In fact smoking can affect adversely various parts of the anatomy of a person. It includes the eyes, nose, throat, heart, skin, blood, nose, and almost every part of the physique. Major diseases that can occur due to smoking habits are lung cancer, heart disease, bad breath, gum disease, depression, snoring, high blood pressure, diabetes, thyroid diseases, infertility, as well as harmful impacts on bones and joints.

Undesirable elements of cigarette are irritants, nicotine, carcinogen and carbon monoxide. Each of these elements affects the human anatomy in different styles and patterns. Irritants in cigarette include ammonia, formaldehyde and oxides. Usually it will adversely affect the respiratory tracts to swell. Another major smoking risk is carcinogens. Over 40 kinds of chemicals are found in cigarette. All these chemicals are carcinogenic that promotes cancerous elements in body. Respiratory systems of smokers are exposed to higher dangers of cancer. Mortality rates of such lung cancer are very high and largely depend on the number of cigarette packets smoked. Other risks involved in smoking are carbon monoxide and nicotine. The former incapacitates the capability of the blood to carry oxygen to heart.

It is time one think serious about smoking cessation in life.

Write a list of the reasons why you want to stop, and keep them with you. Refer to them when tempted to light up. You may wish to read a separate leaflet in this series called ‘Smoking – The Facts‘. This gives the reasons why smoking is so harmful and lists the benefits of stopping.

Set a date for stopping, and stop completely. (Some people prefer the idea of cutting down gradually. However, research has shown that if you smoke less cigarettes than usual, you are likely to smoke more of each cigarette, and nicotine levels remain nearly the same. Therefore, it is usually best to stop once and for all from a set date.)

Tell everyone that you are giving up smoking. Friends and family often give support and may help you. Smoking by others in the household makes giving up harder. If appropriate, try to get other household members who smoke, or friends who smoke, to stop smoking at the same time. A ‘team’ effort may be easier than going it alone.

Get rid of ashtrays, lighters, and all cigarettes.

Be prepared for some withdrawal symptoms. When you stop smoking, you are likely to get symptoms which may include: nausea (feeling sick), headaches, anxiety, irritability, craving, and just feeling awful. These symptoms are caused by the lack of nicotine that your body has been used to. They tend to peak after 12-24 hours, and then gradually ease over 2-4 weeks.

Anticipate a cough. It is normal for a ‘smokers cough’ to get worse when you stop smoking (as the airways ‘come back to life’). Many people say that this makes them feel worse for a while after stopping smoking and makes them tempted to restart smoking. Resist this temptation! The cough usually gradually eases.

Be aware of situations in which you are most likely to want to smoke. In particular, drinking alcohol is often associated with failing in an attempt to stop smoking. You should consider not drinking much alcohol in the first few weeks after stopping smoking. Try changing your routine for the first few weeks. For example, don’t go to the pub for a while if that is a tempting place to smoke and drink alcohol. Also, if drinking tea and coffee are difficult times, try drinking mainly fruit juice and plenty of water instead.

Take one day at a time. Mark off each successful day on a calendar. Look at it when you feel tempted to smoke, and tell yourself that you don’t want to start all over again.

Be positive. You can tell people that you don’t smoke. You will smell better. After a few weeks you should feel better, taste your food more, and cough less. You will have more money. Perhaps put away the money you would have spent on cigarettes for treats.

Food. Some people worry about gaining weight when they give up smoking as the appetite may improve. Anticipate an increase in appetite, and try not to increase fatty or sugary foods as snacks. Try sugar-free gum and fruit instead.

Don’t despair if you fail. Examine the reasons why you felt it was more difficult at that particular time. It will make you stronger next time. On average, people who eventually stop smoking have made 3 or 4 previous attempts.

Stop Smoking Clinics are available on the NHS. They have a good success in helping people to stop smoking. Your doctor may refer you to one if you are keen to stop smoking but are finding it difficult to do so.

Various medicines can increase your chance of quitting. These include Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) which comes as gums, sprays, patches, tablets, lozenges, and inhalers. You can buy NRT without a prescription. Also, medicines called bupropion (trade name ‘Zyban’) and varenicline (trade name ‘Champix) can help. These are available on prescription.

