e-Cigarettes: More than just harmless water vapor

still a bad idea - "A" for effort, but still dumb

Are e-Cigarettes really the healthy alternative to smoking or just an entirely new and different set of
problems?

New research is revealing that the e-cigarettes in fact might actually impede your body's ability to defend itself from and fight off bacteria.  There is also cause to believe that the e-cigarette will actually increase the power of drug-resistant bacteria.  (HOLY pathogen Batman!)

There's a study recently put out by researchers from the VA San Diego Healthcare System and the University of California, San Diego that dug into the effect of e-cigarette vapor on live methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, the MRSA virus, as well as human epthielial cells.

WIKI:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus

"The virulence of MRSA is increased by e-cigarette vapor," said lead investigator Laura E. Crotty Alexander, MD, VA researcher and assistant professor of medicine in pulmonary and critical care at UCSD, in a press release.

PRESS RELEASE:  http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2014/05/114301/e-cigarettes-expose-people-more-%E2%80%98harmless%E2%80%99-water-vapor-and-should-be-regulated

The release tells us that exposure to e-cigarette vapor increased the virulence of the bacteria, helping MRSA escape killing by antimicrobial peptides and macrophages. The vapor, said Alexander, did not make the bacteria as aggressive as cigarette smoke exposure did in parallel studies her group conducted.

The study states that the e-cigarette vapor led to changes in the body which makes it harder to fight off infection and created a greater resistance to killing by human cells and antibiotics.

"As health care professionals, we are always being asked by patients, "Would this be better for me?" Crotty Alexander said. "In the case of smoking e-cigarettes, I hated not having an answer. While the answer isn't black and white, our study suggests a response: even if e-cigarettes may not be as bad as tobacco, they still have measurable detrimental effects on health."

The research is just the latest in a string of reports on e-cigarettes and potential harmful attributes.

Claims that e-cigarettes are not a danger to smokers and nonsmokers and offer a viable healthy way to quit a nicotine habit are not true, according to a study on the electronic smoking devices released in the past two weeks.

A UC San Francisco research team states there is no evidence to support the claims from e-cigarette makers and advocates.

Another study claims particles from inhaled vapor are being absorbed in deep lung tissue and could present health issues. Another claims the e-cigarette vapor may feature potential carcinogenic elements.

Ultimately, it's you verses nicotine and the people who continue to perpetuate the addiction at your expense.  Choose life and choose freedom.  Stop.  Don't quit.

Cigarettes can make you stupid

Did you know that a smoker's risk of dying from a stroke nearly double?  So often we put the attention on the lungs and heart, but what are cigarettes doing to your brain?  In a recent post in the Independent, Charlie Cooper talks about a TV commercial which will "bring to life the toxic cycle of dirty blood" that is caused be breathing cigarette smoke.  Not only can smoking double your chance of a stroke, it is also related to cognitive decline and dementia.

People tend to turn a blind eye to the consequences of smoking in favor of the short term pleasure and stress relief smoking brings.  Smoking is still the biggest cause of premature death and one in two smokers will die early from a disease directly related to smoking.

While damage to the brain from smoking tends to get over looked, it makes since.  Look at the obvious.  Deprive the brain from oxygen, what happens?  It dies.  Period.  Add in the fact that cigarettes contain chemicals like arsenic and cyanide which can cause massive damage to the cells in the brain.  Not only will that increasing the risk of stroke, but it will also contribute to cognitive decline and dementia.  

In fact, one study, done at the University College London shows that cognitive decline in men can be up to 38 per cent faster for a regular smoker.  

Basically, at that rate you may very well intend to quit, but you forget to do it!  The good news is, if you tie a string to your finger so you remember to not smoke, your body can show near full recovery within five years back in the non-smoking section.

Bottom line is smoking will harm you in one way or another.  But it becomes clear that the intensity of the addiction is too strong for many people to respond logically to the information that this will to your untimely death and simply stop.  Somehow smoking has become more important than living a healthy life.  Nicotine effectively rewires the brain to believe it is a necessity.  The process of getting back to the non-smoking section requires that you rewire your brain back to it's original programming and this will meet with some real resistance from the body and the brain.  The beauty of the mind and body is that it can and will overcome nicotine addiction.  There are 7 steps to do this effectively and permanently and I cover them in my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, but if I can sum them up for here, it looks like this:

1.  Decide to stop 

2.  Understand your history so you can not repeat it

3.  Commit to a higher purpose

4.  Stay in the now - right now you're not smoking - stay in that place

5.  Eat right and get regular exercise

6.  Become a better human

7.  Repeat daily - hourly or by the minute if you have to

Simple yet not easy but very doable and doable without NRT or drugs like Chantix.  You had the power to start which means you have the power to stop!

