It Is Considered an Addictive Substance Because It Contains the Chemical Nicotine

SMOKING

Tobacco is a plant grown for its leaves, which are smoked, chewed, or sniffed for a variety of effects.  It is considered an addictive substance because it contains the chemical nicotine.  Tobacco also contains more than 19 known cancer-causing chemicals (most are collectively known as "tar") and more than 4,000 other chemicals.

Most smokers in the United States would like to quit smoking. Most people who have quit smoking made at least one unsuccessful quit attempt in the past.

Try not to view past attempts to quit as failures, but rather as learning experiences.

HEALTH RISKS OF SMOKING OR SMOKELESS TOBACCO

Many smokers come to depend on the positive effects of nicotine, such as boosting their mood, improving short-term memory and concentration, and producing a sense of well-being.

There are many more reasons to quit using tobacco. Knowing the serious health risks may help motivate you to quit. When used over a long period, tobacco and related chemicals such as tar and nicotine can increase your risk of many health problems.  Heart and blood vessel problems: o Blood clots and aneurysms in the brain, which can lead to strokes o Blood clots in the legs, which may travel to the lungs o Coronary artery disease, including angina and heart attacks o High blood pressure o Poor blood supply to the legs o Problems with erections because of decreased blood flow into the penis  Cancer (especially in the lung, mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, and cervix)  Poor wound healing, especially after surgery  Lung problems such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis, or asthma that is harder to control  Problems during pregnancy, such as babies born at low birth weight, premature labor, miscarriage, and cleft lip  Other health risks or problems: o Decreased ability to taste and smell o Harm to sperm, which contributes to infertility o Loss of sight due to an increased risk of macular degeneration o Tooth and gum diseases o Wrinkling of the skin

Smokers who switch to smokeless tobacco instead of quitting tobacco completely still carry a number of health risks:  Increased risk of mouth or nasal cancer  Gum problems, tooth wear, and cavities  Worsening high blood pressure and angina

HEALTH RISKS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE

Those who are regularly around the smoke of others (secondhand smoke) have a higher risk of:  Heart attacks and heart disease  Lung cancer  Sudden and severe reactions, including those involving the eye, nose, throat, and lower respiratory tract

Infants and children who are regularly exposed to secondhand smoke are at risk of:  Asthma (children with asthma who live with a smoker are much more likely to visit the emergency room)  Infections, including virus-caused upper respiratory infections, ear infections, and pneumonia  Lung damage (poor lung function)  Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS)

THE BENEFITS OF QUITTING

You will notice many benefits of quitting right away:  Your breath, clothes, and hair will smell better  Your sense of smell will return and food will taste better  Your fingers and fingernails will slowly appear less yellow  Your stained teeth will slowly become whiter

Your home, work, and social life will also improve immediately:  Your children will be less likely to start smoking themselves  It will be easier and cheaper to find an apartment  You will miss fewer work days, or you may have an easier time getting a job  The constant search for a place to smoke when you're out will be over  Friends will be more willing to be in your car or home  Your dating prospects will become much wider, because 80% of the population does not smoke  You will have more money available (one pack per day smokers spend around $1,800 per year on cigarettes)

Some health benefits begin almost immediately too, but every week, month, and year without tobacco use only improves your health.  Within 20 minutes of quitting - your blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal and the temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal.  Within 8 hours of quitting - your blood carbon monoxide levels drop and your blood oxygen levels increase, both to normal levels.  Within 24 hours of quitting - your risk of a sudden heart attack decreases.  Within 48 hours of quitting - nerve endings begin to regenerate and your senses of smell and taste begin to return to normal.  Within 2 weeks to 3 months of quitting - your circulation improves and walking becomes easier; your lung function increases by up to 30%.  Within 1 to 9 months of quitting - your overall energy typically increases and symptoms like coughing, nasal congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath improve. You will have fewer illnesses, colds, and asthma attacks. You will gradually no longer be short of breath with everyday activities.  Within 1 year of quitting - your risk of coronary heart disease is half that of someone still using tobacco.  Within 5 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate decreases by nearly 50% compared to one pack per day smokers; your risk of cancer of the mouth is half that of a tobacco user.  Within 10 years of quitting - your lung cancer death rate becomes similar to that of someone who never smoked; precancerous cells are replaced with normal cells; your risk of stroke is lowered, possibly to that of a nonsmoker; your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas all go down.

Like any addiction, quitting tobacco is difficult, especially if you are acting alone. There are a lot of ways to quit smoking and many resources to help you.

