Stop Smoking!
Facebook is loaded with posts of cute cats and entertaining dogs. I saw a post yesterday that featured health risks to cats. Did you know that smoking increases the risk of cancer in dogs and cats? Secondhand smoke has been associated with oral cancer and lymphoma in cats, lung and nasal cancer in dogs, as well as lung cancer in birds. And that says nothing about the children in your home. It’s time to quit.
I realize it’s not easy to stop. Some drugs are psychologically addictive and others are physically addictive. Some are both. If you had to choose which drugs are the most addictive between heroin, alcohol, cocaine, barbiturates and nicotine, which would you choose? According to May Wilkerson, it depends. “The potential for a drug to get someone hooked relies on a variety of factors including how much harm it causes, its street value, how much it activates your brain’s dopamine system, how much pleasure people experience while taking it, withdrawal symptoms, and how easily people report getting hooked.” But that aside, researchers estimate that nicotine is in the top five addictive substances. More people in the United States are addicted to nicotine than to any other drug.
When you smoke a cigarette, nicotine is rapidly absorbed by the lungs and delivered to the brain, releasing dopamine. More than two-thirds of Americans who have smoked a cigarette reported becoming addicted at some point in their lives. And in 2002, the World Health Organization estimated there were more than one billion smokers across the world, and that tobacco is predicted to cause more than eight million deaths annually by 2030.
Some people smoke as a coping mechanism for emotional distress. They smoke to cope with stress. Between 20-30% of smokers are considered to have high anxiety sensitivity – a fear of anxiety related symptoms such as a racing heart, sweating or dizziness. This makes it harder to quit. These people have more difficulty with nicotine withdrawal, which puts them at risk of a relapse.
The good news is that exercise can reduce these symptoms, which doubles the chances of success to stop smoking, according to a study at the University of Texas at Austin. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two groups. One group exercised three times per week and the other group received education, therapy and optional nicotine patches. The group that exercised were more successful in smoking cessation over time.
Most former smokers quit without using specialized treatment, but there are a number of effective programs available. Find something that works for you. If you can’t do it for you, do it for your furry friends.