Heart and lungs are most damaged by smoking

Lung diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema, are largely due to smoking. Heart disease, which includes coronary artery disease, heart attack and stroke are far more common in smokers. One of the effects of nicotine is constricting the blood vessels, which in turn causes high blood pressure. Another effect is raising your heart rate, which adds extra stress on your heart.

Not only does smoking affect the heart, but every part of your circulatory system. Your blood becomes thicker and stickier, further taxing the heart. The lining of the blood vessels is damaged, allowing fat deposits to adhere, and is most likely a significant cause of arteriosclerosis, or hardening of the arteries.

As a result, diminished circulation to the feet and hands leads to painful neuropathy, and impaired ability to fight local infections. This can lead to gangrene and sometimes requires amputation.

Inhaled smoke contains poison

The inhaled smoke contains many harmful substances, such as tar, carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, heavy metals and free radicals. Each of these damages the body in various ways. Tar is sticky and brown, containing many chemicals known to be carcinogenic, including benzopyrene. It also and stains teeth, fingernails and lung tissue.

It causes damage to the mouth, teeth and gums, as well as ulcers of the digestive system.
Osteoporosis is caused by a leeching of calcium from the bones and predisposes smokers to fractures. The hip joint is particularly vulnerable to fractures and Avascular Necrosis, a disorder where the bone dies.

Because carbon monoxide, a major component of the smoke, binds with higher affinity to hemoglobin, it displaces oxygen carried by the blood. Since less oxygen is carried within each blood cell, the heart must pump more blood through the body to transfer the same amount of oxygen to the cells.

Hydrogen cyanide prevents the lungs from cleaning themselves of poisonous chemicals. Cilia, the tiny hairs that help to clean the lungs by moving foreign substances out are damaged. Harmful chemicals are allowed to collect in the lungs, preventing oxygenation of the blood.

Other chemicals in smoke that damage the lungs include hydrocarbons, nitrous oxides, organic acids, phenols and oxidizing agents. Free radicals are highly reactive chemicals that can damage the heart muscles and blood vessels When they react with cholesterol plaques are formed, which increase the risk of arterial damage, heart disease and stroke. Finally, tobacco smoke contains dangerous metals including arsenic, cadmium, and lead. Many of these are known to cause cancer.

The tars in smoke can trigger cancer of the esophagus and throat. Smoking causes increased stomach acid secretion, leading to heartburn and ulcers. Smokers have higher rates of deadly pancreatic cancer. Many of the carcinogens from cigarettes are excreted in the urine where their presence can cause bladder cancer, which is often fatal. High blood pressure from smoking can damage the kidneys.

Smoking Damages Other Systems

Smoking adversely affects the reproductive system, especially in women. Many female smokers experience irregular or absent periods. Fertility is compromised, and menopause occurs one to two years earlier. The risk of cervical cancer is increased. For women over 35 taking oral contraceptives, there is a significantly increased risk of stroke or heart attack if they are smokers. Men, experience lower sperm count, more abnormal sperm with decreased motility. There is also an effect on the mans level of sex hormones. Decrease circulations also predisposes male smokers to impotence as a result of overall compromised circulation and damage to the blood vessels in the penis. .
Smokers immune systems are impaired, leaving the smoker vulnerable to a host of minor infections. A smoker needs more time to recover from infections than a non-smoker. Coupled with diminished circulation, a smokers risk of infection from minor cuts or abrasions to the arms or legs skyrockets.

Cigarette smoking decreases bone density, promoting osteoporosis. Skin becomes dry and loses its elasticity as a result of poor circulation. Premature wrinkling is common. Irritation and inflammation of the stomach and intestines is frequently seen, including painful ulceration of the entire GI tract.

Even more serious are the risks to an unborn child if the mother smokes. Miscarriage is more common in women who smoke. Infants of smoking mothers are at increased risk of low birth weight, prematurity, cleft lip and palate, infections and SIDS.

