Local area professionals aim to put the light out on smoking

In 1970, a pack of cigarettes cost $1.70. Today, the price is nearly $5 a pack. To date, 24 states have passed laws prohibiting smoking in public places. And as tobacco and its effects on the body receive more study, research shows nicotine’s toxins impact many of the body’s interrelated biological systems beyond the lungs and heart.

The growing financial cost, public and workplace restrictions and overwhelming medical research on the dangers of smoking are driving the number of smokers down in all categories – from 43 percent of the population in 1965 to 19.8 percent in 2007 (about 26 million men and 20 million women smoke today). Among the nation’s teenagers, the Centers for Disease Control estimates that smoking is down from 28.3 percent in 1991 to 19.8 percent in 2007.

But for those remaining 40 million people nationwide, smoking remains a tough habit to break. That’s why a number of associations, medical practices and businesses offer counseling and support groups to help tobacco users kick the habit – and they have a plethora of prescription medications at their disposal to help users overcome their physical and psychological dependence.

 

Movies and TV often portray a sultry woman as a chain smoker.

Smoking was a way they showed sex appeal. Rita Hayworth was often pictured with a cigarette in hand. Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct smoked like a chimney in that famous interrogation scene. Bad girls that men went crazy over smoked. Sultry beauty and cigarettes or cigars went hand in hand.

The reality is far from what is portrayed in movies.

Smoking causes your skin to age prematurely and gives it a sickly coloring. It discolors your teeth, gives you an un-sexy cough and bad breath. That is just the tip of the iceberg.

Auriculotherapy was developed in the 1940s in France by Dr. Paul Nogier, a neurologist. It is a hybrid medical system used to reduce tension, enable the body to relax and increase circulation. It works on the principle of traditional acupressure and acupuncture utilizing today’s medical science. This is a noninvasive treatment which has been used for years to treat nicotine addiction. Auriculotherapy is a safe and effective treatment accepted by the World Health Organization and approved by the FDA.

There are a lot of people who smoke out there who, among other reasons, are afraid to try to quit smoking cigarettes for the fear of what they think is inevitable weight gain. Almost everyone they know who has successfully quit smoking really packed on the pounds and they don't want this to happen to them. So, does the connection between quitting cigarettes and weight gain have to do directly with the cigarettes themselves, or are there other, outside reasons why this happens so often to people who "kick the habit"?

Many experts believe smoking is only about 10% physical addiction and a whopping 90% psychological addiction. Your body will recover fairly quickly from nicotine withdrawals (the worst symptoms usually abate in three days or less), but your psychological dependency on cigarettes can be much more difficult to defeat. One way to combat this is to do a bit of self-analysis before giving up cigarettes.