Who's a smoker and what's that gonna cost you?

Stop Smoking Detroit!  People in Detroit, MI have another solid reason to stop smoking.  This reason will have a national effect, but according to the  Detroit Free Press and the U.S. CDC, there are about 44 million people in the U.S. that smoke cigarettes.  In Michigan, that's about 1 in 5.

Recent health care reforms is allowing insurance companies  to adjust premiums for tobacco users upwards of 50% in some cases!

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and illness.  The CDC says that tobacco use costs the US approximately $96 billion annually in medical costs and $97 billion in lost productivity.

SIDE BAR:  Add those two up and we're talking about $193 billion dollars a year.  If you could redirect these funds, how would you spend that money?  The national debt could be paid down in about 85 years assuming we accrue no additional debt...  like that'll ever happen.  

Smoking is the only behavior or habit that an insurer can actually penalize a consumer for doing under the federal law.

The questions now is, what makes a smoker a smoker in the eyes of Uncle Sam?

Here at The StopDontQuit blog, we wanted smokers and occasional smokers alike to know so they can make a educated decision on specifically how and when they decide to continue smoking.

• If you've used tobacco an average of four or more times per week within the last six months, your considered a tobacco user.
• Since a minor cannot purchase tobacco products legally, an insurance company cannot take tobacco use into account to set premiums if the tobacco user is younger than 18.
• An insurance company can't penalize smokers or tobacco users for using it for religious or ceremonial uses.”  It uses Native American ceremonies as an example, but it does not clarify this provision further.
• Good news is that the law requires that all individual and small-market policies cover tobacco cessation programs.

Here's another fun fact.  Let's say you lied about your smoking, then get caught.  Caught meaning a tumor in your lung or throat cancer that can't be explained away in any Michael Douglas fashion.  Now what?  Well the insurance company can't drop your lying ass, but they can charge you what you should have paid and do retroactively.

If you're a number guy, consider this.  The law also allows an adult smoker to be be charged three times more than a young adult smoker.  And it also provides that smokers don't get to use government tax credits available to help pay premiums to offset the surcharges from smoking...  [insert Homer Simpson DOH! here]

So do that math.  What does it really cost you to keep smoking?  Would you invest $20 to learn how to stop?  Clearly you need to learn how to stop.  You haven't quit yet, obviously, because you're still smoking. What if you didn't have to quit, but all you needed to do was stop? Every time you get on a plane, you stop.  Every time you go to the movies, you stop.  Why not stop all together?  Who said anything about quitting?  I stopped in 2002, haven't had a cigarette since and still haven't quit.  And look, if I can do that, certainly you can too.  Listen to yourself and the excuses you're making up right now.  Hopefully you feel like that really isn't you talking and would like to let the real you back out to play.  Pick up a copy of "How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone", invest $20 in saving the rest of your life.

Experimental Drug Curbs Smokers' Nicotine Cravings - David R Bradley cimes in...

If you're looking to quit smoking, there's no need for an e-cigarette, patch, gum, and certainly no need to pop a pill that will further alter your brain chemistry.  Nicotine is already altering your brain chemistry.  When you go for a time with out injesting nicotine, you're body begins to withdraw.  It's normal, not a problem and part of becoming a non smoker.  Sometimes you need to suffer, strain and work to appreciate fully your accomplishment.  Why should getting off cigarettes be any different?

Pick up a copy of my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone to kick the habit.  Get it right the first time!  You have to power to stop smoking.  Will you use it?

Sage Stallone's Cause Of Death: Heart Attack

Sage Stallone died from a heart attack.  At least that is what the Huffington Post is reporting.  Tragedy being that this is a reality.  Rare, but real.  A very dear friend of mine, Joseph Tobin, left the party way too early due to aortic dissection.

While being 36 and dying from a heart attack is rare, it does happen.  Sage Stallone tox report came back clean...  except for the lungs.

The L.A. County Coroner is being quoted as saying that Sage was a heavy smoker and "the habit likely helped contribute to his death, as smoking is one of the chief causes of heart disease due to elevated blood pressure, increasing the risk of clots."

Any time we loose someone too soon, you have to ask, was he done?  God knows.  We don't.  We are all here to fulfill a purpose, to aid in the creation of a better planet.  Had Sage fulfilled his purpose?  Was it simply time for him to go work from Infinity because he can get more done there?  Again, God knows, we don't.

What I can tell you is this.  Deliberating cutting short the life you were given is...  well, it's a great many things, but let's just leave it at selfish.

