Each Puff Of A Cigarette: 100 Trillion Free Radicals
Easy Health Options Staff | Feb 09, 2012 | Comments 10
Think you know how bad cigarette smoke is for your health? Swallow this fact: Every puff of a cigarette contains about 4,700 different chemicals and 100 trillion free radical molecules. These reactive substances damage lung tissue by chemically reacting with DNA, cell membranes and other molecules in the lung.
Scientists believe the only reason cigarette smoking isn’t more dangerous is the fact that the lungs protect themselves with the antioxidant glutathione that’s in fluid bathing the airways. The antioxidant reacts with the reactive species in tobacco smoke, thus preventing damaging reactions with lung tissue.
“This natural protective response actually allows people to smoke,” said Brian Day, a professor of medicine at National Jewish Health in Denver and a researcher who has investigated the effects of tobacco smoke. “Without it, all smokers would suffer significantly more lung damage.”
Day’s studies indicate that the smokers who succumb to lung cancer and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are probably made more vulnerable to these problems because of infections that compromise the lung’s immune defenses.
Filed Under: Alternative Medicine • Asthma • Cancer • Easy Health Options News • Heart and Cardiovascular • Heart Concerns
yeah – all us smokers know it is bad – but it too hard to stop smoking when we are alive. i wish there was a way to quit, why didn’t the study not give some help or suggestions??? any suggestions anyone.
it is like all the healthy stuff i do is “trumped” by my smoking… : (
I had been studying Buddhism and knew that the DESIRE to smoke was my undoing! So I quit with this one great tip from a friend of mine who told me “Whatever you ask in the name of Jesus He will do!” Every time the desire to smoke came, I prayed, “GOD! In the name of Jesus – TAKE THIS DESIRE for the cigarette away!” and POOF – it would vanish. I had to do it A LOT each day, and then less and less. Soon it was 2 weeks and I had not wanted a cig – then 6 months later I had to ask again to take the desire away. But it worked! And now it’s been over 40 yeas since i wanted a cigarette! Hurray!
So what about second hand smoke causing free radicals? Any info?
Basically, second hand smoke contains just as many dangerous chemicals as first hand smoke. The dose may be slightly lower, but not by much.
What about the people who never smoked that get lung cancer? What about the thousands of chemicals in the environment?
The thousands of chemicals in our environment are definitely a toxic burden for the body. But when you smoke, you burden the body even more and you increase your risk of exhausting the body’s detoxification capabilities.
Yeah how to get rid of a person who is smoking. He ignores me as asthma. Aroma or something to make him to leave off or enforce him quite???
The Big $ tobacco lawsuits seemed more like a government-sanctioned travesty than a way to solve a problem [since when does Uncle Scam actually SOLVE problems?]. As long as cigarette companies get away with putting toxic chemicals in their tobacco, nothing will change.
Eliminate the crap, and people should have better odds in not ‘paying’ for government incompetence and the lust for easy money on the part of cigarette companies. Thank God, I never started smoking cigarettes.
Here are some other great tips on stopping smoking from some wise folks at Nicotine Anonymous:
“The Boilerplate Points:
Do your best to follow as many of these as you can. The points below are advocated by most of today’s credible quit-smoking products and programs. They are widely accepted as an essential and necessary part of quitting successfully.
Just using the patch or Zyban without following the points below will hinder your chances to quit for good this time.
* DEEP BREATHING PERHAPS THE SINGLE MOST POWERFUL AND IMPORTANT TECHNIQUE Every time you want a cigarette, do the following. Do it three times.
Inhale the deepest lung-full of air you can, and then, very slowly, exhale. Purse your lips so that the air must come out slowly.
As you exhale, close your eyes, and let your chin gradually sink over onto your chest. Visualize all the tension leaving your body, slowly draining out of your fingers and toes, just flowing on out.
This is a variation of an ancient yoga technique from India, and is VERY centering and relaxing. If you practice this, you’ll be able to use it for any future stressful situation you find yourself in. And it will be your greatest weapon during the strong cravings sure to assault you over the first few days.
This deep breathing technique will be a vital help to you. Reread this point now, and as you do, try it for the first time. Inhale and exhale three times. See for yourself!
* The first few days, drink LOTS of water and fluids to help flush out the nicotine and other poisons from your body.
* Remember that the urge to smoke only lasts a few minutes, and will then pass. The urges gradually become farther and farther apart as the days go by.
* Do your very best to stay away from alcohol, sugar and coffee the first week or longer, as these tend to stimulate the desire for a cigarette. Avoid fatty foods, as your metabolism will slow down a bit without the nicotine, and you may gain weight even if you eat the same amount as before quitting. So discipline about diet is extra important now. No one ever said acquiring new habits would be easy!
* Nibble on low calorie foods like celery, apples and carrots. Chew gum or suck on cinnamon sticks.
* Stretch out your meals; eat slowly and wait a bit between bites.
