Nurture Your Own

You may know smoking is the cause for respiratory problems, heart diseases, lung cancer and stroke but do you know these …

Smoking causes Blindness:

In a cross-cultural survey in Scotland and Singapore, only 1 in 3 respondents was aware that smoking can cause blindness! The survey was conducted by a group at Scotland’s Ninewell Hospital and Singapore’s Alexandra Hospital from November 2007 to February 2008. Researchers polled 112 participants from Scotland and 163 participants from Singapore to compare their awareness of various smoking-related conditions as well as attitudes towards the use of graphic health warning labels printed on cigarette packs.

85% in both countries knew the risk of lung cancer, heart disease, mouth and throat cancer (oral cancer) and stroke but only about one-third of the respondents knew about smoking causes blindness. More info to read here.

Smoking causes Baldness:

According to The New York Times, epidemiological studies looked at more than 600 men and women, with 50% of them being smokers. After controlling for variables, researchers found a significant and consistent link between smoking and early greying.  More info can be read here.

Whether it’s for functional and aesthetic reasons, smokers should really consider quit smoking. Especially the recent fuel price hike, it doesn’t make health or economic sense to spend money to burn your life away.

Each year on May 31, the World Health Organization celebrates “World No Tobacco Day,” a day that WHO uses to highlight the risks of smoking and to advocate for effective policies to reduce tobacco consumption. This year, the theme is TOBACCO-FREE YOUTH.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), “Young people are aggressively targeted by the tobacco industry which spends billions of dollars each year marketing its products.” To protect the world’s youth from experimenting with tobacco and becoming regular users, this year’s campaign calls for a ban on all forms of tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.”

Even if you are a smoker, stub it out just for 31 May 2008. After all, I’m sure you know all the harmful effects of tars and nicotine. Anyway, stopping one day won’t kill you, in fact it will help you to lower these risks in 24 hours.

• Risk of a heart attack reduces
• The lungs start to be cleared of mucous and toxins

If you want to know more about benefit of quit smoking, click here as this article listed the goodness from 20 minutes to 5 years.

Back in the 1940s, NBC’s Announcer Michael Roy disclosed that three independent research organizations conducted a nationwide poll with doctors, surgeons, and specialists in every branch of medicine. 113,597 doctors in all participated in this poll. The brand of cigarette the doctors named most often was Camel.So if doctors smoke Camel, it must be good. The “More Doctors Smoke Camel” campaign slogan was so successful that various ads was signed. This is just one of Camel’s vintage ads. You can see more of Camel’s vintage ads here.

Today, medical practitioners distanced themselves from any association of cigarette and smoking. Yet many doctors are still smoking.

For me, I choose my doctors and dentists carefully. I won’t choose a smoker to be my doctors or dentists. If he/she smokes, he/she probably wouldn’t care much about his health and wellness. So why should he/she bothers too much about mine?

Info from “Doctors Recommend Smoking Camel”

Have you been smoking for quite some time already? If you have, do you think you are just a casual smoker or are you addicted. Addicted? Me? That’s not possible. Denying that you are an addict is an understandable reacation. Most of us believe that we are in control and command. We don’t believe that we can be slaves to alcohols or cigarettes.

Still, it will be good to take a test to check out your dependence level on nicotine:

1. When do you smoke your first cigarette after you woke up?
a) Within 5 minutes
b) About 6 - 30 minutes
c) About 31 - 59 minutes
d) After 60 minutes

2. Do you find it tough not to smoke in “smoke-prohibited” places?
a) Yes
b) No

3. Which cigarette would you hate most to give up?
a) The first in the morning
b) Any other
4. How many cigarettes do you smoke a day?
a) 31 or more

b) 21-30
c) 20-11
d) 10 or less

5. Do you smoke more frequently during the first hours after awakening than during the rest of the day?
a) Yes
b) No

6. Do you smoke when you are sick (where you have to be confined in bed)?
a) Yes
b) No

Test Results
Stage 1- Score 0-2: Very low dependence on nicotine
Stage 2 - Score 3-4: Low dependence on nicotine
Stage 3 - Score 5: Medium dependence on nicotine
Stage 4- Score 6-7: High dependence on nicotine
Stage 5 - Score 8-10: Very high dependence on nicotine

Test Verdicts
Stage 1 and 2: Your dependence on Nicotine is still low and that’s great! That mean it’s easier for you to stop smoking. You have to act now before you grew more attached with cigarettes and nicotine. You have a very high chance to quit smoking forever and never ever look back.

Stage 3: Your level of nicotine dependence is considered to be moderate. You have to act soon otherwise your dependence will grow and make you a bona fide addict. You still have a high chance to quit smoking easily and successfully.

Stage 4 - 5: Face up, you are an addict. You have no control whatsoever over cigarettes and the effect of nicotine is damaging your healthy slowly but definitely. Unless you are committed to stop smoking, don’t bother to quit. You will quit one day and go back to smoke double the amount on the next day. If you really want to quit, you will get over the up-hill hurdles that mark the quit-smoking journey. It will be tough but the pain can be lessen if you adopt the quit smoking painlessly way. You can choose your preferred method or experiment with various but the most important thing is to decide if you want to quit today.

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
What’s harmful inside a Cigarette?
Benefits of Stop Smoking
FAQ on Stop Smoking
A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

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Going by Earl Cassel’s words of wisdom, who are you in your journey of stop smoking?

I Won’t is a tramp,
I Can’t is a quitter,
I Don’t Know is lazy,
I Wish I Could is a wisher,
I Might is waking up,
I Will Try is on his feet,
I Can is on his way.
I Will is at work,
I Did is now the boss.

