smoke tricks how to

smoke tricks how to

if you're a smoker trying to quit, boy doyou have options. patches, chewing gum, lollipops -- and evenlasers! but if you're overwhelmed with choice, maybetry nothing at all. hi aware citizens, trace here for dnews. now smoking is bad for you -- it causes cancerand a gazillion other diseases. you know that. we know that. this is your life and we’re not going totell you what to do. but we are going to tell you the science behindquitting if you or someone you know is trying

to give up the habit. now before we breakdown the options, we haveto first understand why it’s so difficult to quit in the first place. one word: nicotine. it’s what’s naturally found in tobaccoand as addictive as heroin and cocaine. when inhaled, nicotine travels quickly tothe brain. there, it releases dopamine and other feelgood chemicals into brain cell receptors. this creates more and more nicotine receptorsin the brain. when these receptors are starved of nicotineyou go through intense withdrawal, which can

lead to depression and tension, until youget your next fix. so the trick may be to gradually giving yourbrain less and less nicotine, which is where the highly advertized treatment of nicotinereplacement therapy comes into play. we’re talking about patches, chewing gum,lozenges, inhalers and even nasal spray and lollipops. but do these methods actually work? let’s take one of the most popular methods,the patch. this is typically a reservoir of nicotinesandwiched between an occlusive and permeable adhesive layers.

stick it on your skin and the nicotine slowlyleaches through the layers of your dermis, to the hypodermis, which contains blood vesselsneeded to bring the drug into the bloodstream. this happens at a much slower rate and ata lower concentration than smoke inhalation. different patches contain different amountsof nicotine, slowly ridding your body’s dependence of the drug. but is it effective? well, one study conducted by the harvard schoolof public health looked at 787 adults who had recently quit smoking. they were surveyed three different times overthe course of six years and asked questions

about what type of nicotine replacement therapythey had used, the duration of the therapy, if they had consulted a professional, andtheir current smoking habits. during each one of those check-ins arounda third of the participants had relapsed. this led researchers to conclude that “usingnicotine replacement therapy is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettesin the long-term than trying to quit on one’s own.” what about alternative ways to quit smoking? some people have tried acupuncture and hypnosis,but based on some of our last videos, it’s a little up for debate on whether that worksor not.

and others have even tried lasers. yes, lasers… well, low-level lasers therapy. the company innovative laser therapy claimsthat an hour of therapy is all you’d need to quit your addiction. the lasers target specific points in the bodythat the company alleges are related to addiction, claiming it relieves withdrawal symptoms andprevents cravings. owner frank pinto explains, “the laser basicallystimulates the nerve endings to tell the brain to release a flood of endorphins.” but “basically” isn’t science.

and though there have been a few studies todetermine its validity, they are few and far between with inconclusive results. but perhaps the best thing to do is nothingat all. in a 2016 study published in the journal annalsof internal medicine, 697 adult smokers who smoked at least 15 cigarettes a day were dividedinto two groups: those who quit cold turkey and those who gradually reduced their smokingover the course of two weeks. researchers recorded their results both fourweeks then six months later. nearly half of the cold turkey group successfullyquit smoking after a month, compared to 39% of those who gave it up gradually.

at the half-year mark, the rates of successreduced to 22% and 15% respectively, but this still means the cold turkey technique is stillmore effective than gradual reduction. of course there are other factors that takeplace when finding the right way to quit like genetics and age. so like many of our health related episodes,it’s probably best to consult your doctor on what’s right for you. quitting cigarettes is a great step towardsa more healthy lifestyle, and if that’s your thing, you should definitely check outbeachbody on demand. you can get access a wide variety of workoutprograms including the world-famous p90x,

insanity, focus t25, and many others, rangingfrom cardio to resistance training, yoga, dance, low impact and more. sign up for beachbody on demand today andget a free 30-day membership. smoking does a lot of crazy stuff to yourbody, but when you do find that effective way to quit, is that alone enough to reverseall the damage done from smoking? tara talks about it more in this video. have you, or anyone you know, tried to quitsmoking? what did you use? did it work?