Addiction Solution Source

The Member States of the World Health Organization created World No Tobacco Day in 1987 to draw global attention to the tobacco epidemic and the preventable death and disease it causes.

A Hookah is a water pipe device used for smoking and more U.S. college students are smoking tobacco using the device. (Egyptian Hookah pictured)

It is becoming a growing public health issue, according to a new study led by a Virginia Commonwealth University researcher, Thomas Eissenberg, Ph.D.

The research was reported in the May issue of The Journal of Adolescent Health which is the official journal of The Society of Adolescent Medicine.

In a hookah, tobacco is heated by charcoal, and the resulting smoke is passed through a water-filled chamber, cooling the smoke before it reaches the smoker.

More info about Hookah’s at Wikipedia

Some waterpipe users perceive this method of smoking tobacco as less harmful and addictive than cigarette smoking.

The World Health Organization Study Group on Tobacco Product Regulation (TobReg) presented an advisory note in 2005 on hookah tobacco smoking and concluded that “waterpipe smoking is associated with many of the same health risks as cigarette smoking, and may, in fact, involve some unique health risks” and recommends that “waterpipes and waterpipe tobacco should be subjected to the same regulation as cigarettes and other tobacco products.”

Corporate financing can have subtle effects on research and lead to bias. Studies have shown that sponsored research tends to reach conclusions that favor the sponsor, which is why disclosure is encouraged. The tobacco industry has a long history of underwriting research, sometimes through independent-sounding foundations, to make cigarettes seem less dangerous.

In October 2006, Dr. Claudia Henschke of Weill Cornell Medical College jolted the cancer world with a study saying that 80 percent of lung cancer deaths could be prevented through widespread use of CT scans.

Small print at the end of the study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, noted that it had been financed in part by a little-known charity called the Foundation for Lung Cancer: Early Detection, Prevention & Treatment. A review of tax records by The New York Times shows that the foundation was underwritten almost entirely by $3.6 million in grants from the parent company of the Liggett Group, maker of Liggett Select, Eve, Grand Prix, Quest and Pyramid cigarette brands.

March 12, 2008, is No Smoking Day in the UK. To find out more information and to receive tips on quitting, go to: www.nosmokingday.org.uk

In the United States, the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout® is on the third Thursday of November (November 20, 2008). The event challenges people to stop using tobacco and raises awareness of the many effective ways to quit for good.

Research shows that smokers are most successful in kicking the habit when they have some means of support, such as nicotine replacement products, counseling, prescription medicine to lessen cravings, guide books, and the encouragement of friends and family members.

Despite that, only about 1 in 7 current smokers reports having tried any of the recommended therapies during his or her last quit attempt.

The cigarette is a very efficient and highly engineered drug delivery system.

By inhaling tobacco smoke, the average smoker takes in 1 to 2 mg of nicotine per cigarette. When tobacco is smoked, nicotine rapidly reaches peak levels in the bloodstream and enters the brain in a few seconds. A typical smoker will take 10 puffs on a cigarette over a period of 5 minutes that the cigarette is lit. Thus, a person who smokes about 1-1/2 packs (30 cigarettes) daily gets 300 “hits” of nicotine to the brain each day.

In those who typically do not inhale the smoke—such as cigar and pipe smokers and smokeless tobacco users––nicotine is absorbed through the mucosal membranes and reaches peak blood levels and the brain more slowly.

Here is a video of what happens to your body when you quit smoking cigarettes.

http://quitsmoking.about.com/cs/afterquitting/a/after_quitting.htm

This is an amazing research report about nicotine addiction I discovered.

Research has revealed that the nicotine from one cigarette is enough to saturate the nicotine receptors in the human brain. "Laboratory experiments confirm that nicotine alters the structure and function of the brain within a day of the very first dose. In humans, nicotine-induced alterations in the brain can trigger addiction with the first cigarette," commented Joseph R. DiFranza, MD, professor of family medicine & community health at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and leader of the research team. "Nobody expects to get addicted from smoking one cigarette." Many smokers struggle for a lifetime trying to overcome nicotine addiction.

Symptoms of nicotine addiction can appear when youth are smoking as little as one cigarette per month. At first, one cigarette will relieve the craving produced by nicotine withdrawal for weeks, but as tolerance to nicotine builds, the smoker finds that he or she must smoke ever more frequently to cope with withdrawal.

Older smokers are motivated to quit smoking by very different factors than are younger smokers.

Dr. Oz recently appeared on the Oprah show and offered a program to quit smoking. Along with Dr. Daniel Seidman and Dr. Mike Roizen, there is a helpful section on the Oprah web site for smokers who want to overcome both the “before” and “after” parts of living smoke-free. Motivated?

Four Steps to Quit Smoking

1) Addiction Self-Exam

2) Prepare yourself to go smoke-free,

3) Coping with life – This is one of the most important sections and covers coping with withdrawal, avoiding relapse, dealing with other smokers and relieving your anxiety.

4) Resources and support

Many smokers believe they need a cigarette most when their stress is highest. But is that belief true?

The World Health Organization (WHO) released a new report that states 80% of the more than eight million annual tobacco-related deaths projected by 2030 are expected to occur in the developing world.

This results from a global tobacco industry strategy to target young people and adults in the developing world, ensuring that millions of people become fatally addicted every year. The targeting of young women in particular is highlighted as one of the “most ominous potential developments of the epidemics growth”.

While efforts to combat tobacco are gaining momentum, virtually every country needs to do more. The six MPOWER strategies are within the reach of every country, rich or poor and, when combined as a package, they offer us the best chance of reversing this growing epidemic, said Dr Margaret Chan, Director-General of WHO. Dr Chan launched the WHO Report of the Global Tobacco Epidemic at a news conference with New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg. Bloomberg Philanthropies helped fund the report.

The six MPOWER strategies to better protect the population are:

Researchers speculate that the stimulating effects of nicotine could cause smokers to experience nicotine withdrawal each night, which may contribute to disturbances in sleep.