R. Drysdale asked:
Most people know that smoking causes halitosis but think that bad breath and chewing tobacco aren’t a problem. If you’re not exhaling smoke, how could it cause a bad odor on the breath? Unfortunately, just as chewing tobacco carries its own risk of cancers and other health problems, it comes with a link to halitosis as well.
It’s known that tobacco use is linked to periodontal disease: tobacco apparently causes the gums to lose some of their ability to adhere to the teeth. They start to pull away and then recede, exposing dentin and creating pockets between the teeth and gums where bacteria can grow. Exposed dentin is sensitive to heat and cold, and susceptible to tooth decay, while oral bacteria frequently include those that produce sulfur compounds, the odor we associate with halitosis. This is one way that bad breath and chewing tobacco go hand in hand.
Periodontal disease is a slow chronic disease and it takes an extended period of time to develop; however, there is a more immediate connection between bad breath and chewing tobacco. Tobacco causes a decrease in the amount of saliva that is produced to bathe the inside of the mouth and control the proliferation of oral bacteria. Anaerobic bacteria (bacteria that grow in the absence of oxygen) living on the back of the tongue and in pockets and creases elsewhere in the mouth are controlled by saliva. These bacteria cause halitosis by producing foul smelling volatile sulfur compounds as a byproduct of their metabolism. The fewer of them you have in your mouth the better.
Obviously, the longer you go on using tobacco, the more likely you are to develop bad breath as a result. If you are fostering the growth of halitosis bacteria, and developing gum disease, the risk will be higher. In the unhappy event that you develop oral infections or even mouth cancer, your halitosis will likely be very severe. Let’s face it, bad breath and chewing tobacco just don’t belong in your life. You will be healthier, and your mouth will be much more comfortable if you avoid tobacco use of any kind.
Eric Tokar asked:
For as long as they have been around tobacco companies have been looking for unethical ways to get new smokers and keep existing smokers hooked on there deadly addictive products. From big tobacco’s 1950 ads paying doctors nice sums of money to say on commercials that they smoke for there health, to unethical practices today of suppressing and discrediting homeopathic products such as cigarest which could really help many people quit smoking potentially saving millions of lives from this epidemic. This article will look at some of the unethical practices used in the past as well as today, and attempt to shed some light on alternative products such as cigarest currently being suppressed by big tobacco.
It seems every generation receives a new threat from big tobacco, so in order to understand the current threat from big tobacco I feel you should be educated on some of the most truly evil advertising campaigns big tobacco has ever put out. Cigarette ads in the 1940s and 1950s were famous for making cigarettes appear sophisticated, elegant, and healthy. Few of us are old enough to remember the truly evil deceptive ads big tobacco put out where they would pay some doctor to sell his soul to the tobacco companies aka the devil and say cigarettes have “many great health benefits” and “can extend your life.” That’s right, they paid the people we trust with our lives to lie to us. Millions of people bought into there lie and ended up dying much younger than they should have. This was the absolute worst case of big tobacco deceiving people just like you and me, but this deception still exists, but because people have caught on to there lies they must be much more secretive about it.
Today the ailments cigarettes cause are out in the open, and because of there constant advertising to kids and lying about there products almost all forms of advertising is off limits. Due to this smoking rates are on a decline, but the fact is cigarettes are addictive and it is extremely difficult for those of us who do smoke to quit, so cigarette companies have switched from lying to get people to buy there product to using there power to silence companies like cigarest with a real chance at helping your quit smoking. One fairly new technique that is constantly being discredited by cigarette companies is herbal stop smoking products like cigarest. I believe these herbal products are the best at helping you quit smoking, and are definitely worth a try.
Many herbal stop smoking products like cigarest have different herbs that all do different things from producing a disgust for tobacco, to eliminating tobacco within your body, but most all herbal stop smoking products contain a herbal supplement called lobelia inflata. Lobelia inflata is an herb included in cigarest with many properties similar to nicotine with one big difference, its not addictive. Lobelia inflata has the same effects on your body as nicotine, so you are able to substitute your addictive nicotine addiction with this non addictive herb in products like cigarest. The basic theory behind this kind of treatment is that the substitution of the non addictive herb in cigarest will help you better deal with your craving while your body is eliminating years of nicotine in your body.