See: Smoking - tips on how to quit  Family members, friends, and coworkers may be supportive or encouraging.  Talk to your doctor about nicotine replacement therapy and smoking cessation medications.  If you join smoking cessation programs, you have a much better chance of success. Such programs are offered by hospitals, health departments, community centers, and work sites. See: Stop smoking support programs

TEENS HEALTH – SMOKING http://kidshealth.org/teen/drug_alcohol/tobacco/smoking.html#

When your parents were young, peoplecould buy cigarettes and smoke prettymuch anywhere — even in hospitals! Adsfor cigarettes wer e all over the place. Today we're more awareabout how bad smoking is for our health. Smoking is restricted orbanned in almost all publ ic places and cigarette companies are nolonger allowed to advertise on TV, radio, and in many magazines.

Almost everyone knows that smoking causes cancer, emphysema,and heart disease; that it can shorten your life by 10 years ormore; A nd that the habit can cost a smoker thousands of dollarsa year. So how come people are still lighting up? The answer, in aword, is addic tion.

Once You Start, It's Hard to Stop

Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco containsnicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictivedrugs, the b ody and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal. People start smoking for a variety of different reasons. Some think it looks cool. Others start because their family members or friends smoke. Statistics show that about 9 out of 10 tobacco users start before they're 18 years old. Most adults who started smoking in their teens never expected to become addicted. That's why people say it's just so much easier to not start smoking at all.

How Smoking Affects Your Health

There are no physical reasons to start smoking. The body doesn't need tobacco the way it needs food, water, sleep, and exercise. And many of the chemicals in cigarettes, like nicotine and cyanide, are actually poisons that can kill in high enough doses.

The body is smart. It goes on the defense when it's being poisoned. First-time smokers often feel pain or burning in the throat and lungs, and some people feel sick or even throw up the first few times they try tobacco.

The consequences of this poisoning happen gradually. Over the long term, smoking leads people to develop health problems like heart disease, stroke, emphysema (breakdown of lung tissue), and many types of cancer — including lung, throat, stomach, and bladder cancer. People who smoke also have an increased risk of infections like bronchitis and pneumonia.

These diseases limit a person's ability to be normally active, and they can be fatal. In the United States, smoking is responsible for about 1 out of 5 deaths.

Smokers not only develop wrinkles and yellow teeth, they also lose bone density, which increases their risk of osteoporosis

(pronounced: ahs-tee-o-puh-row-sus), a condition that causes older people to become bent over and their bones to break more easily.

Smokers also tend to be less active than nonsmokers because smoking affects lung power.

Smoking can also cause fertility problems and can impact sexual health in both men and women. Girls who are on the pill or other hormone-based methods of birth control (like the patch or the ring) increase their risk of serious health problems, such as heart attacks, if they smoke.

The consequences of smoking may seem very far off, but long-term health problems aren't the only hazard of smoking. Nicotine and the other toxins in cigarettes, cigars, and pipes can affect a person's body quickly, which means that teen smokers experience many of these problems:

 Bad skin. Because smoking restricts blood vessels, it can prevent oxygen and nutrients from getting to the skin — which is

why smokers often appear pale and unhealthy. Studies have also linked smoking to an increased risk of getting a type of skin rash

called psoriasis.

 Bad breath. Cigarettes leave smokers with a condition called halitosis, or persistent bad breath.

 Bad-smelling clothes and hair. The smell of stale smoke tends to linger — not just on people's clothing, but on their hair,

furniture, and cars. And it's often hard to get the smell of smoke out.

 Reduced athletic performance. People who smoke usually can't compete with nonsmoking peers because the physical

effects of smoking (like rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation, and shortness of breath) impair sports performance.

 Greater risk of injury and slower healing time. Smoking affects the body's ability to produce collagen, so common sports

injuries, such as damage to tendons and ligaments, will heal more slowly in smokers than nonsmokers.

 Increased risk of illness. Studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis, and pneumonia than nonsmokers. And

people with certain health conditions, like asthma, become more sick if they smoke (and often if they're just around people who smoke). Because teens who smoke as a way to manage weight often light up instead of eating, their bodies also lack the nutrients

they need to grow, develop, and fight off illness properly.

Hookahs and E-Cigarettes

It's not only cigarettes that get people dependent on tobacco. Hookahs, staples of Middle Eastern café society, are water pipes used to smoke tobacco through a hose with a tapered mouthpiece. There's a myth going around that hookahs are safer because the smoke is cooled when it passes through the water.

But take a look at the black, resinous gunk that builds up in a hookah hose. Some of that gets into users' mouths and lungs. Indeed, experts say hookahs are no safer than cigarettes — and since they don't have filters and people often use them for long periods, the health risks might be even greater. Hookahs are usually shared, so there's the additional risk from germs being passed around along with the pipe.

Also beware of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), which contain cancer-causing chemicals and other toxins, including a compound used in antifreeze. These battery-operated devices use cartridges filled with nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals and convert them into a vapor that's inhaled by the user.

