Risk of Smoking in Women

July 31, 2008 at 10:04 AM by admin

Smoking kills 114,000 people per year in the UK and a growing proportion of these are women. The risks taken by women in smoking are many fold and are well documented. Of these 114,000 deaths, over 42,000 of them are women.

As a group, 23% of all adult women are considered to be regular smokers compared with 26% of adult men. However, at secondary school age, more girls smoke than boys, at a rate of 26% to 16% respectively. Arguably this is because of the false belief that smoking helps weight loss and or slimming. As teenage girls are more susceptible to the social pressure of looking slim, this may well be a promoting factor in the higher prevalence of female smokers.

Given this similar rate of regular smoking at adulthood, women tend to smoke 2 cigarettes per day less than men, on average smoking 13 cigarettes compared to men smoking 15. It is possible that this is as a result of the difference in body mass between men and women.

80% of female lung cancer victims are smokers compared with 90% of male lung cancer victims. This is thought to be as a result of some metabolic difference between men and women, but female smokers should not consider the lower percentage as a blessing. Overall, more than 90% of lung cancer patients, whether male or female, are dead within 5 years of diagnosis as a direct result of their smoking.

Social class plays a role in death rates as a result of lung cancer too. The lowest social classes of men are five times more likely to die from lung cancer than the highest. In women, the lowest social class is twice as likely to die from lung cancer as the highest social class. Obviously, there are significant differences in smoking habits between these social classes but also other mitigating factors such as diet and alcohol consumption may play a role too.

Women greatly increase the risk of cervical cancer along with all the other forms of cancer that are known to be more prevalent in smokers. These include cancers of the mouth, lip and throat, cancer of the pancreas, bladder cancer, cancer of the kidney, stomach cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia.

Women who smoke put their children at much higher risk than those who don’t although any child should be protected from exposure to cigarette smoke regardless. Smoking during pregnancy leads to an increased risk of miscarriage, bleeding during pregnancy, premature birth and hence low weight of babies at birth. Lower birth weight and premature birth greatly increase the risks of ill-health in the child and the failure of that child to thrive. Finally and probably most painfully to any parent, smoking greatly increases the risk of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome also referred to as SIDS or cot death.

There is a prevalence in western society for women to use the contraceptive pill and links have been found between the pill and smokers with respect to a reduction in good health or a risk of negative side effects. Most notably, women on the pill increase their risk of heart attack ten-fold by smoking. There is also a higher incidence of stroke and cardiovascular disease in women taking the pill and smoking.

Smoking also increases the risk of problematic menstruation (but not Pre-Menstrual Tension or Pre-Menstrual Stress) and has been found to accelerate the onset of menopause. It has been found that women are likely to enter the menopause on average 2 years earlier than non-smoking women and are at increased risk of developing osteoporosis, a debilitating disease suffered by women which sees their bones decay and ’shrink’ as they grow older.

Smoking also has an aging effect on smokers, most noticeably in the wrinkling of the skin. The toxins in cigarette smoke are known to harm the metabolism of the skin as well as promoting the drying of the skin itself. Coupled to this, smoking accelerates the narrowing of blood vessels providing blood to the skin that again reduces its vitality. It is also thought that some of the chemicals in cigarette smoke increase the production of specific enzymes that break down collagen, the underlying substance that gives skin a youthful appearance and feel. It is also thought that smoking and the incidence of psoriasis are linked.

Finally, excess weight in female smokers tends towards the upper torso and around the organs of the body, rather than around the legs and hips. Female smokers have a lower waist to hip ratio making them statistically less curvaceous or feminine looking. The weight gain (if any) after smoking cessation tends away from the upper torso and with time, body fat tends towards the hips, buttocks and legs, away from the organs and heart. This is though to greatly reduce the risk of heart disease in women who quit smoking.

Pete Howells owns the website http://easyquitsystem.com and has devised a simple system that will help any smoker quit by giving them the instructions they need to follow to achieve their ambition to quit. Please visit http://easyquitsystem.com to find out more about his incredible process for quitting smoking.