Herbal non smoking products like cigarest are without a doubt the best kind of product available for those of us who want to quit smoking. Tobacco companies know they want to appear like the good guy. Like they don’t want you using there product. One scam they have come up to counter other stop smoking products that actually work is to sell nicotine patches and gum. Cigarette companies were aware of the threat herbal supplements like cigarest posed to there business, so they came up with nicotine supplements to counter herbal alternatives. The idea behind nicotine patches and gum sounds good, but the problem with nicotine supplements is that while they can stop you from smoking they don’t eliminate your nicotine addiction. I have known people who have stopped smoking and have been hooked on nicotine gum for years. Chewing nicotine gum just becomes another habit just like smoking was. They are simply taking your addiction from cigarettes to a slightly more expensive product they can get smokers hooked on so they can continue to make billions. Due to the fact that herbal products like cigarest are not addictive you actually have the opportunity of freeing yourself from nicotine altogether which can save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars every year.
No matter what the era, tobacco companies all seem to be deceiving you in the interest of profits. Continuing to give your money to these tobacco companies is unethical in itself. As long as consumers like us continue to give them our money, they will use it to get new smokers and to keep current smokers. I ask all of your to take a stand against tobacco companies and to refuse to give the tobacco companies another dollar. I strongly encourage all of you to do some research into these herbal products. To finally take the stand to quit smoking and to take a part in stopping them from continuing to kill our friends and family.
Zachary Malott asked:
SMOKELESS TOBACCO. Two words. Most people might have heard of it but really do not have any idea of the impact of the product that these “two words” can have on the millions of, “users” of smokeless tobacco.
1) Pouch tobacco - this product is a stringy cut of tobacco that is marketed in a pouch about 4″ X 6″ or so in size.
2) Powdered snuff - this product is a finely ground dry tobacco that comes in tins or glass bottles. It is used by placing it in the mouth either by pinching it between the fingers or using a “brush”, a stick sometimes chewed to make a brush end and then placing the wet end into the bottle or tin and getting the powder on it. The brush is then placed in the mouth.
3) Moist ground tobacco: This product is placed in round cans about three inches or so across. They are reported to have up to 5 times the nicotine as cigarettes.
4) Plug tobacco: This product comes in a block, resembling a candy bar.
5) Twist tobacco: This product is strands of tobacco that are formed into rolls and them twisted and wrapped in plastic. If the “twist” were removed, they would be about 12″ or so long.
Is smokeless tobacco safe to use?
The tobacco companies give the impression that it is a safe alternative to cigarette smoking but smokeless tobaccos, like cigarettes, are sometimes more addictive and contain high concentrations of cancer-causing chemicals.
The tobacco industry estimates that 24 million Americans use smokeless tobacco products. Smokeless tobacco sales have increased above 30% in the past ten years, while cigarettes, and other smoked tobacco usage has actually declined. It has been predicted by industry analysts that smokeless tobacco usage could double over the next few years. Why? Because health-conscious Americans are looking for alternatives to smoking.
There are about 30,000 cases of oral cancer are discovered each year in the United States alone, causing about 9,000 deaths. Men over 40 are the most frequently struck while the ratio of oral cancer is 3 to one between males than females. Women use smokeless tobacco but tend to do so in private.
Smokeless Tobacco Advertising Campaigns
Can advertising be partially responsible for the increased usage of smokeless tobacco? Advertising campaigns are being aimed at young males 18-35. They appeal to their desires to “belong” by having slogans such as “take a pinch instead of a puff,” with practice, you’ll be doing it like the pros,” or “a pinch is all it takes.” Young people are highly susceptible to such tactics because they sometimes feature entertainment and sports idols promoting smokeless tobacco products. There are three, main causes that cause youth to fall victim to this insidious habit:
1) Peer pressure
2) Curiosity
3) The person’s family history of tobacco use.
In families that use tobacco, there is a much stronger mind set to tobacco use and/or experimentation.
Risks associated with smokeless tobacco usage
Smokeless tobacco used regularly can damage teeth and gum lines, and lessening the ability to taste and smell. People who use smokeless tobacco are increasing their risks of developing cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx and esophagus.