Now I don't know Sage.  I never met him, never knew him.  I know his father obviously and have admired him from afar.  I also understand what it means to loose a loved one.  I have empathy for Mr. Stallone and wish him peace.  Sly, or any parent, should not have to loose their children.  Kids aren't supposed to die before their parents.  It doesn't make since.  Not in the least.

We are all on this Earth to live at our highest self.  We are here in order to fully understand our infinite nature.  Perhaps the lesson Sage can teach us to fully appreciate the fragility of the vessel.  And while the human race as a species and the body has the potential for great strength, survival, and creation, the body is still a machine.  If you don't replace your oil in the car, if you put diesel in a petrol engine, if you drive a full throttle all the time, the car won't run right and will not last as long.  Period

We've been giving this miraculous machine to work with while we're here on Terra Firma.   You must maintain the machine.  You must respect it.  It is a gift.  It is also on loan.  Consider it that way for a second and recognize that you very well might just have an obligation to return it in good condition.  When you rent a house, apartment or a car, you are expected to return it in the same condition you got it, why would the gift of life be any different?

So, that's the lesson.  Sage, I'm confident you are working from above to continue your purpose.  I wish you and your family peace.  While your time here was short, you may very well have saved countless lives with your story.

Excuses are like... and everyone's got one!

EXCUSES

"Excuses are TOOLS of the WEAK & INCOMPETENT that build monuments of NOTHINGNESS & Bridges that lead to NOWHERE, those who use them seldom amount to ANYTHING."

Notice the source at the bottom...  Clearly, this is not a 5th grade class in California or it would read a little different.



What's important here is that every time you smoke a cigarette or talk about why you can't quit, then you're making an excuse.  So when you make an excuse like of this because this definition is lethal.

So, all you quitters out there, it's time to stop trying to quit and just stop smoking.  No more excuses, no more, period.  Knock that crap off!

Smoking & Periodontal Disease

When you smoke, you increase the odds of periodontal disease.  Periodontal disease is...  well, here, watch this:

Follow?

So, if you smoke (please excuse the lady in the video for saying "quit") now is the best time to stop.

In a future segment, I will show you my experience with this, but for now, keep this in mind...

Cancer, emphysema, heart disease, might just be too hard to grasp.

The whole "it'll never happen to me" attitude might be so ingrained that the concept of cancer might be incomprehensible to you.  It doesn't effect the reality of it all, but it might be for you, just too hard to grasp.  No problem!  Go look in the mirror, smile big and imagine one, two, or more pearly whites missing...   how's that?

Stay tuned for the reality TV version of me with out a front tooth!

For now, let's focus on the science:  http://www.smokersgums.com/ and the moral of the story, don't smoke.

"You Become What You Most Repeatedly Do" -Scott Sonnon

Saw this on Scott Sonnon's Facebook Page yesterday and found it to be a wonderful addition to my blog.

You become what you most repeatedly do, whether you prefer it or not. Some read this and see problems. Others read this and see possibilities. The former believe in fate, the latter - in the forge.

Not the discovery [that] we can become whatever we do that shocked me most, but the awareness of we CHOOSE to perceive that as obstacle or opportunity, which transformed me... And this compels me to share that news with as many as I can reach.

What you are now, you can sacrifice for who you wish to become. Instead of deciding to "live a little" and suffer the consequences, choose to "live a lot" and enjoy them.

It's the last line that brings it home, wouldn't you agree?

Smoking an e-Cigarette is NOT helping you at all!

...Over Your Dead Body...(Death Express Continued)

...Over Your Dead Body...(Death Express Continued) 

Well, it looks like my friend on HubPages went and did it again!  Go take a look at this Hub for a painting with words.  Look at it.  See if you can see your reflection in this mirror.  Even if you don't smoke, you may have a monkey on your back that may very well be looking you straight in the eye?

Let's say you used to smoke...  or drink...  or...  you fill in that blank.  Here's the deal.  In my book, How To Smoking Without Killing Anyone, I challenge you to be a smoker who doesn't smoke.  This smoking thing has become a part of who you are.  It's a piece of your identity now.  Like it or not and this part of your life, that journey and experience of being a smoker made you who you are now.

You can't hide from that and you will never escape it.  What you do now is just that.  Stay in this now and leave the past where it belongs.  In the past.  The choice is yours.

Stay tuned for more...

...Till Death Do Us Part/Death Express...(All Aboard the Quit Smoking Train cont.

The Next Chapter in the Carole Anzolletti series of fictional free verse expressionistic Gothic jive is called appropriately, "...Till Death Do Us Part/Death Express...(All Aboard The Quit Smoking Train Cont.)"

Here we pick up on the tragedy of the previous evening.  Still fresh in the ash of all things avoidable, we encounter a soul struggling to stay out of Death's gaze and pull.  In fact in this segment, we meet many souls.

