Health Blog

Electronic cigarettes have found their appraisers across the globe. One can easily quit smoking with this electronic device which is beneficial not only for smokers but also for those who are affected by passive smoking.

Every day campaign against smoking and its related dangers that started few years ago has forced a huge proportion of public to quit this ill habit. Chain smokers are trying hard to quit this bad habit and are looking forward for cigarette cessations. Many companies have taken the benefit of the moment and have started manufacturing products which can be used as an alternative to traditional cigarettes. Right from nicotine patches to nicotine gum, smokers have been using every damn thing, but of no use.

However, are totally different from the league of normal cigarettes and their alternatives. These are known to give the exact same feeling like traditional cigarettes and resemble the later only in looks. Otherwise, the feel of electronic cigarettes gives the same excitement to the smoker which they get after smoking a traditional cigarette. Electronic cigarettes emit artificial smoke which is not at all harmful for the smoker as it does not contain nicotine. An user of electronic cigarettes inhale nicotine in vaporized form which resembles to smoke but doesnt contain any carcinogenic agent or tar, ash and carbon monoxide.

Most of the electronic cigarettes comprise a cartridge containing liquid nicotine. On being inhaled, a tiny battery powered atomizer turns this liquid nicotine into vapor. This gives the user a nicotine hit within seconds as compared to the hit from nicotine patches or gum. When the user inhales a electronic cigarette, a small LED light glows orange at the tip to give the feel of an original traditional cigarette.

Nicotine cartridges in various electronic cigarettes vary along with the standard strengths. Leading e cig brands, such as best electronic cigarettes are available in minimal strength, half strength and full strength.

Electronic cigarettes are specially designed and developed for the people who really want to quit smoking. Once you start smoking electronic cigarettes, you can gradually minimize the strength until you quit.

Why electronic cigarettes are better than any other smoking alternative? You have got one reason for that and that is it gives nicotine hit much quickly. The other reason why smokers are not comfortable with patches and gum is the fact that they still miss the habit of puffing smoke from a cylindrical cigarette.
Not only this, electronic cigarettes are also helpful in saving money. You can buy a set of five nicotine cartridges for less than which is equivalent to 550 cigarettes. You might find this wastage of money as the initial investment in an electronic cigarette kit, but in the long run, it only saves money.

I would like you to remain cautious of the Chinese imitations of electronic cigarettes that have flooded the market. These are half the price of any branded e cigarette and look exactly similar to any genuine e cigarette but as these are not tested, I advise you to keep these at bay.

When someone decides to quit smoking, the next thing that comes up to mind is how to quit smoking. Usually, taking prescription medications and nicotine replacement products to help curb smoking are common paths smokers take, but it also comes with the risk of serious side effects. However, there are alternatives to these quit smoking products that you can use to help you quit cigarette smoking without the health risks.

If you wish to quit smoking but do not want to experience the side effects posed by using prescription medicine, the patch and other nicotine replacement products, you may want to how to quit smoking through alternative means. These alternative or complementary, smoking cessation treatments address lifestyle issues not usually covered by conventional smoking cessation products and medicines, such as coping mentally with the triggers that lure smokers back into smoking for example, and develop a healthy balance between the mind and body. What’s more, alternative treatments also have the additional benefit or relieving stress not only to the smoker’s body but of mind as well.

Today you can find a myriad of alternative methods of treating smoking addiction, though the most popular ones are hypnosis, acupuncture and meditation.

HYPNOSIS

Hypnosis has been known for its ability to affect people’s behavior, so it should be of no surprise that many smokers use it to identify and address the behaviors that trigger their urge to smoke. Hypnotherapists attest this is due to hypnosis being a kind of alpha state, which is a state of mind that people pass through when they sleep, go deep into a memory or when reading a book or watching TV.

So how does one learn how to quit smoking through hypnosis? First off, a cash history is first compiled by the therapist in order to get an idea of the patient’s past experience with smoking. With this information on hand, the therapist then induces a state of relaxation to the patient often with the help of meditation or visualization. Afterward, the patient undergoes a series of suggestions or conversation to explore motivations for the patient to quit smoking. If the smoker tends to smoke after drinking alcohol, for example, the hypnotherapist might try to sever the connection.