The use of smokeless tobacco can cause a precancerous condition in the mouth called leukoplakia. Occurring on the lips or inside the cheek, leukoplakia is a white, leathery-appearing patch which results in cancer diagnosis in 3-5 percent of cases. Everyone has different genetics. While some can chew for many years and not get cancer, some develop tobacco-related cancer over a very short time period.
The risk of cancer in soft oral tissues is almost 50 times greater in long-term users than non-users. About 87% of these tumors are attributable to snuff. Those who say smokeless tobacco is safer than smoking should realize that they are only exchanging one form of the same poison for another.
Other dangers from smokeless tobacco use include: gum recession that results in exposed roots and increased sensitivity to heat and cold; tooth loss from damage to the gum tissue; abrasion to the tooth enamel due to high levels of sand and grit contained in smokeless tobaccos; discoloration of the teeth and bad breath; tooth decay caused by sugar added to smokeless tobacco to improve its taste; and possible decreased athletic performance due to constriction of blood vessels caused by nicotine use. Many people who get off smokeless tobacco see their blood pressure normalize and their resting heart rates to go down dramatically.
Smokeless Tobacco Users Should Check For The Following
1) Sores that fail to heal and bleed easily
2) Whitish patches ( leukoplakia)
3) Sensation of something in the throat
4) A lump or thickening
6) Difficulty in chewing or swallowing food
Anyone who is using smokeless tobacco and is interested in quitting this dangerous and sometimes fatal habit can discover more information on the subject of quitting by reading a free eBook that can be found at the following link below:
Stop Using Smokeless Tobacco Now! [http://www.stopsmokeless.com/freebook.php]
If link above doesn’t work, simply cut and paste the URL below into your browser:
[http://www.stopsmokeless.com/freebook.php]
Anne Clarke asked:
From early America and through over half of the 20th century, tobacco was one of the most essential parts of the national economy. There are still plenty of tobacco companies out there–but the market is less powerful now because of research and cancer studies. The Surgeon General’s Warning has certainly had an effect–as the cost of tobacco products rises continually.
At first in the history of tobacco, the negative effects of smoking tobacco were virtually unknown, and therefore tobacco seemed harmless. However, by the time we reached the early 20th century, information about the health effects of tobacco began to be published in newspapers and magazines all over the world.
The history of tobacco indicates that in Germany in 1930, scientists were able to make a distinct correlation between cancer and smoking tobacco. However, in the history of tobacco on American soil, it was eight years later when Doctor Raymond Pearl, a professor at Johns Hopkins University, declared that smokers (more often than not) do not live as long as non-smokers.
In the history of tobacco in our country, even by the year 1944 the American Cancer Society claimed that no absolutely definite scientific evidence had been found that would link lung cancer or any other kind of cancer to smoking. Of course, now the history of tobacco has reached the point that we are fully aware of the dangers. We now know that there are dangerous, cancer-causing carcinogens in smoking tobacco that can end your life likely sooner than you would like to.
Nonetheless, even with this information took a long time to really absorb into the consciousness of the American public. After all, it had been so many years of unknown damages, that the people were likely to remain uninformed–because they would not have expected this news at all.
In the early 1950’s the magazine “Reader’s Digest” published an article entitled “Cancer by the Carton” which discussed individual details specifically about the dangers of smoking. Following this phenomenon, more and more publications provided informative articles similar to the one in “Reader’s Digest” and cigarette sales actually began to reduce.
By the mid 1950’s the tobacco industry began its counter-attack. The tobacco sellers and researchers conducted their own studies of the effects of cigarettes on someone’s health. This is when tobacco companies started selling additional merchandise, cigarettes with more filters and lower-tar. Because people loved to smoke so much, and because they had been brought to the illusion that there were “healthier” cigarettes available, the sales market for tobacco was up again. But the new, light cigarettes were, in truth, no healthier than regular cigarettes.
Tobacco products are virtually impossible to quit for many people. Some say that an addiction to tobacco is harder to break than an addiction to heroin. Therefore, there is still a necessary market for tobacco and tobacco products, because some people will always be people smokers. The history of tobacco may have altered our perspective and lowered the number of people who smoke, but there is not a chance that smoking will ever be eradicated completely.
