A number of surveys have indicated that perhaps as much as 30% of teenage girls as well as women give controlling their weight as one of the main reasons for smoking.

States Dr. Margaret R. Rukstalis, a psychiatrist at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in addictive behaviors, “The relationship between concerns about weight and smoking is dramatic.”

And those teenagers who do begin experimenting with cigarettes can become addicted to nicotine much more quickly than can adults. Young brains, scientists seem to believe, are more receptive biologically to nicotine. This makes it especially hard to stop smoking.

A report by the National Institute on Drug Abuse stated that some adolescents can become addicted within days of beginning smoking. And it also appears that adolescent girls get hooked on nicotine faster then do adolescent boys.

Not Fully Aware of the Health Risks

If you are still wondering why is it harder for teens to quit smoking, another reason may be that they are not quite fully aware of the health risks of cigarette smoking.

A study recently conducted by the Centers for Disease Control stated that teenagers who begin smoking not only significantly increase their risk of developing lung cancer, but can early on begin showing signs that will eventually lead to heart disease and stroke.

Estimates are that 80% of adults who are smokers today began smoking as adolescents.

Although the health consequences of smoking cigarettes are known to us as adults, many teens don’t seem to be fully aware of the long-term adverse health consequences of smoking.

It seems that kids are not fully able to grasp the concept of the damaging effects of tobacco. A challenge for us as parents is to help these kids begin to understand the long-term effects that smoking will have on them.

What Can We Do

Most experts agree that parents play the most significant role in their kid’s decision to not smoke or to quit smoking.

By making it clear to their children that they disapprove of smoking, parents can exert more influence on the behavior of their children than they might think.

It has been shown that teenagers who feel as though their parents would not approve of them smoking were less than half as likely to smoke as kids having parents they thought didn’t care. And those that do smoke are more likely to give up smoking.

It is a great idea to get to know and become familiar with the friends your teenager associates with. It is also a good idea to get to know their friends’ parents as well. Having your children’s friends over on a regular basis will help in that regard.

In addition, through the power of love for your kids, you can help them overcome the negative influences that certain peer groups may have over them. If your children senses that the love and support you have for them is more important than the acceptance by their peer group, they may very well choose your influence over that of their peers.

Why is it harder for teens to quit smoking? and many other discussion topics related to quitting smoking can be found at http://quitsmokingforgood.org/why_is_it_harder_for_teens_to_quit_smoking.html Permission is granted to reprint this article provided it is reprinted in its entirety. © 2007 http://www.quitsmokingforgood.org, All rights reserved.

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It’s worth remembering that all drugs can have unwanted side effects and smoking is no different.

Here are a few ‘side effects’ of smoking.

* Cancer: It is widely recognized that smoking can cause lung cancer. But, did know that it also increases the risk of cancer of the lips, tongue, mouth, nose, esophagus, pharynx, larynx, pancreas, cervix, vulva, penis and anus. There are also associations between smoking and cancers of the stomach, kidney, liver and blood.

(That should be enough to make anyone stop smoking immediately! but there is more…)

* Diabetes: Smoking raises blood sugar levels, making it even harder to control the high blood sugar levels caused by diabetes. Some of the health complications caused by type 1, or insulin-dependent diabetes, are worsened by smoking.
* Blood Circulation: Because, when you smoke, your blood carries less oxygen and more plaque, you are more likely to suffer from dangerous blood clots and strokes. Back pain and blockages of the tiny blood vessels in the eyes, ears and other organs can also affect you. This can lead to poor circulation in your hands, feet and limbs, which can cause severe pain, especially when exercising, and can result in gangrene and amputation.
* Infections: Smoking will damage the lining of your throat and lungs and weaken your immune system, making it easier for bacteria and viruses to take hold in your body.
* Breathing Problems: In the long term, habitual smokers are more likely to have some degree of emphysema, a disease that causes progressive shortness of breath, as smoking cuts the amount of oxygen able to be carried from the air into your blood. As a smoker you will be more prone to asthma attacks because smoking narrows your airways.
* Aging: You will look prematurely aged, as wrinkles will appear around your eyes and mouth sooner and deeper than in a non-smoker. A woman who smokes tends to reach menopause one or two years earlier than a non-smoker or an ex-smoker because smoking reduces the amount of estrogen in the body, and, she is more likely to develop osteoporosis – the weakening of the bones that accompanies aging.
* Hearing: It’s likely that you will lose your hearing earlier than a non-smoker, and will be more susceptible to hearing loss due to ear infections and loud noise. This is due to decreased blood flow to the inner ear resulting from plaque build up on the blood vessel walls.

If you are tempted to smoke, or already do smoke, here are a few strategies for you next time you feel like lighting up. I do feel, though, that ‘the decision’ is the most important thing. If you don’t make ‘the decision’ to quit, you will never be able to do it.

