Hi. Glad you asked for our opinion. Our quote is directly from the source, which in our case is the widely acknowledged Medical Reference Text, Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine, Thirteenth Edition:
"NICOTINE ADDICTION
Cigarette smoking is the principal cause of preventable disease, disability, and premature death in the United States...
More than 4000 substances have been identified in cigarette smoke, including some that are pharmacologically active, antigenic, cytotoxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic; these diverse biologic effects provide a framework for understanding the adverse consequences of smoking...
Cigarette smoking is a major cause of coronary heart disease (CHD), and premature CHD is one of its most important medical consequences. Approximately 20 percent of the 500,000 CHD deaths occurring each year in the United States is attributable to smoking... CHD death rates are 60 to 70 percent greater in male smokers than nonsmokers. Sudden death may be the first manifestation of CHD, and it is two to four times more likely to occur in younger male cigarette smokers than in nonsmokers...
Cigarette smoking contributes to both coronary atherosclerosis and acute ischemic, thrombotic, and arrhythmic coronary events... Cigarette smoking is an important cause of cerebrovascular disease and accounts for an estimated 18 percent of the 150,000 stroke deaths that occur each year in the United States... Cigarette smoking is the most powerful risk factor for arteriosclerosis obliterans and thromboangiitis obliterans... Hypertensives who smoke are at a greater risk to develop malignant hypertension and to die from hypertension...
Cigarette smoking is the single most important cause of cancer mortality in the United States, accounting for 30 percent of all cancer deaths... In 1991 an estimated 143,000 lung cancer deaths occurred in the United States; 85 percent of these deaths were attributable to cigarette smoking... Cigarette smoking is a cause of laryngeal, oral, esophageal, and bladder cancer in men and women. Cigarette smoking is an important contributory factor for the development of kidney and pancreatic cancer; it is also associated with cancer of the stomach and uterine cervix and with myelocytic leukemia...
Cigarette smoking is the major cause of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), that is, chronic bronchitis and emphysema (see Chap. 223). Of the estimated 70,000 deaths from COPD in the United States in 1988, 82 percent were attributable to smoking and many of these deaths were preceded by prolonged respiratory disability...
Maternal smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of spontaneous abortion, fetal death, neonatal death, and the sudden infant death syndrome... Smoking during pregnancy may also adversely affect the long-term physical growth and intellectual development of the child...
The addictive effects of nicotine account for most of this persistent personal and public health dilemma. Recognition of tobacco use as an addiction and of nicotine as the addictive drug is essential for effective patient management. The primary criteria for defining drug addiction are: compulsive use, psychoactive effects, and drug-reinforced behavior. Nicotine use fulfills these criteria because it produces a compelling urge to smoke, provides pleasurable alterations in mood, and motivates chronic tobacco-seeking and tobacco-using behavior. Tolerance and physical dependence, manifested by an abstinence-mediated withdrawal syndrome, contribute to the strong control exerted by nicotine on smoking behavior...
Most American smokers would like to quit. 80 percent have attempted to stop smoking during their lifetime... Factors contributing to relapse include craving for nicotine, weight gain, social pressures, and attempts to cope with negative feelings and interpersonal conflicts..."
Yeah, yeah, yeah...you may say. I know all this, but tell me, brother, how to quit. I have tried in the past and it just didn't work. There is THAT CRAVING that makes me do it. When I inhale, IT PUMPS ME UP, BOOSTS MY TONE. It helps me cope with stress. That's all. How am I gonna do without it?
Is there anything out there that can help me fill the emptiness once I quit, and what can help me deal with the craving?
T-ANALYSIS CAN HELP. TRY IT TODAY. SCHEDULE YOUR CYBER SESSION NOW AND YOU'LL NEVER BE THE SAME.
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