Alan B. Densky asked:
If you think smokeless tobacco is “up to snuff” and harmless, think again. Whatever you like to call it - spitting, dipping or chewing - it is every bit as harmful as smoking. A lot of doctors believe more so because users are not as aware of the threats. Cancers of the lips, tongue, mouth and throat can quickly progress in people who use smokeless tobacco and leave ugly - even deadly - results.
Despite the painful and dangerous effects of smokeless tobacco, quitting with usual techniques is extremely demanding. A lot of people think the reason lies in nicotine, a natural, super toxic substance found in tobacco that is the plant’s defense to prevent being eaten by insects. Evaluating equal amounts, nicotine is more deadly than snake venom or strychnine, and three times deadlier than arsenic.
When dipping, the nicotine makes its way to the brain in less than 10 seconds, where it produces a flood of dopamine, which brings about a soothing sensation. Nicotine also promotes adrenaline production, so it both calms and energizes. However, the mental element of smokeless tobacco addiction is much stronger and produces far more obstacles to quitting smokeless tobacco than nicotine.
A lot of users took their first dip as young as nine years old. In just a few months, using smokeless tobacco becomes an ingrained habit that delivers reliable stress relief. In addition to the psychological conditioning, a social conditioning transpires, as images of many sports celebrities dipping also attract young users.
Understanding that there are individual physical and emotional factors that contribute to a chewing habit makes it easier to develop a plan to prevail smokeless tobacco addiction. Let’s look at each component individually and look at effective methods to curb them.
Dipping for Relaxation and Pleasure: Just like using a pacifier to appease a restless child, over time, people who use tobacco products start to associate putting an object in their mouths with satisfaction and relaxation. Curbing the effects of tobacco usage involves addressing all facets of the addiction.
Tobacco Dipping is a Conditioned Response: The classic example of a conditioned response relates to Pavlov and his dogs, which were trained to anticipate food - and thus began salivating - when a bell was rung. In accordance, if, for example, you always use chewing tobacco after each meal, you will consequently develop a craving to chew when you are done eating.
In your mind, the images of folding the napkin and pushing the play away may be connected to using snuff, even if you are not conscious of it. Becoming aware of the trigger images or situations can help you beat cravings.
The Physical Addiction to Nicotine, But … : Despite the intense addiction, doctors say that the physical component of nicotine addiction is eliminated after people quit using tobacco for a week. It’s my solid belief that nicotine addiction comprises a mere 10 percent of smokeless tobacco dependency. Therefore, 90 percent of the fight to quit dipping involves overcoming the mental and emotional components. So what does this mean for people like you who wish to quit?
Quitting becomes much more feasible if you are able to:
A. Address and eliminate the anxiety and tension that compels you to use smokeless tobacco
B. Cancel the conditioned responses to chew in particular situations
But how does a person triumph over those issues?
Self-hypnosis offers a way to tackle the psychological and emotional components of the addiction while reducing difficulties, which will eliminate the withdrawal symptoms. When we appreciate how self-hypnosis works, it makes the decision to quit dipping much easier to assume.
When people dip for relaxation and pleasure, it’s to pacify feelings of stress. People often play the same images over in their minds, like a bad video, which leaves them feeling very stressed. With hypnosis and various Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) techniques, you retrain your brain to instantaneously and naturally prohibit stress-inducing images and substitute them with calming ideas and mental movies. This creates satisfaction and relaxation while eradicating cravings and oral compulsions. You lose the impulse to put the chew in your mouth, and you will not get any urge to substitute food in its place. This subdues weight gain.
To combat the conditioned response of dipping smokeless tobacco, the NLP Flash technique removes the associations of dipping during certain activities or situations. This means your subconscious will no longer trigger the compulsion. Further, the Flash can even be used to create a compulsion to deny smokeless tobacco.
Employing specific and strategic NLP methods makes the decision to stop dipping quite easy and painless by evading withdrawal symptoms, cravings and weight gain. The method is dependent on training the unconscious mind to abide by the same thought patterns that create your mental addiction to smokeless tobacco in the first place, to eliminate the habit.
Your brain is a powerful instrument—far more powerful than an addiction. With steadfastness and the aid of self-hypnosis and NLP, you can quit smokeless tobacco forever.