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
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Benefits of Stop Smoking
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A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

Technorati Tags: stop smoking

I found this video posted at QuitSmokingPainlesslyNow. It was an attempt by Disney in 1951 to ridicule smoking and show how desperate a man who is dependent on nicotine can be. What I found really weird is Disney had Goofy asking for weeds. Weeds cannot be better than smoking. What’s wrong with Disney?

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
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Benefits of Stop Smoking
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A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

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Today’s is 1st January 2008 and I’m calling all smokers to make it your new year resolution to stop smoking forever!

No? Is it because you thought the journey is going to be too tough? You had done it too many times but each time you went back and smoke even more? You don’t have confidence that you could make it this time? Whatever is stopping you is FEAR. Another meaning to FEAR is False Evidence Appearing Real. Just look at the cartoon below and take some time to muse and ponder over it.

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
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Technorati Tags: stop smoking

Just saw these ads over at QuitSmokingPainlesslyNow and I had the same sentiment as the writer there: “Can you imagine mums puffing away and the innocent babies, toddlers and children growing up as passive smokers inhaling all the poison? I shuddered at the thought of it.” In fact, I was so astonished to discover that Goofy (yes, the famous Disney dog) actually smokes. Pop over to see that short Disney movie on Goofy’s smoking.

Mums and Mums-to-be shouldn’t smoke at all cost. Contrary to what the ads said, they should feel over-smoke every time they want a puff!They should not put the young ones at peril any time, anywhere.

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
What’s harmful inside a Cigarette?
Benefits of Stop Smoking
FAQ on Stop Smoking
A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

Technorati Tags: Marlboro advertisement, cigarette ad, smoking

Before you even try to stop smoking, tell yourself you are committed to quit smoking. Not “wanting to try”, not “trying” but 100% committed to make quit smoking a success. There is a difference between a “want” and a “commitment”. A “want” is simply a nice-to-have and we basically just shrug our shoulders if we couldn’t have that luxury. A commitment is almost like an oath, we promise ourselves that we will live and breath that something. Unless you commit 100% to stop smoking, the chances of failure is very high.

For things to change first change yourself. I recently attended a money-management seminar that emphasized a lot on the process of “unlearning”. If you have negative thoughts about yourself for being a failure to stop smoking, stop being so hard for yourself. The process of unlearning is tough as we need time and effort to re-condition our minds to think positively about ourselves and everything we do. How we do anything is how we do everything. If you are the type who doesn’t have perseverance and patience, quit smoking will be tough but that doesn’t mean you are doomed to failure. It just means that you need to be conscious about it.

Take a look at yourself … … (more…)

Kids think that smoking is cool because most of the macho guys in the movie, TV as well as computer games would spot a stick in their mouth. Of course, with the chic babes hanging by their sides, the world seems a lot more glamorous with cigarettes.

They probably will not believe you when you tried your best to explain to them smoking is bad.

Here is one method you can try:

1. Explain to them that when people try smoking for the first time, they will often cough a lot and feel pain or burning sensation in their throat and lungs.

2. Tell them that  some folks might even feel their stomachs churning and wanted to throw up.

3. These are signs that your body is protecting you. Your body can feel that the chemicals entering the body is bad. Your body know it’s being POISONED.

4. Anyone who tried to swallow tobacco may actually get killed.

5. Show them really awful pictures of smoking-related disease - like this one here depicting oral cancer. Kids probably heard of lung cancer, asthma and respiratory diseases but seeing actual pictures might just hit it home. It is true that such images may cause them to have nightmares but it certainly beat having them starting to smoke because of curiosity or harboring the notion that it’s “cool”to smoke.

If by telling the kids cannot convince them, showing the pictures just got you a shrug of shoulder, you might want to consult the school councillor for advice and assistance. I knew some parents will get their kids to try a few puff to prove the point that it actually hurts, and the taste and smell of cigarette are not great. However, you must be extremely careful if you want to go onto that route.

I learn from my Chinese friends here that there is a Chinese saying that: “The children is the creators and masters of the future”. We have to keep our children from smoking to ensure we have a smoke-free tomorrow. It is easier not to start than to stop smoking.

(source of photo: Health Promotion Board, Singapore)

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
What’s harmful inside a Cigarette?
Benefits of Stop Smoking
FAQ on Stop Smoking
A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

I was hesitating whether to feature this anti-smoking commercial from Britain that Anthony Hicks filmed before he died. It can be disturbing to some readers. However, as it put out a very strong message of the social consequent of smoking, I thought it can lead you to think deeper - especially if you are a smoker or have a loved one who is smoking like a chimney. It’s my quest to encourage people to stop smoking for better health and greater wealth, so here it is …

Saw this ad featured at Versa Creations blog and thought whoever created it made the point very neatly… …

If you think the exhaust smells terrible, imagine what’s like being a smoker.

The hair, hands and body of a smoker is consumed in smoke every time he puffs and huffs. You just have to stand within 3 feet of a smoker and you’ll know if he has been smoking recently. Only a smoker can’t smell his own stink. For everyone else, he’s as good as an ash tray. By the way, I picked up that analogy from this very interesting post called 10 Peeves Non-Smokers Will NOT Tell Smoker.

Additional Wisdom on Stop Smoking
A Painless Way to Stop Smoking

Victor Connor’s Other Posts on Stop Smoking
7 Good Reasons to Stop Smoking
What’s So Bad About Inhaling Tar From Smoking?
Have You Heard of “World No Tobacco Day”?

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