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Smoking Gun for Diabetics

July 30, 2008 at 02:22 AM by admin

If you are feeling great now, consider it a blessing, and quit today. Stay ahead of the game. If you have an existing health problem, then quit today, prevent further damage, and maybe even reverse some of the effects. If you have diabetes, it is even more imperative that you quit now. For those of you with diabetes, your risks increase dramatically when you smoke. For example, some of the risks are:

- Death from a stroke or heart attack is increased by 11 fold

- Circulation & wound healing problems which may lead to infection & amputation

- Kidney disease, blindness, & neuropathy

- Increase in blood sugar levels

- High blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides in the blood which can result in a heart attack.

There are treatments created to assist people like you to make the decision to ‘Quit for Life’. You may have tried numerous times to quit and may think it is impossible. It is not impossible. The first step is to make the clear decision to stop. The second step is to decide which method you will use.

One treatment in particular offers an all-new, clinically proven method. It is absolutely clean. This breakthrough approach was created in 1999 by a team of scientists and professors in Germany. Since then, thousands of people in Europe have successfully quit smoking. We have a non-invasive treatment that is free of side effects, needles, medication, and nicotine. The computer aided software is administered via electronic stimulation which shortens, if not eliminates, the nicotine withdrawal state, partly through the release of endorphins. Our treatment has had staggering success rates in Europe and is continuing here in the U.S.

Remember, for every cigarette that you smoke, minutes are taken from your life. Even more so if you are also diabetic. Make the decision today to quit destroying your body, and make up your mind once and for all. Let this patented method help you with the rest. It is the best gift you will ever give to yourself and your loved ones.

For more information please visit: http://nicocess.com or call 1-888-320-QUIT.

Annette Baril is a New York State Licensed Acupuncturist.

Free to reprint as long as the authors name and website link follow, and content remains unchanged.

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Discover Why Most People Fail To Quit Smoking And How To Overcome It

July 29, 2008 at 07:04 AM by admin

Occasionally, you would hear the same old stories, on how people would just quit for 1, 2 or 3 weeks/months even years, and then return to the old habit. Not only that, they will come back and smoke even more and more. It is as if…

They are smoking with a vengeance!

Because they had to “cover” back the loss of cigarettes intake while they were taking a break when they were trying to quit. It may seemed funny or weird to you but this is true. It happens so often I’m sure you came across this situation at least once in your life before.

Did you know that according to statistics, only 10% or even less of those who tried to quit smoking only succeeded? Yes, even so, of those who quitted smoking, are not guaranteed to stop forever.

So why did those people and so many of them fail? They were lacking a very important aspect. You see my friend, they were lacking of

A STRONG Purpose To Quit Smoking!

This may seem over simplified at first, but this is crucial in the preparation of quitting smoking. Not only do you need a purpose, you must have a purpose so strong that it almost certainly becomes a conviction for you to quit smoking.

I’m sure you heard somewhere before that why is more important than how. Without a purpose, regardless of whether you can quit smoking, you may pick in up in the future.

Here’s how you should create a strong purpose to quit smoking:

1) Pick up a paper and write down how smoking has affected you in the past.

2) Next write down of how smoking is affecting you presently.

3) Followed by how smoking will 100% definitely affect you in the future.

You may relate any issues relating to this matter. Perhaps your family, love ones, relatives, job, career, health, performance, your time and money. You may relate how smoking has affected all those areas in your life.

The second reason why people fail to quit smoking is that many people do not know how to cope with the withdrawal symptoms. In the process of quitting smoking, many suffer from various symptoms such as anxiety, frustration and irritation. Soon one may lose concentration and would be utterly “paralyzed” because of the addiction.

Tony James is an ex-smoker for 15 years and is currently helping smokers to quit smoking with ease without the discomfort of cravings or withdrawal symptoms.

Discover an easy, proven and tested way that you can quit smoking in 1 week without the discomfort of cravings or withdrawal symptoms.

Click here to find out how =>
http://www.easyquitsmokingsecrets.com

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