An Expert’s Guide to Help You Quit Smoking

One of the main health rules about smoking is basically “not to smoke” as smoking does a lot of harm to the body and everyone is aware that it is one of the leading causes of blood cancer, lung cancer, and heart disease. Writer and blogger Dr. Ahmed Abdul Malik discusses ways to stop smoking and how to deal with withdrawal symptoms.

The Damage
Generally, in our bodies, there is an oxidation process, which can also be defined as an aging process of the body. Technically, oxidation occurs all over the body and it is a by-product of oxygen causing free radicals. A free radical is a lost electron, and it tries to steal another electron from another molecule. By smoking tobacco, these free radicals may cause damage or even destroy the surrounding cell and raise inflammation in the body.

How to Quit
Now the important part of our agenda is “how to quit smoking”. Firstly, it always comes down to willpower and a steady decision of an individual to quit smoking. Nicotine is highly addictive, but smokers who are addicted to smoking can completely neutralize nicotine in 10 days. The first 5 days will be difficult for an individual as he or she may go through severe palpitations, anxiety, and anger during this process. From the 7th to 10th day, the body will stop craving nicotine and re-instate its unbalanced hormones.

Most of the people find it hard to avoid nicotine addiction so at the clinic we provide them with nicotine replacement therapy. At this stage, we provide them with 10 batches of Nicotine Gum. Another form of medication is Champix, which is used to treat nicotine addiction and known to be highly effective.

There are also adult smokers switching to smoke-free tobacco products. Making this choice is obviously better than remaining a cigarette smoker, but this is still not recommended for people who want to quit entirely and is certainly not recommended for people who have never smoked before. There is scientific evidence that smoke-free tobacco products are a major step to greatly minimizing toxicity compared to cigarettes for smokers, and it also nearly eliminates the second-hand smoke risk to bystanders. Smoking is a part of life for some adults, and a less-harmful alternative can be beneficial to these individuals.

To end with, Dr. Malik reinforces that there are four things that an individual should keep in mind in order to lead a healthy lifestyle; namely healthy food, daily exercise, avoid harmful habits, and lastly, an early check-up for any diseases which can help to reduce the risk of major chronic diseases.

Credit: Dr. Ahmad Abdul Malak – Writer and blogger

Family Medicine, Ahmadi Hospital