For most, we never know when Death will come knocking, the question Carol raises here and that I also ask in my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone, is why speed up the inevitable here?  I mean, let's not send this cat Death a friggin invitation and meet him half way to the door...  can you dig on that?

Because, really...  and I've said it before and I'll said it again, smoking really is a passive aggressive form of suicide.  I mean c'mon, it's almost 2012, you know this will kill you and you do it any way?  What is that all about?  Do you have some sort of Death Wish?

It's time to rise up, like a Phoenix, from your own ashes and live!

Think about it...  and stay tuned for more!

Don't Quit Smoking and Don't Even Stop Smoking For That Matter...

But buy my book anyway.  How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone What?  Yes.  That's right.  I just went there.  But it's not what you think.  I wrote this book because I know I'm not the only one who has stopped and I know that the ordeal of stopping is not a pleasant experience and I also know that quitting is near impossible.  I wrote this book now because I truly want to help the PNS (potential non-smoker - more on this later so keep reading) to finally kick the habit. In the book you'll find out why I never bothered to quit, I simply stopped. 

You too can stop, but only when you make the commitment to do so.  Commitment is a magical thing.  True commitment is what removes the "I" and the "M" from the word impossible.  It's that one thing that flips a switch in your brain and suddenly you focus on something with laser precision.  Can you think of a moment in your life where your own high level of commitment produced a result?  What about an amazing, incredible result?  What was that like for you?  What was the difference between your level of commitment when you really knocked it out of the park verses the time you just got on base or even struck out?

So here's where I'm going with this, because I know you're wondering.  Just because you purchase my book it does not mean you're going to have to quit smoking.  In fact I will encourage you to not quit but instead learn how to stop.  Big difference.  Stranger yet, I will encourage you to smoke while reading it.

I got to thinking about this after an exchange I had on-line with a potential non-smoker (PNS):

PNS on 4/3:  "I'm so scared of not smoking. WTF is that about??  Don't have a clue how to live without it...23yrs. anyway...clearly i need the book. when I get off the ancient phone and to my computer I will order. THANK YOU!"

This prompted my last blog post and then a few days later I get this...

PNS on 4/6:  "Had to postpone my purchase. Biz is slow, but I WILL be buying it!"

ME:  "How much are you "investing" in cigarettes weekly/daily?  Is biz slow enough to where cigarettes are on the budget chopping block?  Think about how much you'll save once you stop..."

PNS:  "....no.  :(   I got nothing else...  No excuse or even anything to rebut with.  You have a huge point." 

So here's what I asked myself.  Is the idea of not smoking so terrifying that it's actually preventing you, the PNS from actually committing the time and money to hit Amazon or my website and hook up on the book?

A pack of cigarettes in Los Angeles is about 5 bucks.  That's .25 cents a cigarette.  My book is 92 pages of whit and wisdom for $15.89.  That's .17 cents a page.  My book costs less then a cigarette!  My book will also help you increase your time on this planet where as a cigarette is more money and also re-leaves you of quality time spent here on Tera Firma.

But then I say to myself, "Self, it's clearly not about the money.  You've been in sales long enough to know it's almost always never price.  Hell, maybe I'm not charging enough!  Maybe people are wondering how $15.89 spent can reverse how ever many thousands of dollars spent on tobacco!  Is my book too cheap?  Maybe I should raise my price...  hmmmmmmmmmmmmm."

Well, don't worry, I'm not going to raise my price just yet...  but what I will do is give you, the PNS, full permission to buy and read my book, How To Stop Smoking Without Killing Anyone and not have to quit or even stop smoking.

Sooner or later you're going to stop.  I hear it all the time.  "I'll quit when I'm ready."  Granted for some, by the time they're ready it's too late, but for many, being ready to quit/stop is something that arrives in due time.  Reading this book will plant a few seeds that will make stopping (in due time) not only easier, but it will solidify the commitment I mentioned earlier.  If you're waiting for the switch to flip, then having read this book prior to the flip will only help keep the switch flipped!  Savvy?

Or perhaps reading the book will flip the switch.  If that happens then the fear is gone.  Commitment, true commitment will over power fear any day of the week. In addition success will become your only option.

Let me know what you think!

The Cost of Smoking

Did you know that in 2007 the cost of a new heart was on average $658,000?  Just over half a million for a new ticker!

Single Lung:  $400,000
Both Lungs:  $550,00

Clearly we have some sort of volume discount, bringing the cost down to 275 large per lung.



Sources:

http://www.ehow.com/about_4673173_much-does-heart-transplant-cost.html
http://www.ehow.com/about_4673807_much-does-lung-transplant-cost.html