Šalje: QuitSmokingSupport.com [support@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 24. siječanj 2001 2:06 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingSupport Newsletter QuitSmokingSupport.com - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ..................................................................... January 23, 2001 *** Volume 4 Number 3 *** ..................................................................... ...IN THIS ISSUE... 1 What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com 2. New Ally In Fighting Nicotine Addiction. 3. Common Rationalizations About Smoking! A Message from our Sponsors: ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` QuitSmoking.com Be sure you visit http://www.quitsmoking.com Excellent Information and Products to Help Smokers Quit! ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Finally There's A Nicotine Free Cigarette! Yes! You or a loved one can break the smoking habit. With our nicotine free cigarettes, an alternative to the patch, the pill, and the gum. Nicotine free cigarettes allows you to still continue smoking while you are withdrawing from the nicotine addiction. Try them today. Visit: http://nicotinefreecigarettes.com ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` "SMOKESAVER" turns your computer into a virtual therapist. By replacing your screen saver, SmokerSaver drops in on you several times a day, every day ? bite-sized instalments that accumulate into a comprehensive 30-day course. This powerful interactive guide shadows you throughout the day, initially assessing your habit, then advising you, monitoring your progress, supporting and inspiring you, until you reach your ultimate goal of being a non-smoker. Visit: www.SmokerSaver.com for more information! ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 1. What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com Thinking about quitting smoking? Get some of the most interactive online support available at: http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/76750 Purchase "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Quitting Smoking" at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/otherbook.htm Add your name to our growing list of over 2,800 ex-smokers at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/feedback.htm ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 2. New Ally In Fighting Nicotine Addiction Cigarette smokers have new ally in fighting nicotine addiction, researchers say. A medication used in the treatment of a skin disease can help smokers who are trying to end their nicotine addiction, Canadian researchers report. It works by reducing the activity of an enzyme that metabolizes nicotine inside a smoker's body. The research "opens up an exciting new avenue of treatment" for nicotine addiction, said Dr. Alan I. Lesher, director of the U.S. National Institute on Drug Abuse. After a cigarette, a smoker has nicotine in his bloodstream. As the nicotine slowly metabolizes, its level in the blood drops. At a certain point, the smoker is often chemically triggered to light another cigarette, researchers at the University of Toronto reported. Methoxsalen, a compound used to treat psoriasis, slows the metabolism of nicotine. The delay causes nicotine to last longer in the bloodstream, thus postponing the smoker's urge for another cigarette, they said. Using methoxsalen improves the effectiveness of nicotine-replacement therapy -- often administered by a skin patch or by chewing gum, said the lead researcher, Dr. Edward Sellers of the university. In the study, when methoxsalen was combined with controlled oral nicotine doses, smokers tested had fewer cigarettes, waited longer intervals between cigarettes and took fewer puffs on each cigarette, the researchers reported in the journal Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. "The primary pharmacologic function of tobacco smoking is to deliver nicotine to the brain," the journal article said. "Tobacco-dependent smokers try to maintain their (blood) plasma nicotine concentration within a relatively narrow range to avoid toxicity or withdrawal." An enzyme, CYP2A6, is the chemical key for removing nicotine from the bloodstream, the researchers said. And methoxsalen inhibits CYP2A6. In earlier studies, researchers found that people with a deficiency in CYP2A6, perhaps because of genetic reasons, are less likely to start smoking and if they do, they smoke less often than people with normal levels of CYP2A6. "CYP2A6 inhibition appears to be a potential component of a potent, novel treatment for tobacco dependence," the report said. "As most of the health risks of tobacco use are consequences of exposure to constituents of the smoke other than nicotine, there are considerable potential health benefits of CYP2A6 inhibition," the researchers said. Lesher of the National Institute on Drug Abuse said a new treatment based on the Canadian research "can help smokers substantially reduce their exposure to the deadly particles of tobacco smoke while they overcome the addiction to nicotine that makes it so hard to quit." Before methoxsalen can be safely employed for long-term use in battling nicotine addiction, additional study is needed, Sellers said. The drug has not been proven safe for long term use in humans. The nicotine study was partly financed by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and by Nicogen Inc., a Toronto-based private-venture capital company pursuing biopharmaceuticals. Nicogen's board of directors includes two of the study's researchers -- Sellers, M.D. and Ph.D., and Rachel F. Tyndale, Ph.D. Both are vice presidents of Nicogen, and both are on the faculty of the University of Toronto ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 3. Common Rationalizations About Smoking! Rationalization: I'm under a lot of stress, and smoking relaxes me. Response: Your body is used to nicotine, so you naturally feel more relaxed when you give your body a substance upon which it has grown dependent. But nicotine really is a stimulant; it raises your heart rate, blood pressure, and adrenaline level. Most ex-smokers feel much less nervous just a few weeks after quitting. Rationalization: Smoking makes me more effective in my work. Response: Trouble concentrating can be a short-term symptom of quitting, but smoking actually deprives your brain of oxygen. Rationalization: I've already cut down to a safe level. Response: Cutting down is a good first step, but there's a big difference in the benefits to you between smoking a little and not smoking at all. Besides, smokers who cut back often inhale more often and more deeply, negating many of the benefits of cutting back. After you've cut back to about 7 cigarettes a day, it's time to set a quit date. Rationalization: It's too hard to quit. I don't have the willpower. Response: Quitting and staying away from cigarettes is hard, but it's not impossible. More than 3 million Americans quit every year. It's important for you to remember that many people have had to try more than once, and try more than 1 method, before they became ex-smokers, but they have done it, and so can you. Rationalization: I'm worried about gaining weight. Response: Most smokers who gain more than 5 to 10 pounds are eating more. Gaining weight isn't inevitable. There are certain things you can do to help keep your weight stable. Rationalization: I don't know what to do with my hands. Response: That's a common complaint among ex-smokers. You can keep your hands busy in other ways; it's just a matter of getting used to the change of not holding a cigarette. Try holding something else, such as a pencil, paper clip, or marble. Practice simply keeping your hands clasped together. If you're at home, think of all the things you wish you had time to do, make a list, and consult the list for alternatives to smoking whenever your hands feel restless. Rationalization: Sometimes I have an almost irresistable urge to have a cigarette. Response: This is a common feeling, especially within the first 1 to 3 weeks. The longer you're off cigarettes, the more your urges probably will come at times when you smoked before, such as when you're drinking coffee or alcohol or are at a cocktail party where other people are smoking. These are high-risk situations, and you can help yourself by avoiding them whenever possible. If you can't avoid them, you can try to visualize in advance how you'll handle the desire for a cigarette if it arises in those situations. Rationalization: I blew it. I smoked a cigarette. Response: Smoking 1 or a few cigarettes doesn't mean you've "blown it." It does mean that you have to strengthen your determination to quit and try again -- harder. Don't forget that you got through several days, perhaps even weeks or months, without a cigarette. This shows that you don't need cigarettes and that you can be a successful quitter. *Adapted from Clinical Opportunities for Smoking Intervention: A Guide for the Busy Physician. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. Publication 86-2178. August 1986. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` The contents of this newsletter do not necessarily reflect the opinions of QuitSmokingSupport.com. We want this newsletter to be the best one around. If you have suggestions, ideas, or feedback about this newsletter, feel free to email us at support@quitsmokingsupport.com Please feel free to pass this newsletter along to anyone you know who may benefit from it! To unsubscribe to this newsletter, please go to http://www.listbot.com/ (c) Copyright 1995-2001 QuitSmokingSupport.com 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