On the other hand, if you do make ‘that decision’, you’ll do it even though it won’t be easy. Once you’ve made the decision, if you feel the urge to ‘light up’ :-

1. Stop yourself, have a drink of water, breathe deeply and find something else to do;
2. Do try to eat healthy food and get some extra exercise;
3. Recognize that social pressures may impact on your choice to not smoke;
4. Get help and support from family and friends;
5. Quitting smoking is a challenge – it will help you believe in yourself;
6. Beat this challenge and you’ll be ready to take on other challenges;
7. Find new ways to deal with stress and difficult emotions;
8. Be proud of saying “No thanks”.

I hope this will help you to ‘make that decision’ to give up that very unhealthy habit of smoking and to experience the benefits of quitting.

The ‘side effects’ of smoking are far worse than the withdrawal symptoms or ‘side effects’ of quitting.

It takes a constant and deliberate effort to stay healthy and to achieve total well-being and it may mean we have to make some life-style changes where necessary. Visit http://www.wellness-decisions.com where you will find help to guide you through the choices you need to make.

You can find out more about the ‘unhealthy habit’ of smoking and the help that is available to you at wellness-decisions – subscribe to the ‘Choose Wellness’ Newsletter and download a free eBook “Just Quit It”. Visit also my Squidoo Lens http://www.squidoo.com/why_quit

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Jane Aslett – EzineArticles Expert Author

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The problem with finding an effective quit smoking method is that you are an individual and what will work for you may not have worked for virtually all other smokers. On the other hand, what may work for you may well be the same approach that has worked for many other smokers.

The thing is, to quit smoking effectively; you will only ever do it once. To quit smoking for a year then start again or for a month and then start again is not a successful attempt in the truest sense. Once you have quit, you would always advise people to use the method that worked for you right? In that sense, it is difficult to advise you.

So what effective quit smoking ways are available for you to investigate? There are many available and choosing one is a very personal choice. Only you can assess what is likely to fit in with who you are.

The approaches available range from pharmaceutical approaches including drugs and nicotine replacement therapy, to holistic approaches including acupuncture and herbal treatments, through to psychological approaches such as cognitive behavioural therapy and hypnosis. Finally, there is the trusty old willpower method with its very low chance of success.

The pharmaceutical approaches include two main drugs, only available on prescription, including Varenicline (sold as Chantix in the US and as Champix in Europe) and Zyban. Zyban has been in use for about 10 years now, whilst 2008 will be the second year of availability for Chantix.

It is easy to think that these pharmaceutical approaches offer a miracle cure but it is important to realize that there are risks associated with using drugs. Before you set your heart on a drug-based cure, make sure you talk to your doctor to help you decide if it is the right path for you.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has been around for a couple of decades now and is often used in conjunction with Zyban, to increase the chances of success of both. NRT is available in gum, patches, lozenges, nasal sprays and inhalers and is usually as expensive as smoking itself. As a treatment, it is thought to double your chances of success compared to quitting cold turkey but there are many observers willing to argue against the effectiveness of NRT.

Holistic approaches are also available in forms such as acupuncture or herbal therapies or laser treatments or even ‘bioresonance’ whatever hokum that is. These approaches have not been tested using standard scientific trials like the ones used to evaluate pharmaceuticals, NRT, hypnosis or CBT. There is much anecdotal evidence to suggest that holistic approaches are effective quit smoking ways to try, but the scientific evidence is absent so it is difficult to comment.

Hypnosis and cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) are two other commonly acknowledged methods for helping people quit smoking. Hypnosis uses the hypnotic state to bypass analytical thinking and allows the therapist to seat new or different views in the subjects mind. It has been successfully trailed and has been found to have a positive effect on people quitting smoking.

Many people who have quit think of hypnosis as one of the more effect quit smoking ways available not least because it is an enjoyable relaxing process. Success however can depend on the therapist and no two hypnosis styles or scripts are the same.

CBT differs from hypnosis by challenging the thinking of a smoker head on. It allows the smoker to use their rational conscience to analyse and evaluate a different view of smoking. It does this by breaking smoking down into a number of components and then addressing each component one by one in an educational approach.

CBT is often reported as being an enlightening approach for quitting smoking; giving people an enormous feeling of confidence once they ‘see the light’. Comparative testing has shown CBT to be a very effective method for quitting the evil cancer sticks.

Both hypnosis and CBT boast good long-term success rates. But if there is one flaw in these approaches though, it can make quitting smoking seem very easy and lull smokers into thinking they can choose when and when not to be a smoker. This is not advisable; once you have quit, you should stay quit!

Finally, the cold turkey method for quitting smoking faces smokers with the greatest challenges. They are expected to confront smoking head on without support or education unlike any of the other approaches. This often results in complete failure and only about 5% of people who try to quit smoking this way succeed.

