Stop Smoking Programs; Which One Is Right For You?

Stop smoking programs are a good alternative for the prospective quitter who does not want to “go it alone.”

They offer structure and support, a “formula” of sorts with a series of steps for the hopeful non-smoker to follow. Many who attempt to stop smoking approach the task with the trepidation one might expect from getting thrown to the lions, and a stop smoking program with a clear beginning, end, and logical steps in between make the task appear easier and more likely to end with success.

Stop smoking programs are available in many guises.

Printed material like books and e-books abound all claiming to be the be-all, do-all, end-all solution for the quitter. There are acupuncture programs, hypnosis, shots and injections as well as a myriad of nicotine replacement therapy NRT) products. And don’t forget the quit smoking pills, bupropion (Zyban, Wellbutrin) and Varenicline (Chantix). With all these options from which to choose how is the smoker to decide which program offers the best shot at success?
It helps to look at the success rates of each stop smoking program. Here are some statistics from a report by the US Surgeon General’s Office:

• Quitting programs combining counseling or support elements with a prescription for Bupropion SR (Zyban/Wellbutrin) found success rates were increased to 30.5%.
  
  
• Quitting programs involving 91 to 300 minutes of contact time increased six month success rates to 28%.
  
  
• Quitting programs involving 8 or more treatment sessions increased six month success rates to 24.7%.
  
  
• 7% of those who used over-the-counter nicotine patch and gum products quit for at least six months.

Here’s an enigma of a program for you to consider.

It’s a book by Allen Carr, “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” Readers of my blog know that this is the stop smoking program that worked for me as well as for thousands of others.

 
Carr’s premise is that once a smoker realizes that she really does not want or need to smoke, the process of quitting becomes a matter of simply extinguishing your last cigarette and donning the non-smoker hat. It sounds simple and actually is; as I said, it worked for me as well as Sir Richard Branson, Ellen DeGeneres, Anthony Hopkins, and Britney Spears—sorry for the name-dropping. But what about the statistics?

Carr’s organization claims a 90% success rate after 3 months and 50% after 12.

These are based on the number of people who attend their clinics and do not ask for the promised refund. That’s pretty wishy-washy statistic gathering if you ask me, but if the actual numbers are even one third those stated, Carr’s method is considerably more effective than those being recommended by the American Medical Association, American Cancer Society and the American Lung Association.

Bottom line?

When looking for a stop smoking program to follow it pays to do your due diligence. Research, read, talk to friends and family who have quit, talk to your doctor—and talk to yourself. Ask yourself this question; do I really want to quit smoking? If the answer is “yes”, your chance of success is astronomically higher than the person’s who answers “no”. And it doesn’t matter nearly as much which program you choose.

Click Here! to review a program I highly recommend!

The Effects of Cigarette Smoking

The effects of cigarette smoking are numerous and often deadly.

When you inhale cigarette smoke you are ingesting over 3,000 chemicals, hundreds of which are deadly. These toxic poisons include tobacco-specific nitrosamines (potent carcinogens), benzene (found in pesticides and gasoline), formaldehyde (a chemical used to preserve dead bodies), arsenic (rat poison), carbon monoxide (auto exhaust fumes) and hydrogen cyanide (a favorite in Nazi concentration camps).

Many people believe that lung cancer and emphysema are the most common effects of cigarette smoking but the blue ribbon actually goes to heart disease. Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the US and the #1 killer of smokers. Researchers report that among smokers there were 1.6 million heart disease related deaths worldwide in 2000; compare that to 85,000 deaths from lung cancer.
If those two gruesome effects of cigarette smoking are no enough to get you slapping on a nicotine patch consider a few others:

Stroke: a stroke is the effect of a part of the brain loosing life-giving oxygen caused by the rupture or blockage of a blood vessel. Imagine the part of your brain that controls speech gets deprived of food and starts dying; suddenly you can’t talk, only babble incoherently. Diabetes, high blood pressure and smoking are the three leading risk factors for stroke.

Cancer: in addition to lung cancer smoking greatly increases the risk of cancer of the mouth, lips, tongue (I had a smoker friend who lost his tongue!) and esophagus.

Emphysema: your lungs are full of little sacks that fill with air when you breathe and deliver oxygen to the blood stream. Emphysema happens when those sacs enlarge and rupture causing carbon monoxide to build up and make it difficult to inhale and exhale. Grab a straw, stick it in your mouth and try breathing through it. Gets kind of tedious after a few inhalations, doesn’t it? Now imagine the straw getting narrower and narrower to the point that you suffocate…

Those are just a few of the effects of cigarette smoking.

Others that everyone around you knows (but won’t tell you) is that your hair, fingers, breath and clothes stink; so do those nasty ashtrays you leave laying around. You get more colds and flu, your teeth are yellow and you can’t walk up a flight of stairs without gasping for breath.

But you knew all of this, didn’t you? When you think about it you wish you could quit but you’re afraid to try because “everyone knows how hard it is to quit smoking,” right? Not me; it was easy for me to quit smoking and it can be for you, too. Click Here! when you're ready to quit.