E-cigarettes haven't been evaluated or approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), so they don't have to post the health warnings that nicotine replacement products or conventional cigarettes do. But there's no such thing as a safe nicotine product.

Kicking Butts and Staying Smoke Free

All forms of tobacco — cigarettes, pipes, cigars, hookahs, and smokeless tobacco — are hazardous. It doesn't help to substitute products that seem like they're better for you than regular cigarettes, such as e-cigarettes or filtered or low-tar cigarettes.

The only thing that really helps a person avoid the problems associated with smoking is staying smoke free. This isn't always easy, especially if everyone around you is smoking and offering you cigarettes. It may help to have your reasons for not smoking ready for times you may feel the pressure, such as "I just don't like it" or "I want to stay in shape for soccer" (or football, basketball, or other sport).

The good news for people who don't smoke or who want to quit is that studies show that the number of teens who smoke has dropped dramatically. Today, about 20% of high school students smoke — which means 4 out of 5 don't.

If you do smoke and want to quit, you have lots of information and support available. Different approaches to quitting work for different people. For some, quitting cold turkey is best. Others find that a slower approach is the way to go. Some people find that it helps to go to a support group especially for teens. These are sometimes sponsored by local hospitals or organizations like the American Cancer

Society. The Internet offers a number of good resources to help people quit smoking.

When quitting, it can be helpful to realize that the first few days are the hardest. So don't give up. Some people find they have a few relapses before they manage to quit for good. Staying smoke free will give you a whole lot more of everything — more energy, better performance, better looks, more money in your pocket, and, in the long run, more life to live!

People start smoking for avariety of different reasons.Some think it looks cool. Othersstart because their familymembers or friends smo ke.Statistics show that about 9out of 10 tobacco users startbefore they're 18 years old.Most adults who startedsmoking in their teens n everexpected to become addicted.That's why people say it's justso much easier to not startsmoking at all.

EMPHYSEMA a condition in which the air sacs of the lungs are enfisema damaged and enlarged, causing breathlessness. CYANIDE /ˈsaɪənaɪd/ cianuro BREAKDOWN of lung tissue Distruzione dei tessuti dei polmoni PSORIASIS psoriasi STAPLE 1. (basic food) alimento m. base, alimento m. principale

2. ECON. (crop, product) prodotto m. principale; (industry) industria f. principale

3. FIG. (topic, theme) argomento m. principale

4. TESS. (fibre) fibra f

COLLOQ. (treatment) astinenza f.; COLD TURKEY (reaction) crisi f. di astinenza; to go ~ astenersi (on da); to be ~ essere in crisi d'astinenza. QUITTING COLD TURKEY stopping all at once without the help of medication, nicotine replacement methods, or any formal therapy

Il fumo è un vizio?

Fin'ora si è sempre detto e pensato che il fumo di sigaretta fosse un vizio. E cosa affermano molti fumatori sul fumo ? E' un vizio che in qualsiasi momento posso abbandonare. Niente di più falso. Il fumo di sigaretta non è un vizio, non è un'abitudine, ma una vera e propria tossicodipendenza. Il tabagismo è una malattia ( lo afferma anche l'OMS nella decima revisione della classificazione internazionale delle malattie: ICD X -International Classification Disease: include la dipendenza da tabacco nella lista dei disturbi legati all'uso di sostanze farmacologiche) e come tale deve essere trattata.

Cosa contiene una sigaretta

Il fumo di tabacco è un aerosol micidiale di sostanze nocive. Sul pacchetto delle sigarette sembra da quello che si può leggere che le sigarette contengono nicotina ,condensato e niente altro... Il fumo di tabacco contieneoltre 4000 sostanze:  idrocarburi aromatici policiclici,  nitrosamine,  benzopirene,  benzoantracene e queste sono tutte sostanze sicuramente cancerogene e cioè possono provocare tumore; poi vi sono sostanze irritanti quali  acido cianidrico,  acetaldeide,  formaldeide,  ammoniaca. Queste sostanze alterano la mucosa bronchiale dando una maggiore produzione di catarro ed in genere infiammazione della mucosa bronchiale. Ancora, il monossido di carbonio che si lega all'emoglobina (formando la carbossiemoglobina) sostanza che normalmente trasporta l'ossigeno e fa sì che venga trasportato meno ossigeno in tutto l'organismo. Ed infine la nicotina, sostanza che fra tutte quelle che abbiamo elencato è forse la meno dannosa ma sicuramente è quella che dà dipendenza.