However, the chances of long-term success are very good with an Australian study showing that of all the ex-smokers asked, almost 90% had quit smoking cold turkey, without support or education.

The fact of the matter is that there are many effective quit smoking ways you can try – the successful one for you could be any of them and it is only once you have tried them all that you will know what works for you.

Tom Dainty is a quit smoking therapist and author of The Quit Smoking Bible, a cognitive behavioural therapy approach to quitting smoking. His work is only available from http://quitsmokingbible.com

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However, the smoker is not the only one who suffers from the harmful effects of smoking. Any one, including non-smokers who find themselves in close proximity to the smoker, is also at risk. Other people are exposed to “second hand smoke” or “environmental tobacco smoke”.

Cigarette smokers inflict second hand smoke on others who are nearby. The non-smoker is compelled to inhale this smoke, which either comes from the cigarette the smoker is using or is exhaled by the smoker himself. This is called passive smoking and is very harmful to the non-smoker.

Second hand smoke is usually relatively less harmful than actually smoking a cigarette, particularly if the exposure is inconsistent and infrequent. However, one wonders whether this is still the case when the smoker frequently smokes indoors, trapping the smoke and exposing others in the room to the smoke.

This is all too often the case when a family member smokes consistently in the presence of the rest of the family. The harmful effects of smoking that beset smokers will show themselves in the passive smokers if they are frequently exposed to second hand smoke.

In particular, children can succumb to the effects of smoking through second hand smoking. Their body is still developing and they have a faster heart rate than adults. Many children, as well as adults, subjected to second hand smoke, fall victim to cancers as well as diseases of the heart and lungs. Should the harmful effects of smoking not manifest themselves in passive smokers, this can only be due to their inconsistent exposure to the second hand smoke.

Smoking in enclosed or insufficiently ventilated rooms is discouraged in many places of business. There is now a growing awareness of the effects of smoking not just on the smokers, but on non-smokers who are around them. Thus, many establishments have strict rules in place, specifically that smokers smoke outdoors instead of indoors.

The implementation of protective measures for non-smokers reduces risk of involuntary passive smoking among workers. However, should these measures not be in place, the risk to non-smokers remains and should be brought to attention of the responsible supervisor.

Janet is writing articles for many years. Visit her current website at http://www.stopsmokingprogram.org/ where she covers interesting aspects with regards to quit smoking naturally and related smoking issues.

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It is a proven fact that cigarette smoking can increase the risk of a wide variety of pregnancy complications including premature rupture of membranes, vaginal bleeding and premature placental detachment just as a few examples. One of the effects of smoking during pregnancy is smoking interferes with your absorption of vitamins B and C and folic acid. Neural tube defects results because of lack of folic acid which is caused by smoking.

The problem with smoking is the cigarette itself. The smoke from the cigarette and even the second hand smoke contain very dangerous chemicals. The chemicals that are really dangerous to the baby and the mom such as carbon monoxide and nicotine are toxins that move through the bloodstream and harm your developing baby. Your baby is contained in a smoke-filled womb and this reduces the flow of oxygen to your baby. The effects of smoking during pregnancy are too risky at best. Nicotine can cause your baby’s heart rate to increase, and can decrease your baby’s supply of nutrients because of your increased blood pressure and blood vessel constriction. This is just the start for the baby’s complications as they continuously grow with each trimester.

It is always best to quit smoking before you become pregnant, however, if you are already pregnant please quit during the first trimester. In the early part of the pregnancy it is sometimes easier to quit smoking as the distaste for cigarettes begins now. If you stop your smoking in the early part of the pregnancy you can avoid many of the alarming birth defects your child may suffer. Effects of smoking during pregnancy can cause miscarrying this is avoidable by not smoking. In the first trimester is important for your baby’s development. That is why it is very serious matter that you quit smoking. I know you do not want to stop your baby’s development so stopping now could help to insure that you have a healthy baby.

The second trimester of your pregnancy is very vital to the baby’s health. The effects of smoking during pregnancy become more acute during this time. You can decrease your chances of developing such complications as placenta previa going into pre term labor and even stillbirth. Every cigarette that you do not smoke increases the baby’s chance for life itself. If you have not been able to stop during your first trimester please cut down on the amount you are smoking until after the baby is born.

Smoking in the third trimester is not advisable at all. It is not too late to stop smoking now. If you do decide to stop now you still have a chance to improve your delivery of a healthy, full-term normal birth-weight baby. Smoking is directly the cause of decreased birth-weight. This is a lot to think about and so little time to do it. The effects of smoking during pregnancy are such a great risk that this is something no mother should avoid. An impaired fetal growth has a direct connection with smoking during the pregnancy. One thing perhaps that you had not considered is if you quit smoking by now you have better odds of not loosing your baby to SIDS. The effects of smoking during pregnancy can affect the baby even after the child is born. You can preserve the oxygen flow to your baby during delivery by quitting. Your baby is prone to having breathing problems after birth such as Asthma, Bronchitis, and other breathing disorders. The child may not be as healthy as could be because of suffering from being born premature. Smoking presents many risks for your baby that you can prevent if you only stop “SMOKING”.

