Smoking Cessation

The whys and hows of smoking cessation

Smokers wanting to quit must have come across the word ‘smoking cessation’. If you want to know more about smoking cessation, here’s all the information you’ll needed. This article defines smoking cessation, the primary reasons for going for smoking cessation and the various methods of smoking cessation. Find out which method will work best for you and begin your smoking cessation therapy as soon as possible, because when it comes to quitting, the earlier the better.

Define smoking cessation

Smoking cessation is defined as the action leading towards the discontinuation of the habit of smoking, mainly tobacco, but it may also include cannabis and other smoked substances. A comprehensive smoking cessation program helps smokers kick their nicotine addiction by providing them with aids in conjunction with psychological and moral support.

The smoking cessation program is mainly targeted towards smokers who wish to quit smoking but find it tough to do so owing to the fear of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. This is because cigarette smoking is highly addictive. When a person tries to quit, he or she suffers from withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, headaches, mood swings, and cravings. The pangs of withdrawal often force many smokers to get back to smoking, especially when they just to go ‘cold turkey’. The smoking cessation program works towards avoiding such a situation by providing the right tools and counseling.

Reasons for smoking cessation

Smoking is an extremely harmful activity. Smoking is rated as the single greatest preventable cause of death. Millions of people die every year because of smoking related illnesses. Therefore the earlier you begin a smoking cessation program, the better it will be for your health. In fact medical experts are now enrolling teenagers in their smoking cessation program so that they may be prevented from numerous smoking related illnesses. Listed below are the dangers of smoking which may encourage you towards smoking cessation therapies.

• Smoking causes 11 different types of cancers, such as the cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth, and bladder, and contributes to cancer of the cervix, pancreas and kidneys.


• Smoking also affects lungs and may cause lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
• Smoking dangerously affects the heart and the circulatory system and may cause strokes, blockage of arteries, coronary heart disease, aneurysm, peripheral vascular disease and other issues.
• Smoking is especially harmful for pregnant women as it could lead to miscarriage, premature birth or stillbirth.


• Men who smoke are in danger of suffering from impotence and reduced fertility.
• Asthma and allergy sufferers will also have their conditions worsened because of smoking
• The cigarette habit leads to stained and bad teeth and bad breath. It can also discolor skin of the hands and nails.


• Smoking also contributes to back pain and osteoporosis (thinning of the bones).
• Peptic ulcers, diabetes and vision problems are all linked with smoking.
• Smoking is especially dangerous for people with diabetes, who are at risk for heart and blood vessel diseases.
• Family members of people who smoke also face serious health consequences as passive smoking is also dangerous to health.

Methods of smoking cessation

There are several ways through which people may try to stop smoking. Listed below are some of the most popular methods of smoking cessation:

• Cold turkey: Quitting cold turkey is a difficult proposition for many smokers. It entails smoking cessation through sheer will power.  People make an estimated 4-10 attempts before they are really able to quit via this method. Coping with the nicotine withdrawal symptom is the biggest hurdle that most smokers have to face.
• Counseling: Many smokers take help of counseling offered by many NGO and medical bodies to get out of the smoking habit. However, it has been seen that counseling works best when used along with aids such as medication and nicotine replacement therapy.
• Nicotine replacement therapy: This is another popular method of smoking cessation. In this method, people make use of nicotine gums or patches etc. The nicotine replacement therapy focuses on breaking the psychological addiction to smoking by providing the body with nicotine externally. However, since in this therapy nicotine is provided to the body a risk of re-addiction is involved.



• Quit smoking medications – Champix (Varenicline), Zyban (Bupropion): This is the newest and by far the most popular method of smoking cessation. Smoking cessation drug Champix (Varenicline) is proven to better than the only other stop smoking medication Zyban (Bupropion). Champix not only relieves a person from the painful nicotine withdrawal symptoms but it also removes the pleasure out of smoking. Clinical trials have shown that Champix doubles the odds of quitting as compared with Zyban, and quadruples when compared to a placebo. Both Champix and Zyban are nicotine-free and available on prescription only.