Are you a smoker? Thinking about quitting?
Well, there’s no better time to quit than today, and it is NEVER too late to start!
DID YOU KNOW?
- 20 minutes after quitting, a person’s heart rate & blood pressure drop back to normal levels
- 12 hours after quitting, the level of carbon monoxide in the blood drops to normal
- 2 weeks after quitting, circulation & lung function improve
- 1-9 months after quitting, smoker norms such as a constant cough and shortness of breath become less pronounced, the hairs lining the lungs can finally work normally again and help clean the lungs to reduce infection
- 1 year after quitting, the risk of getting heart disease is half as high as a smokers’
- 5 years after quitting, the risk of contracting mouth, throat, esophagus and bladder cancers is half of what it is for smokers, the risk of stroke and cervical cancer fall as well
- 10 years after quitting, the risk of dying from lung cancer are half that of a smoker’s, the risk of getting pancreatic and larynx cancer also decreases
- 15 years after quitting, the risk of heart disease is equivalent to a non smokers risk
Smoking kills more people every year than all deaths due to car accidents, suicides, AIDS, alcohol, murders and illegal drugs combined!
With respect to quitting, women tend to have a more difficult time than men, however new research suggests that women who try to quit smoking may have better success by timing their quit date with optimal days during their menstrual cycle. Estrogen and progesterone are two hormones which fluctuate over the menstrual cycle & are shown to modulate addictive behaviour. When the progesterone to estrogen ratio is low, addictive behaviour is more prevalent than when the progesterone to estrogen ratio is high. This indicates that hormone balancing can be a very important part of not only general health for women, but also assist in cessation of addictive behaviours, including smoking.
What can naturopathic medicine offer to smoking cessation??
- if hormone balancing is indicated, many therapies can assist this including:
- Individualized acupuncture treatment
- Many Botanicals (which must be dosed on an individual basis)- including Chaste Tree & Black Cohosh
- For Smoking cessation with or without hormone balancing some therapies include:
- Stress reduction
- Ensuring adequate sleep & Nutrition (smoking depletes many key nutrients)
- Counselling- ensuring accountability
- Botanicals – can be useful for sleep, relaxation, & helping the body to better cope- but must be dosed on an individual basis
- Individualized Acupuncture- can assist with stress reduction & can increase relaxation
Yours in Health,
Laura Pipher