How long does it take to lower cholesterol? That is a question that seems to plague almost anyone who suffers from high cholesterol. If youre suffering from high cholesterol, lowering your cholesterol level can never be fast enough; whether you’re seeking a natural way to lower cholesterol or via some other alternative treatment. According to an article by CNN in November 2006, more than 70 million Americans live everyday with some form of heart disease.” And the number is expected to rise steadily over the next 10 years.

Heart disease is Americas number one killer and probably, the number one killer in the industrialized world. The myth being perpetuated that cholesterol is never high before the age 40 is exactly that a myth. Dont believe a word of it.

The facts necessitate a quick guide to lowering your cholesterol quickly preferably opting for a natural and alternative treatment for high cholesterol.

But first for some good news. Cholesterol contrary to popular belief is not the cause of heart disease. The inflammation of arteries does that. Heart attacks occur in people with normal cholesterol levels. Thats right. There’s a lot of misinformation being passed around that cholesterol is bad – that cholesterol is the cause of heart disease. That’s so far from the truth. In fact, your body needs cholesterol to stay healthy. Your body uses cholesterol to produce hormones, vitamin D and bile acids to digest fat. And the truth of the matter is – your body requires only a small amount of cholesterol in the blood to meet these needs.

So why should you worry about lowering your cholesterol levels and maintaining it preferably at less than 200mg./dl.? Because failure in doing so can lead to the inflammation of your arteries … and that is when cardiovascular events like heart attacks will occur. It’s only when you have too much cholesterol in your bloodstream (referred to as hypercholesterolemia) that problems start to arise. And this is where you need to pay attention. Because a high cholesterol level … let’s say north of 250, can and will lead to problems such as atherosclerosis. Atherosclerosis clogs arteries including your coronary arteries (arteries that feed the heart) and if left unchecked overtime, will lead to heart disease like angina and heart attack.

This is why you need to lower your cholesterol level and why it’s so important to keep those levels in check. Statins such as Zocor and Lipitor may be powerful, cholesterol-lowering drugs and helps to some extent, but … whether you believe it or not … these can cause more damage (liver toxicity is a common side effect) than good to your body in the long run. You don’t need these ill-effects creeping into your life just as you’re about to kick back and enjoy your retirement.

Don’t get me wrong … I’m all for taking prescriptions drugs under doctor’s orders if no other alternatives are made available. I’m sure you’ll agree with that.

But Im about to show you 5 tips you can go about lowering your unhealthy cholesterol levels without drugs right now and fast!

Heres how to lower your cholesterol the natural way:

Consume more healthy” fats

You must have heard of monounsaturated fats. Usually found in some types of nuts like almonds and walnuts, olive oils, canola oils and avocados. These healthy” fats lower bad” cholesterol (LDLs Low-Density Lipoproteins) but at the same time, help maintain the good” cholesterol (HDLs High-Density Lipoproteins).

Your doctor can vouch for the fact that consuming monounsaturated fat instead of saturated fat can lower your cholesterol levels quite drastically. You would have probably come across health advice about lowering cholesterol such as, Replace whole milk with skim milk,” Cut down on that refined sugar,” or Dump butter for margarine.” Most of that information is true except for dumping butter for margarine. Margarine increases the bad cholesterol and even worse, lowers the good cholesterol almost tripling the risk of a coronary heart disease.

Dont believe the TV ads and stay away from margarine. Dr. Allan Spreen calls margarine, plastic butter.” And he has a point. Why? Because being hydrogenated, margarine is in fact one molecule away from actually being plastic no kidding! To put it mildly, youre actually about one molecule away from eating Tupperware. Youre more than welcome to carry out a simple test to prove this. All you have to do is leave a container of butter and a container of margarine out for a while and watch. It will only be a matter of time when you see flies hovering your container of butter – avoiding the margarine altogether. If it’s not good enough for flies, you know you’re in trouble!

Lower your intake of bad” fat

Lowering cholesterol without drugs begins with this very important step simply limit your consumption of saturated fat. Saturated fat is said to stimulate your liver to produce LDLs or bad cholesterol that would simply clog up your arteries. According to Dr William Castelli, co-author of Good Fat, Bad Fat, he recommended that a smart diet to help lower cholesterol would take into consideration the amount of bad” fat consumed per day ideally being 20 grams a day. And thats just for those who are healthy.