Author – Kitty Barker who often writes for and with Pregnancy Information where there is far more information, news and resources. She also writes for Pregnancy Weight Gain If that link is inactive, you can paste this link into your browser – http://pregnancy-and-baby-tips.com/

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Smoking is known to be a norm with in some social circles, especially among teenagers and young adults, and generally socially accepted this habit has no benefits to both smokers and non-smokers. Not only smoking is highly addictive and hooks you in spending lots of money on cigarettes, but also it can result in serious life threatening diseases and also it will result in less serious but still quite disgusting problems like bad breath, yellow teeth and fingers, bad skin etc. Also smoking effects not only the smoker but the people around the smoker as well because the smoke which getting emitted from your lungs contains huge amounts of poisonous chemicals which are quite bad for human health and the biggest problem of second-hand smoke is that in most cases it affects children around you.

The Ugly Effects of Smoking

Statistics shows that smoking is the most common reason for premature death among smokers. Statistics also shows that every year due to illnesses and diseases caused by smoking more than 400000 people die in the United States alone. And the really disturbing part of it is that fatalities also include children who are merely exposed to second-hand smoke from their parents or relatives. How would you feel if you knew that your smoking killed your child, think about it for a minute?

Did you know that when you smoke, every time you inhale, you actually inhaling more than 4800 different harmful chemicals, 69 of which are shown to trigger different cancer related diseases? Smoking is shown to be responsible for more than 90 percent of lung cancer fatalities in United States and also smoking is responsible for about 80-90 percent of fatalities from other respiratory diseases. If you manage to quit smoking the chances of lung cancer or other respiratory disease is dramatically reduced.

Also smoking does not only affect your respiratory system, smoking also attributed as a major cause of strokes, heart illnesses, and a number of other life threatening diseases. Statistics shows that every year a huge number of people are being diagnosed with life threatening diseases due to inhalation of smoke and what is quite alarming that the number includes both smokers and non-smokers so this is clearly shows that second-hand inhalation of cigarette smoke is nearly as bad as smoking itself.

Another alarming statistics shows that every year there are more and more young kids are treated for respiratory and coronary diseases as the result of second-hand smoke inhalation. Kids are more likely to have things like asthma, allergies, poor immune system and other nasty diseases in families where one or more parent or relative smokes then in a smoke free families. Also in smoking families it is much more likely that kids will start smoking as well when they get a bit older.

Also if you are a pregnant woman surrounded by smokers or a smoker yourself, your baby most probably will develop one or more of the following conditions, which will affect him for the rest of his/her life, weak heart and lungs with curtailed lung function and narrow air passages. In some cases smoking can also lead to premature birth or even death of a child. Do you want to kill your own baby or damage him/her for the rest of the life?

Other Negative Effects of Smoking

Aside from high risk of developing serious life threatening diseases as well as negative short term effects from smoking, you exposing yourself to other serious consequences when you smoking. These consequences include dental problems, hygiene problems etc.

You may think that smoking looks cool, but in reality smoking is very unhygienic. When you smoke your teeth tend to become yellow or even brown because of the tar deposits from cigarette smoke stay on your teeth. Also smoking results in higher risk of developing gum diseases and plague. And this can result in expensive procedures to get your mouth and teeth back into good condition.

Also smoking significantly increases the risk of losing your teeth. Medical statistics shows that the average tooth damage among smokers range 1.5 to 2.9 percent every 10 years. This means that if you were to start smoking when you 18 you are quite likely to lose about five teeth by the time you turn 35.

In addition to the above smoking shown to slow down healing process after injury or medical procedure. So not only you will have longer in a hospital or out of work but it will also cost you more.

And if everything mentioned above is not enough, smoking has a potential to ruin not only your health but also your physical appearance. Smoking tends to speed up the aging process which in turn makes your skin and hair look dull and aged. As a smoker you also tend to have more wrinkles but the worst part of smoking is that over time your hair and your body start to smell of smoke. And it takes a long time to get rid of that smell even if you quit smoking. Also as you can see all this will make you less attractive to the other gender and will highly reduce the chances of finding a partner.

It is your choice if you want to smoke or not but remember one thing in a long run there is a very high chance of causing serious damage to your body and I can relate to it as I was there. The good thing is I managed to quit in time.

Quit Smoking Once And For All the new cravings and withdrawal free quit smoking system.

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