Addiction Solution Source

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:

The main problem with smoking is that the main addicting chemical in cigarettes, nicotine, destroys three of the natural, “feel-good” brain chemicals called neurotransmitters. These three natural chemicals are of two types, excitatory and inhibitory. The excitatory neurotransmitters – catecholamines – pep us up. The inhibitory one – acetylcholine – relaxes us.

When your brain’s ability to make its natural nicotine-like substances (acetylcholine or catecholamines) is totally suppressed, you’re compelled to find the artificial chemical (nicotine) to fill those receptors in your brain. Something has to go in there to keep your mood even. The absence of anything to fill these receptors causes the unpleasant symptoms known as withdrawal. This is why nicotine is addictive.

So, the easiest way to quit smoking is to put the right supplements in the brain to get it chemically balanced and to get the neurotransmitters operating normally.

Nicotine is an addictive stimulant found in cigarettes and other forms of tobacco. Tobacco smoke increases a user’s risk of cancer, emphysema, bronchial disorders, and cardiovascular disease. The mortality rate associated with tobacco addiction is staggering. Tobacco use killed approximately 100 million people during the 20th century and, if current smoking trends continue, the cumulative death toll for this century has been projected to reach 1 billion.

Marijuana is the most commonly abused illicit substance. This drug impairs short-term memory and learning, the ability to focus attention, and coordination. Marijuana also increases heart rate, can harm the lungs, and can cause psychosis in those at risk.

Alcohol consumption can damage the brain and most body organs. Areas of the brain that are especially vulnerable to alcohol-related damage are the cerebral cortex (largely responsible for our higher brain functions, including problem solving and decision making), the hippocampus (important for memory and learning), and the cerebellum (important for movement coordination).