Šalje: QuitSmokingSupport.com [support@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 18. listopad 2000 11:25 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingSupport.com Newsletter: Volume 3 Number 32 QuitSmokingSupport.com - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com A warm welcome to all of the new members who have subscribed in the past month. This newsletter is mailed out once and occasionally twice a week and provides information to assist those who want to quit smoking. I am a former 2 pack a day smoker who quit several years ago. I smoked for almost 20 years and got that extra "incentive" to quit when my 3 year old son said one day that he didn't want me to get sick from smoking. I quit the next day and have never looked back since! I was concerned about the effect that smoking was having on my health and I longed to be free from this terrible addiction. I set up my web site the day I quit to assist others and I hope that you visit it. http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com If you feel that the material in this newsletter may be of benefit to anyone that you know please feel free to pass it on! I also hope that this newsletter helps you in your quest to quit smoking! If you have any comments, suggestions or ideas please email us at: support@quitsmokingsupport.com ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` In this issue for Wednesday October 18, 2000 **Smoker's Face -- An Evident Reason To Quit** **2 very special areas on our web site** Be sure to read "The Ten Top Things People Don't Know About Smoking and Quitting" at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/nicotine.htm Our new Health, Mind & Soul V-store I opened for business now! Be sure to pay us a visit! http://www.vstore.com/cgi-bin/pagegen/vstorehealth/becomehealthy/page.html?mode=home&file=/page/home/home.spl ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Smoker's Face -- An Evident Reason To Quit Reprinted with permission from the New York Times Company. The doctor could tell the patient had once been an attractive woman. But now, though only in her 50s, her face was etched with wrinkles, her features gaunt-looking with prominent underlying bones and her skin shriveled and gray with purplish blotches. Diagnosis: smoker's face. Doctor Douglas Model of Eastbourne, England, added this condition to the medical lexicon in 1985 after surveying 116 patients and correctly identifying roughly half of current smokers by their facial features alone. The distinctive characteristics of smoker's face, which makes people look far older than their years, were present in 46% of the current smokers, 8% of the former smokers, and none of the nonsmokers, irrespective of their age, social class, recent weight fluctuations, and exposure to sunlight. Dr. Jeffrey B. Smith, a senior resident in dermatology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, recalled this poignant diagnosis in a review of the effects of smoking - related skin conditions: Smoking damages cells and tissues in so many ways that it can have myriad effects on the body. Wrinkles: "For some patients the threat of wrinkles may be a more powerful motivator to help them stop smoking than the more deadly consequences of smoking," Smith wrote. He explained that, as with skin that is overexposed to sunlight, smoking causes thickening and fragmentation of elastin, the elastic fibers that are long and smooth in healthy skin. Smoking also depletes the skin's oxygen supply by reducing circulation. It decreases the formation of collagen, the skin's main structural component, and may reduce the water content of the skin, all of which increase wrinkling. Smoking also interferes with the skin's ability to protect itself against damage by free radicals, highly reactive substances that are omnipresent in tobacco smoke. In women, smoking diminishes the level of circulating estrogen, which in turn fosters dryness and disintegration of skin tissues. Skin Cancers: Two kinds of skin cancers, the more curable squamous cell carcinomas and the often lethal melanomas, are influenced by smoking. Smith said that although smoking did not cause melanoma, smokers with melanoma were more likely to die of their disease. They are twice as likely to have advanced disease at the time of diagnosis and are more likely to have their cancers spread within two years of diagnosis, probably because smoking impairs the immune system. As for squamous cell carcinoma, even when exposure to sunlight was taken into account, smokers were found to be at greater risk of developing this cancer. In a study of more than 107,000 nurses, for example, the risk of developing squamous cell carcinoma was 50 per cent greater in smokers than in those who had never smoked. Smokers also tend to get particularly "large, bad" skin cancers, Smith said. Other Cancers: Cancers of the lip, mouth, penis, anus and vulva are also more common in smokers than nonsmokers. For example, in one study of 903 female cancer patients, 60 percent of those with vulvar and anal cancers and 42 percent of those with cervical and vaginal cancers were smokers as against only 27 percent of comparable women without cancer. Smoking more than 10 cigarettes a day more than doubles a man's risk of developing penile cancer. Delayed Wound Healing: The problem of slow or incomplete healing of wounds associated with exposure to cigarette smoke was clearly demonstrated in laboratory animals in the 1970s. Then surgeons began reporting on similar problems in patients who smoked: larger scars in women undergoing exploratory abdominal surgery, more complications and skin sloughing after facelifts and a much higher failure rate of skin grafts, for example. The more and the longer patients had smoked, the greater the likelihood of impaired wound healing. Even resuming smoking during an uneventful recovery could lead to adverse effects. Smith linked the slow healing of wounds to known effects of cigarette smoking, which constricts surface blood vessels, reduces the oxygen level in the blood, thickens the blood and impedes the laying down of collagen needed for healing. Oral lesions: In addition to smoker's face, there is also smoker's palate and smoker's tongue. The tars and heat of tobacco smoke can cause tiny red pimples in the mouth that result from an inflammation of the openings of salivary glands. Smokers also often develop depressions on the surface of the tongue. Potentially more serious, however, are lesions called leucoplakia, which are about six times more common in smokers than in nonsmokers. Although benign, these white patches in the mouth can become cancerous. Buerger's disease: This blood vessel disease results in poor circulation in the lower legs, causing skin problems like burning, tingling and ulcerations. "It usually occurs in young men who smoke, men in their 30s," Smith said. "But now that women are smoking a lot more, we're seeing it in women too." Other Skin conditions: Many skin diseases are associated with diabetes, which impairs circulation to the outer reaches of the body. A study of more than 112,000 female nurses followed for 12 years showed that current smokers faced an increased risk of developing noninsulin-dependent diabetes, and that the risk rose with the number of cigarettes smoked each day. Another study of nearly 43,000 male health professionals showed that smoking 25 or more cigarettes a day doubled a man's risk of developing diabetes. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING? Using the Nicotrol Inhaler? Harris Interactive invites you to participate in a research study designed to learn more about your experiences using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler. Participation involves completing up to six short surveys over the next seven months, either by phone or internet. Qualified participants will receive payment for each interview completed, totaling up to $60.00 You must be over the age of 18 and using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler to enroll in this study. * For more Information Call: 1-877-889-8593 OR, go to: http://survey.harrispollonline.com/11662f.htm ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` What are the benefits of quitting smoking: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/benefits.htm ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Sponsor Advertisement: Make sure you visit QuitSmoking.com Excellent Information and Products to Help Smokers Quit! http://www.quitsmoking.com ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` We have 2 very special areas on our web site: * Overcoming Smoking * - a collection of submissions from people who have quit smoking, specifically answering the question: "In a short paragraph, please outline the main reason why and how you quit smoking." If you are interested in including your thoughts please email us and we will add them. They are an invaluable resource for others to read who are in the process of quitting smoking. * X-smokers List* - listing people who have quit smoking. Show others who are interested in quitting smoking that it CAN be done no matter how long or how many cigarettes you have smoked! It is very hard to imagine (but true) that the 2,600 people would have smoked over 320 million cigarettes in total if each person smoked only a pack of cigarettes (20) a day for the total number of years smoked ! At $2.50 a package this would amount to about $65 million dollars up in smoke! Both of these areas can be accessed from our site at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/special.htm ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Take care and have a great week! Blair support@quitsmokingsupport.com QuitSmokingSupport.com http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to nosmoke-unsubscribe@listbot.com Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb