conceiving. Nicotine is passed to your baby through breast
milk.
Other problems associated with smoking are:
- Your breath, clothes, hair, skin, and home smell of stale tobacco.
- Your sense of taste and smell are dulled so your enjoyment of food may be reduced.
- Life insurance is more expensive.
- Finding a job may be more difficult as employers know that smokers are more likely to have sick leave than non smokers. More than 34 million working days are lost each year because of smoking-related sick leave.
Potential friendships and romances may be at risk. As a smoker you don’t smell good and other people don’t want to risk their own health by inhaling your smoke.
The Good News
Hypnosis is the most effective way of giving up smoking, according to the largest ever scientific comparison of ways of breaking the habit.'
New Scientist v136
Of all methods tested in the largest survey ever carried out, hypnosis was found to be the most effective method of smoking cessation available, which is hardly surprising as it is the only treatment that deals with your mind rather than your body. Smoking is primarily an emotional problem rather
than a physical one - it is a psychological dependence. Some people have more of a problem giving up chocolate than smoking.
STOP SMOKING
If YOU have decided (no one else can make the decision for you) that you really want to become a non smoker then it’s good to know that it is not only possible - after all, thousands of people have already done it – but that it does not have to be a struggle.
Many people are fascinated by hypnosis, but are also a little bit fearful or apprehensive about losing control. That can’t happen. What does happen is that you will find yourself relaxing into a very, very calm state, combining deep relaxation and very high mental concentration, but you will always be
in total and complete control, and it is impossible for you to come to any harm at all. Anybody can enjoy this wonderful state.
Hypnosis will enable you to dump old, outdated beliefs that no longer serve you and open your mind to your potential. It works safely and effectively at the deepest levels of your subconscious mind to create positive re-programming of old outdated and self limiting beliefs and behaviours. You become the master of your thoughts and your choices as you realise that you are in control, not the cigarettes.
Hypnosis helps you to change the way you communicate with your mind - leaving behind old, inappropriate and negative, self defeating attitudes and thoughts and learning a new,empowering way of choosing how you want to live your life. As an aid to becoming a non smoker for the rest of your life, hypnotherapy is a powerfulally.
The Even Better News
There are not enough hours in the day to see everyone that wants to become a non smoker so in order to reach more people I have created a special
Becoming a Non Smoker CD pack.
It consists of three CDs and an information book that guides you on your journey to becoming a non smoker permanently. have a look at the Freedom From Smoking
Sue Saunders
Tel 0044 (0) 5602 877001
Insight Coaching and Training
Senior Clinical Hypnotherapist
Master Life Coach
Stress Management Consultant