Currently, most clinical trials on hypnosis conclude that the effectiveness of hypnosis in stopping cigarette smoking is insufficient, though there are signs of hope. According to a study conducted in 2007 on smokers hospitalized for cardiopulmonary illnesses, patients who have opted to enter hypnotherapy sessions are more likely to quit smoking six month later compared to patients who rely on nicotine replacement products to help them quit smoking.

ACUPUNCTURE

Used by the Chinese to treat a variety of illnesses, acupuncture is also now being used to help reduce cravings and lessen symptoms of nicotine withdrawal smokers experience after quitting smoking. The needles are usually placed on the ears, feet and on the top of the head. Further evaluation may also be conducted, involving reading the pulse and the color of the tongue to determine the physical weaknesses the patient may have and set the needles to address to address them accordingly.

Acupuncture has been studied extensively as an alternative to smoking cessation products, though the research has been mixed. In one study, the effect of acupuncture coupled with education has led to significantly reduced smoking, while in another study acupuncture was seen to be nearly four times as effective if combined with education. Several studies conducted by the US Public Health Service have also suggested that acupuncture is no more effective in stopping smoking than placebo.

MEDITATION

Designed to relax the body and shift the focus of a person’s thoughts, meditation has also held the promise as an alternative to smoking cessation products and nicotine replacement products. In a 2002 study, meditation has been observed to release dopamine in the brain, creating an euphoric effect similar to that triggered by nicotine in cigarettes. Meditation can also help relieve stress, another factor which is known to trigger cigarette cravings.

Learning how to quit smoking through meditation is relatively easy and can be done at home. Find a comfortable, seated position and slowly breathe in and out through your nose. Once your mind starts to wander, refocus it on your breathing.

Addiction comes in many shapes. Drug addiction and alcoholism are probably the first ones that pop into our mind when thinking about addictions but it also seems like any word in the dictionary can receive the ‘aholic’ termination in order to describe a person’s dependence on getting anything in between chocolate, shopping, and computer games.

For alcohol, AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) has become like an international trademark for addiction treatment. However, science and practice tend to have different views on the effectiveness of AA treatment and other 12-step approaches for addiction recovery. In the same time, a set of alternative treatment options – also referred to as non 12-step addiction treatment options – also become more and more popular these days and most of them tend to employ a more holistic approach.

For instance, some of the alternative holistic treatments employ yoga or mediation. Another popular recent approach concentrates on the effects of diet and nutrition and the success rates of using those as part of an alcoholism treatment. Some addictions use an indirect approach of providing a well-balanced nutrition and increasing the strength of the patient with vitamins and minerals.

Addiction rehab centers know that AA might be effective in practice but they also know that there are other methods that might be more effective – ranging from medications, to motivation based approaches such as rewarding non-drinking or non-consumption behaviors or even using aversive conditioning in order to instill repugnance to one’s object of an addiction. An increased importance is given today to treating addictions in rehab centers with a patient centered approach, having the person first convinced of the benefits of being treated and then identifying together with the specialized personnel what are the approaches that best suit patient’s needs. These centers offer an entire list of 12-step addiction recovery approaches and non 12-step addictions recovery approaches in the same time.

Another important factor to consider is that employing a non 12-step approach not only opens the door to treatment opportunities one might fail to consider when looking only at AA and similar 12-step approaches; it also gives people more choices in terms of selecting the method that best fits their beliefs and values system, even in the case in which they don’t believe in a higher power force, which is generally part of the 12-step approach. Other benefits of considering non 12-step addiction recovery solutions come from the fact that these other options can ensure more privacy for patients, allow them to get treated on a one-on-one basis rather than by attending group meetings. One might not want or like to attend those AA-type meetings or one might simply not have a flexible schedule to dedicate specific meeting times to that. In any of these cases, there are plenty of non 12-step solutions that address such specific needs.

Moreover, the level of specialization of these alternative methods has reached a stage at which some of them are designed particularly for certain social groups such a women oriented programs or programs designed for people with type of sexual orientation.

No matter how small or large is the population targeted by a treatment, the bottom line is that one should be aware of all the treatment options and actively involved in deciding which one could bring the best results.