La dipendenza da nicotina

E' la sostanza che fa sì che il fumatore cerchi sempre un'altra sigaretta e non riesca a farne a meno. La nicotina è una sostanza che, attraverso il fumo di tabacco, in pochi secondi arriva al cervello. Pensate che la medicina ufficiale solo nel 1988 ha affermato che la nicotina dava dipendenza come altre droghe quali l'eroina e la cocaina (General Surgeon USA (1988) : "la nicotina è la sostanza contenuta nel tabacco che porta alla dipendenza... l'uso del tabacco risponde ai criteri correntemente utilizzati per definire l'assuefazione"), mentre le industrie del tabacco conoscevano le qualità farmacologiche della nicotina dal 1963 ma in pubblico continuavano ad affermare che la nicotina non dava dipendenza ma era un componente molto importante per il gusto. " La nicotina dà dipendenza . Quindi, noi abbiamo a che fare con il business di un agente farmacologico psicotropo , efficace anche nel calmare lo stress".(I - Lista documenti) Questa è una dichiarazione, riservata del 1963, di Addison Yeaman , consulente generale della Brown & Williamson Tobacco (B&W) , resa sulla base di studi condotti in quegli anni sulla nicotina presso i laboratori di Ginevra del Battelle Memorial Institute e finanziati dalla British American Tobacco (BAT). A livello cerebrale attiva i recettori acetilcolinergici nicotinici nAChRs sui corpi cellulari dopaminici dell'Area Ventro-tegmentale e terminali dopaminici del Nucleo Accumbens e stimola la produzione di dopamina a livello della corteccia frontale. In questo modo provoca una sensazione di benessere e di piacere. Tutto ciò spinge il fumatore a ripetere l'esperienza (rinforzo dello stimolo), e cioè ad accendere la sigaretta. Ecco perché per molti fumatori è difficile smettere di fumare.

L'astinenza da nicotina In Italia circa un 40% dei fumatori attivi vorrebbe smettere di fumare ma non ci riesce, proprio a causa della forte dipendenza prodotta dall'utilizzo del fumo di tabacco. Solo il 5-6% di coloro che hanno smesso di fumare senza alcun aiuto riesce ad essere astinente ad un anno. La carenza della nicotina porta infatti, come abbiamo visto, ad una vera e propria sindrome di astinenzacaratterizzata dal seguente corredo sintomatologico:  insonnia,  desiderio irresistibile di accendere una sigaretta,  frustrazione,  rabbia,  irrequietezza,  impazienza,  rabbia,  depressione,  deficit di concentrazione,  difficoltà a svolgere le attività quotidiane,  irritabilità,  aumento dell'appetito,  incremento ponderale,  stipsi. Il metodo più accurato per valutare la dipendenza da nicotina è il Test di Fagerström. Il punteggio ottenuto al test è di fondamentale importanza, infatti ci permette anche di impostare la terapia "su misura" per ciascun paziente.

Smettere di fumare Esistono vari metodi per "far smettere di fumare": alcuni metodi hanno delle basi scientifiche, altri non ne hanno. Fra quelli che hanno delle basi scientifiche vi è la terapia farmacologica ( es. i sostituti della nicotina) e la terapia comportamentale o psicologica. Se le due terapie vengono combinate il risultato sarà migliore. Perché dare nicotina a chi vuole smettere? Il motivo lo abbiamo accennato prima , la nicotina è una droga pertanto nel momento in cui ci si astiene dal fumare ci mancherà ed avremo quel corredo sintomatologico di cui abbiamo parlato. Per aiutare il paziente a superare la crisi di astinenza da sigaretta possiamo utilizzare dei presidi quali le gomme da masticare, i cerotti, l'inhaler e le compresse sublinguali mediante i quali viene rilasciata una bassa quantità di nicotina in modo da alleviare gli stimoli che lo spingono a fumare. Le dosi di nicotina che si assumono sono quindi controllate, sicuramente inferiori a quelle contenute nelle sigarette, si assumono per un breve periodo e soprattutto si evitano le altre 4000 sostanze nocive presenti nelle sigarette. In ogni caso è bene che la terapia sostitutiva sia consigliata e seguita poi da personale sanitario competente quale il medico di medicina generale, lo specialista o il farmacista. Deve essere effettuata per almeno 2 mesi a dosaggi pieni e poi a scalare (non sottodosarla ! ). Infatti questi presidi aumentano la loro efficacia se sono sostenuti dai consigli e dall'aiuto del medico o quando vengono associati ad una terapia di supporto psicologico.

Alcuni consigli

 stabilire la data precisa in cui si intende smettere di fumare  comunicarla ai familiari e agli amici  programmare le giornate immediatamente successive alla data di cessazione  non frequentare luoghi in cui si fuma o persone che fumano  buttare tutti i pacchetti di sigarette che si hanno  lavare per bene la macchina e ripromettersi di non affumicarla più  fare una pulizia dei denti  quando viene la voglia di fumare cercare una persona che non sopporta il fumo e/o lavarsi i denti.