Šalje: QuitSmokingTips [bwprice@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 9. svibanj 2001 11:28 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingTips - Volume 3 Number 23 QuitSmokingTips - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com --------------------------- ListBot Sponsor -------------------------- Start Your Own FREE Email List at http://www.listbot.com/links/joinlb ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ..................................................................... Wednesday May 9, 2001 *** Volume 3 Number 23 *** ..................................................................... ...IN THIS ISSUE... 1 What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com 2. Gene may determine success of smoking cessation 3. 15 Tips For Gaining Freedom From Nicotine ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSORS: ---------------------------- Quit Smoking with the help of an artificial cigarette. Keeps your hands, mouth and mind busy, without the deadly smoke. http://www.quitsmoking.com/ez.htm ````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` Are you still trying to quit smoking or do you know someone who has struggled with quitting? For a solution that is not only proven effective (backed by grants from the National Instutite of Health NIH), it is also based on gradual reduction versus cold turkey. It's a credit card sized gizmo - you program in your smoking patterns and it gives you a regime to give up. I know how frustrating it is to continually keep trying new ways to quit - why don't you give this a go? It's 25 percent the cost of most drug-based programs and it's been proven to work. Click here for more information! http://quinst.com/c.jsp?area=yaibikousiqiong -------------------------------------------------------------------- ========> 1. What's New on QuitSmokingSupport.com Check out our list of quitting smoking counters at: http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/counters.htm Our quitting smoking bulletin board is one of the most popular quit smoking support areas on the Internet!! Sign up at: http://network54.com/Hide/Forum/76750 Take part in some of our polls...the results may surprise you! http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com/polls.htm ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 2. Gene may determine success of smoking cessation April 23, 2001 DANA POINT, California (CNN) -- Genes rather than willpower may predetermine if a person can successfully quit smoking. Scientists have shown for the first time that a gene known to be associated with drug and alcohol addiction also plays a role in the outcome of smoking cessation attempts. Scientists at the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas, wanted to know if there was a genetic difference between people who successfully quit smoking and those who failed. In the past, researchers have compared smokers to non-smokers to identify genetic differences. Knowing how genetics influence smokers could lead to better treatment programs. In the new study, 134 people were chosen participate in a smoking cessation program. All carried a specific gene called DRD2, which is a dopamine receptor. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that influences how brain cells communicate with each other. All were given counseling and a nicotine patch, and were randomly selected to receive an antidepressant drug or a placebo. Researchers found that among those smokers taking the placebo, 25 percent abstained from cigarettes for 18 weeks, compared with 37 percent for those taking the antidepressant. They also found that those participants with a certain type of the DRD2 gene were more likely to start smoking again after the 18 weeks -- they surmised that it might also determine the effectiveness of the antidepressant in smoking cessation. The DRD2 gene is made up of a pair of alleles. These alleles "come in two forms -- either A1 or A2 -- you get one from your father and one from your mother," said Paul Cinciripini, director of the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at M.D. Anderson and one of the study's authors. "If you have the A1 allele, you quit (smoking) less often." The participants who had the A2 allele had a good response to the antidepressant. DRD2 is the most widely studied dopamine gene, according to Cinciripini. It has been found in people with obesity, alcoholism, cocaine addiction and pathological gambling. This is the first study to look at how genes can contribute to or hamper smoking cessation efforts. The research was presented at a conference in Dana Point, California, sponsored by the American Cancer Society. "If we genetically characterize the dependent smoker we can potentially tailor-make drugs for each genetic profile or to simplify, if you have genetic profile x, y and z, you can find different drugs that work for x, y and z," said Dr. Dileep Bal, president of the American Cancer Society. The importance of this work is "not to preordain or predetermine what's going to happen to people, but it's to identify the areas to provide a little extra assistance to people trying to quit," added Dr. David Burns, professor of Medicine at the University of California at San Diego. Cinciripini said he could envision that in the future, smokers may be screened for this particular gene, so that they may receive specific drugs that may help them successfully stop smoking. Smoking rates are slowly declining in the United States according to the American Cancer Society, but they continue to rise in developing countries. The World Health Organization estimates that, based on current smoking patterns, smoking will eventually kill 500 million people worldwide. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` ========> 3. 15 Tips For Gaining Freedom From Nicotine 1. It's not as hard as you think. Once you begin to be honest with yourself and to look at the facts about smoking, it will become a pleasure to remove this addiction from your life. 2. Square off with your smoking habit. Look at it and size it up. Ask yourself exactly what it is doing for you; then ask yourself what it is not doing for you. You can begin with your hair and work your way down to the tips of your toes. It is a medical fact that smoking affects every organ in the human body in a harmful way. 3. Look at quitting cigarettes as giving yourself a gift-a very big gift. You are giving yourself a better quality of life and, very possibly, a longer life. You are giving yourself a healthier body. You are giving yourself more self-esteem. Wrap all this in a package and look at it for the gift it really is, then "Go for it!" 4. Set a date. Make a commitment. Give it a try. Remember, it is alright if you don't succeed at first. Just keep trying. The only way you can lose is by ceasing to try. 5. Don't look at it as if you are giving up something. This makes it seem too much like a loss. What you are really doing is tossing something out of your life that has done you harm and doesn't belong here anymore. You are throwing away pure garbage. No longer are you going to allow your lungs to be a resting place for nicotine and tars. 6. Always keep a positive attitude. After all, this is one of the most positive things you've ever done. Stay away from negative people and worrisome situations. 7. Quit for yourself. Even though your family and loved ones will benefit tremendously from your quitting, it is you that will benefit most. 8. Treat giving up smoking with the respect it rightly deserves. Become willing to go to any lengths to remove it from your life. If you are not willing, try praying for the willingness. This usually works. 9. Look up the word 'nicotine' in your dictionary and write down the definition in big letters: "A poisonous alkaloid used as an insecticide.' Put it where you can see it. 10. Don't say "I'll take my chances' and continue to smoke. They are not ours to take. We didn't give ourselves life and we don't have the right to "take our chances" on giving it away. That is up to God. 11. Don't fool yourself by saying you have too many pressures in your life right now to give up cigarettes. If you are smoking, this in itself is a very great pressure. Every day is a gamble and your life is at stake. By getting nicotine out of your life, other things will become easier to handle. You will feel better about yourself and you will have more energy. You will have accomplished something more meaningful than all the money and material objects you could ever acquire. You will have given yourself what no one else could give you. You will no longer have the pressures of being a smoker. 12. Don't use the excuse that you might gain weight to justify your continuing to smoke. Even if you do gain a little, the fact that you will be more active and will get more exercise should counteract any weight gain. Remember, overeating, not stopping smoking, causes weight gain. 13. Plan to do things that will keep your mind off smoking. Sometimes our minds can be our worst enemies. They will tell us that we need a cigarette for just about any reason that is handy at the time. By doing things like going to the movies in the non-smoking section, munching on corn or sucking on a lollipop, we can keep our minds occupied and get a break. Go to museums and other places where smoking isn't allowed. Swimming is a good idea, too. 14. Quit smoking one day at a time and think only about the part of the day you are in. "I am not going to smoke before noon." "I am not going to smoke before three o'clock." Sometimes just do it one hour at a time. This is a lot easier than trying to quit forever. 15. Don't subject yourself to smoky situations. If you do come in contact with someone who is smoking, just say to yourself "He is having the cigarette I might be having"; then, be grateful you don't have to have it. ```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````` 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 quitsmokingtips-unsubscribe@listbot.com