* After dinner, instead of a cigarette, treat yourself to a cup of mint tea or a peppermint candy.
* In one study, about 25% of quitters found that an oral substitute was invaluable. Another 25% didn’t like the idea at all — they wanted a clean break with cigarettes. The rest weren’t certain. Personally, I found a cigarette substitute to be a tremendous help. The nicotine inhaler (by prescription) is one way to go: it’s a shortened plastic cigarette, with a replaceable nicotine capsule inside.
* A simpler way to go is bottled cinnamon sticks, available at any supermarket. I used these every time I quit, and they really helped me. I would chew on them, inhale air through them, and handle them like cigarettes. After a while, they would get pretty chewed up on one end — but I’d laugh, reverse them and chew on the other end. Others may prefer to start a fresh stick. Once someone asked me, “Excuse me, but is that an exploded firecracker in your mouth?” I replied that I was quitting smoking – and they smiled and became supportive. Luckily, I never needed the cinnamon sticks after the first three days of being a nonsmoker.
* Go to a gym, sit in the steam, exercise. Change your normal routine – take time to walk or even jog around the block or in a local park.
* Look in the yellow pages under Yoga, and take a class – they’re GREAT! Get a one hour massage, take a long bath — pamper yourself.
* Ask for support from coworkers, friends and family members. Ask for their tolerance. Let them know you’re quitting, and that you might be edgy or grumpy for a few days. If you don’t ask for support, you certainly won’t get any. If you do, you’ll be surprised how much it can help. Take a chance — try it and see!
* Ask friends and family members not to smoke in your presence. Don’t be afraid to ask. This is more important than you may realize.
* On your quit day, hide all ashtrays and destroy all your cigarettes, preferably with water, so no part of them is smokeable.
#
# At Nicotine Anonymous meetings, you’ll find warm bodies, which can be more comforting than a computer screen. If this appeals to you more, pick up your telephone and ask directory assistance for the phone number of your local chapter. These are based on the classic 12-steps, borrowed from AA. The meetings are free and run entirely by volunteers. If there are no meetings in your city, try calling (800) 642-0666, or check the website. There you can also find out how to start your own meeting. That’s how it spread all over the U.S. Support groups like Nicotine Anonymous might initially seem unnecessary — but they provide a GREAT outlet to vent verbally. This could help spare your family and friends much grumpiness. It’s truly therapeutic to see how other quitters are doing in their own struggles to stop.
* Here is perhaps the most valuable information among these points. In Phase 2, the period which begins a few weeks after quitting, the urges to smoke will subside considerably. However, it’s vital to understand that from time to time, you will still be suddenly overwhelmed with a desire for “just one cigarette.” This will happen unexpectedly, during moments of stress, whether negative stress or positive (at a party, or on vacation). If you are unprepared to resist, succumbing to that “one cigarette” will lead you directly back to smoking. Remember the following secret: in these surprise attacks during Phase 2 — and they will definitely come — do your deep breathing, and hold on for five minutes, and the urge will pass.
In conclusion, get the info and support you need to make the stopping process a little easier. DO NOT try to go it alone. Get help, and plenty of it.
# Write down ten good things about being a nonsmoker — and then write out ten bad things about smoking. Do it. It really helps.
# Don’t pretend smoking wasn’t enjoyable – it was. This is like losing a good friend – and it’s okay to grieve the loss. Feel that grief, don’t worry, it’s okay. Feel, and you heal. Stay with it — you can do it!
# Several times a day, quietly repeat to yourself the affirmation, “I am a nonsmoker.” Many quitters see themselves as smokers who are just not smoking for the moment. They have a self-image as smokers who still want a cigarette. Silently repeating the affirmation “I am a nonsmoker” will help you change your view of yourself, and, even if it may seem silly to you, this is actually useful. Use it!
Phase Two
Staying smokefree and not relapsing
Here is the most valuable secret I can share with you, and probably the most important information on this page.
After the urges to smoke have become more and more infrequent, overwhelming surprise attacks are sure to come, a few weeks and months into your new smokefree life.
When these nearly out-of-control urges came (and they always engulfed me in unexpected moments), I learned that if I did my deep breathing (see above), and if I could just HOLD ON for 5 minutes — the overpowering urge to smoke would completely pass.
That is by far the single most important thing I learned — the hard way — about how to quit successfully.
Because I didn’t know this, I failed 11 times. I finally stopped for good on my 12th try, in Spring 1985. It’s the key to what has empowered me to stay smokefree for the past dozen years or so.
So know that out-of-control, very nearly irresistible urges to have “just one” are going to take you by surprise, like a sudden gale that seems to come from nowhere. This will happen one or more times in the coming months.
Every time it does, do your deep breathing (see above), hold on for 5 minutes — you can do it — and the urge will completely pass.
I’m convinced that this is the single most important secret to quitting for life. “
I need a rehab, I wish i could afford a lawyer to sue the cig companies to pay for a 30 day rehab!