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Todays Health Article

January 24th, 2012

Today many questions are asked of  those hard core smokers, those who continue to smoke, knowing very well the health risks of smoking, and many have already suffered from their hard core smoking.

In fact you and I both know, we have known those who have suffered from COPD, Asthma, Emphysema, Lung Canc, anerd even suffered surgical to the throat and lungs and they still continue to smoke.

After witnessing the very aspect,  you see people digress from the COPD, chronic coughing, to inhalers, to being diagnosed with throat or lung cancer.  For us people who do not smoke, perhaps we just shake our heads in bewilderment, for the lack of understanding. But to these people who are hard core smokers,  kicking the habit, after being so hooked, it just seems the only answer is simply, to continue smoking.

Hard Core Smokers

I think most can relate to this article, I know I can, though I have never smoked. I have had several of my relatives who went through the progressive steps of smoking, some were smoking 3 packs a day!  I had an Aunt who had a cigarette lit in every room that she was in through out the day so she did not have to carry it around with her. The rooms were filled with smoke, dying from lung cancer, and her reply was, “No reason to stop now”.

It took asthma, COPD, emphysema and finally, throat cancer to get my neighbor, a retired cattle rancher, to try to quit smoking.  It was unfortunate, this 70-year-old was so hooked, he couldn’t kick the habit even after part of his voice box  was  removed. Leaving the tuning fork to speak for him. Remembering, his last understandable comment “‘Okay, I’m not going to smoke again.’  But when he came home from surgery, and had recovered, it was  just a few weeks later,  he started  to smoke  again. Later to passed away from lung cancer.

I truly believe he just couldn’t help himself, he was a hard core smoker, who truly was addicted.

Facts that Support Hard Core Smokers

According to a new study in the American Cancer Society journal CANCER,  many patients find themselves smoking after diagnosis.

Researchers looked at 2,456 lung cancer patients and 3,063 colorectal patients and discovered that at time of diagnosis, 38 percent of the lung cancer patients and 15 percent of the colorectal patients were smokers.

Five months later, despite a cancer diagnosis, 14 percent of the lung cancer patients were still lighting up and again 9 percent of the colorectal patients were having their smoke.

 Question is…”Why stop now?”

“People think it’s a no-brainer and are surprised that cancer patients continue to smoke after they’re diagnosed,” says Elyse R. Park, a clinical health psychologist and associate professor of psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School and lead researcher for the study. “But people still struggle to quit even after they’re diagnosed. There are a lot of barriers to quitting, including a lot of stigma.“

Park says many of the people who can’t quit are “hard-core” smokers. they smoke a high number of cigarettes a day. Many, also, are surrounded by other smokers.

“These people are nicotine addicted, so it’s tough for them,” says Park. “They also have a lot of self-blame for causing the disease. There are feelings of fatalism. They think, ‘Why stop now?’ And a lot of people are very judgmental about lung cancer patients causing their own disease.”

The American Lung Association estimates that active smoking is responsible for close to 90 percent of lung cancer cases; radon causes 10 percent, and occupational exposures to carcinogens account for approximately 9 to 15 percent.

“We have tried Everything!”

That is a common statement from those who have tried the “Hypnosis, Chantix, patches, cessation groups, acupuncture, the gum, the lozenges — and  NONE of that stuff did anything for them.

Many times  depression plays a part, facing the thought of cancer, seeing a death sentence,  and perhaps  feeling no difference can be made. Feeling it is just too late for them! Yet  it’s the best time to quit because it has the potential to improve their cancer treatment, from breathing easier and feeling less fatigue to reducing the chance of infection after surgery. With no smoke, the efficacy of chemo and radiation and may even double the chances of survival for lung cancer patients.

The Answer is…

The human being is very complicated and each individual is just that, so what might work for you, may not for your friend. However, society as well hard core smokers, realize many times, the need to quit smoking, but just have not found that one solution to quit.

Recently studies now are suggesting this major advancements, that it is not the nicotine that is the killer, but the smoke containing all the ingredients, that make cigarette smoking harmful. In fact, studies have compared nicotine to a cup of coffee. It is similar to caffeine and has little ill effects toward our health.

With that in mine if you are addicted to nicotine… you just need a solution to get rid of the smoke. That is exactly what one Chinese inventor accomplished, calling it the electronic cigarette. Thus creating the inhaling of the vapors, by eliminating the smoke inhaled by the traditional cigarette.

Many have chosen this option to help them either reduce the amount of nicotine in their body, to stop smoking for good, or as many of the hard core smokers have indicated, they love their nicotine, but not the harmful effects of smoking.

Many have indicated that within a short period of time, the capability of breathing better and feeling better due to no longer inhaling the smoke. For those hard core smokers who have already been handed the health warnings, perhaps this may be just the answer. Now over a half a million smokers are using this option to deliver their nicotine habit.

Electronic Cigarette

Todays Health Comment

Today with my understanding of the human addiction for nicotine, it is not easy to see friends and family to suffer from the ill-effects of smoke from the cigarette. We still have huge numbers of cigarette smokers today, in fact in the millions, and our youth makes up a great portion of this, meaning millions will also become hard core smokers. The answer is… to understand the risks and find a solution that fits you… to Stop smoking. Having done a little research on the electronic cigarette, I  believe they may become the answer for many who choose a healthier life if they choose to keep smoking, and an answer for those who want to stop.

Further Reading

 Review Electronic  Cigarette