A good idea would be to simply check your food labels when grocery shopping to get a sense of how much fat grams will be going into your body at any given day. Make this a habit because a simple precautionary measure like this can mean a lot to your long-term health.

Also, take note of trans-fatty acids. The name probably already gives it away it is another bad fat. Trans-fatty acids are chemically processed and will not only raise your total cholesterol levels but can also lower your HDLs. These acids are usually found in deep-fried fast foods, biscuits, shortenings and packaged pastries. Theyre not usually indicated on food labels so be extra prudent about your food choices.

Get a blood test

You will want to get a blood test if you find yourself gaining weight, losing hair, feeling depressed, feeling more tired than usual, more sensitive to cold than usual and sudden stiffening of your joints. These could be symptoms of an underactive thyroid medically termed as hypothyroidism. Diagnosing this condition with a blood test could nip the problem in the bud and save you from a rising cholesterol level.

While youre at it, ask your doctor to check your homocysteine level as well. Recent studies are pointing towards homocysteine as a better predictor of cardiovascular events. And there is a connection between hypothyroidism, homocysteine and heart disease. If you have an underactive thyroid, this prevents the absorption of B vitamins causing homocysteine levels to shoot up. The result is a 300 percent risk of a heart attack.

A good homocysteine level is under 8. Anything above that and your doctor should be able to prescribe you some supplements. These supplements would usually center around vitamins B2, B6, B12 and folate.

Can I have my eggs back?

Yes, you definitely can. According to the British Nutrition Foundation’s Nutrition Bulletin, dietary cholesterol in eggs “has no clinically significant impact” on heart disease. In fact, eggs are such a rich source of nutrients that avoiding them could cause more damage than good to your health.

I mentioned homocysteine. Well, according to a study from Harvard Medical School, choline may be effective in managing homocysteine. And where is choline found? You guessed it. Eggs. In fact the best source of choline is egg yolks. But if youre someone with elevated cholesterol or heart disease, you should check with your doctor about the number of eggs you can consume per week. Such cases are usually limited to two eggs per week.

Stop smoking and get moving!

Those are two obvious actions to take to keep your body in good working order. If youre overweight, you can be sure that your HDL readings will be low. Shed the weight and watch your HDLs rise. Its quite difficult to raise HDLs by dieting alone. You will need the combination of regular exercising and watching what you eat. Exercising helps in lowering your triglycerides (a blood fat linked to heart disease) as well. If you are serious about lowering your cholesterol levels, pay attention to triglycerides. Because apart from clogging up your coronary arteries, high triglycerides can lead to kidney disease and pancreatitis.

There is not much to be said about smoking that has not been said already. Its just bad. Smoking depresses HDLs considerably. It is a cause of heart and blood-vessel disease and basically causes irreversible damage to your overall health. There are no two ways about it. Smoking kills.

Here is a rough checklist to monitor your cholesterol levels and as always, consult with your doctor.

LDLs

Keep it less than 130mg./dl. Anything above 160mg./dl. is high.

HDLS

The higher the better. 35mg./dl. or less increases the risk of heart-disease.

Triglycerides

Keep it less than 150mg./dl. Anything above 200mg./dl. is high.

Total cholesterol

This is the combined measure of all blood cholesterols. Keep this less than 200mg./dl. Anything above 240mg./dl. is high.

Quitting is a frustrating and difficult proposition for these people who despite the knowledge that they are seriously harming their bodies. Addiction to nicotine causes very uncomfortable symptoms of with drawl. Irritation, agitation and anxiety as well as loss of concentration, sleep disturbances, headaches, coughing and cravings.

Smoking cigarettes is so compelling because of the effects of nicotine. A stimulant, nicotine causes a temporary increase in alertness and a calm feeling. And it can be incredibly addictive. Some studies have found nicotine to be more highly addictive that cocaine or heroin. Additionally, it suppresses the appetite and smokers tend to keep weight off.