Tag: quit tobacco

Tobacco and Stress

The commonest reason for starting and continuing tobacco given by most people is STRESS.

The reason one starts tobacco -stress of studies, stress of work, stress of being in relation, stress of job (like drivers, night watchman). To that extent the people given the reason of tobacco for being in the profession like doctor and lawyer.

One straight question to them – those who do not take tobacco are they not performing the duties? Or are those who do not take tobacco not to be in the profession.

No scientific data has proven that tobacco is a stress buster.

Nicotine the mood-altering drug, reaches brain in 8-10 seconds and it seems to decrease the feelings of frustration, anger, and anxiety. This action is through the various neurotransmitter like dopamine release from the activation of nicotine acetylcholine receptor. This release is temporary and ones the dopamine level goes down the feeling is worse than before, tempting the person to smoke again. A person addicted to smoking would not be able to perform his duties with out smoke.

Chewing tobacco release nicotine slowly and for this purpose a chewer tends to keep the chew in his mouth constantly. A smoker is likely to become a chewer because there is a constant release of nicotine and dopamine stimulation, keeping the person high through out and making him addicted more than ever.

Tobacco (smoking or chewing)may make you feel calmer, but it actually increases the level of stress in your body and causes negative reactions –

  • Increase in blood pressure
  • Increase in heart rate
  • Tensed muscles
  • Constricted blood vessels
  • A decrease in oxygen carrying capacity of blood

With awareness and education – Tobacco use causes stress – the mind is stressed that the habit is going to cause some disease. The person tries to quit but unfortunately the failed attempts and frustration leads to more stress.

What should one do to relieve stress:

  1. Meditate – Deep breathing exercise and visualization can instantly help you control your stress. This can be done any where even when you are in the board meeting or while on the job.
  2. Exercise – take a walk do some yoga, cycling, swimming any sports activity. The release of endorphins with exercise makes one feel good and can lift your spirits tremendously.
  3. Diet – a healthy diet can calm your mind. Ayurveda has put a lot of emphasis on the type of food and our mood.
  4. Medication – many anxiolytics are available. Need to be used only one absolutely necessary. Most are sedative. A non-sedative medication Relaxium (lactium and theanine combination) may be most appropriate.

Tobacco is harmful to the body and no reasons can justify its use by anyone.

To relieve stress of tobacco use, quitting tobacco is a must. The journey of quitting tobacco can be made easy by adopting the right method. Tobacco is a disease and it is a complex disease, it needs a specialist to plan with behavioural and cognitive therapy, pharmacotherapy and comorbid therapy. Do check the 7D of tobacco cessation.

NO BODY TAKING TOBACCO CAN BE FREE OF STRESS !

The ICanCaRe Tobacco Wellness Program incorporates all the above in the digitalized protocol based intervention program designed by Mr Rishabh Agrawal.

ICanCaRe team of Certified tobacco Cessation Specialists and Quit Coaches work with you to make your journey smooth, easy, interesting and achievable.

ICanCaRe Tobacco Wellness Centres with its India’s first digital protocol based assessment process guide intervention as per requirements.

Do visit the ICanCaRe Tobacco Wellness Centers or register online by visiting our page or call ICanCaRe quitline 011-43077695

Evidence Based Approach for Successfully Quitting Tobacco

Quitting Tobacco is easy but staying quit is difficult! People quit tobacco to restart and this cycle goes on leading to frustration and loss of confidence. With increasing awareness people come to me with “Please don’t tell me why, TELL ME HOW TO QUIT”.

Why is it So difficult to quit?

Why is it people are not able to quit tobacco, in spite of so much of awareness about Tobacco.  According to World Health Organization Tobacco is a DISEASE (and not just a habit). And it is a Complex disease. Like any other disease it has to be treated. Complexity lies in the fact that there are various component of this disease that includes – social, psychological, and physical.  Each of these components have to be recognized, explored and treated.

When to quit?

Earlier the better. Continuing Tobacco use is definitely going to harm you and it is just not cancer, it can be cardiovascular, respiratory, Central nervous system, skin, dental every part of our body is harmed by tobacco besides unidentified mineral and vitamin deficiency. Has tobacco started affecting you – it is important you check yourself and recognize any of the 27 early signs of Tobacco use. If you quit hopefully these may be reversed and you can get back to normal. Continuing will lead to more of any of the 19 diseases   And if one still continues it would cause major 10 advanced disease which would cause morbidity, pain and death.  Remember all tobacco users will have some or the other disease, better quit now.

Components of Tobacco Disease – Is your will power enough to quit tobacco? This is the dilemma. A proper assessment by Fagerstrom grading system into mild, moderate and severe grade of the tobacco addiction disease is to be done. Recognizing the predominant component of the tobacco disease – social, psychological and physical for the person and treating accordingly.  A tool is available to assess the will power of the person (free APP for android  – ICANCARE). The treatment of this disease is done accordingly.

Methods of Quitting – The intervention therapy includes – Behavioral therapy and Pharmacological therapy. Both intervention are important and essential part of the treatment.  The proper intervention includes individual and group counselling and treatment with medication to decrease the withdrawal symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms are the biggest deterrent of successful cessation. Now specific medicine is available which decreases the withdrawal symptoms and at the same time blocks the nicotine receptor in the brain.

Who can help me quit– Most of the people have tried quitting multiple times before they actually seek help by a professional who is trained for the purpose. Most of the doctors fail to help as tobacco addiction is a complex disease and everyone are not trained to handle this. There are two types of doctors – AAR (ask, advise and refer) or 5A (ask, advise, assess, assist and arrange). Training program – Certificate Course has been introduced  for the first time in India to upgrade the skills of the doctors to be able to treat these large number of patients of tobacco addiction. Recognized ICanCaRe Tobacco Wellness centers are coming up to specifically help these patients.

Relapse  – The cycle of tobacco addiction includes the planning phase, active phase and maintenance phase. The whole cycle lasts for 2 years. A person may relapse at any point of time so has to be vigilant and recognize any triggers. Most common cause of relapse is social, and one trail means you have to START once again. A Tobacco Wellness App is available to keep track of the tobacco habit for the patient.

Tobacco is a complex endemic disease. It is well recognized and now diagnostic methodology, specific medicines and counselling process are available to treat this disease. The book WIN OVER TOBACCO MADE EASY authored by Dr. Pawan Gupta is a comprehensive guide for those willing to quit and also for doctors. It is moral responsibility of all doctors taking training to understand the intricacies of the disease and advise the patient in an evidence based method for tobacco quit to be successfully.

Max Super Specialty Hospital understands the need and ICanCaRe Tobacco Wellness center is now serving tobacco addicts to help them quit the habit at the Vaishali unit of Max Hospital. Current success rate is 92%. Do visit ICanCaRe site to know more about the quit process and to register for seeking professional help for quitting today!

(The Author – Dr Pawan Gupta M.Ch. is Director of Surgical Oncology at Max Super Specialty Hospital, Vaishali and has written many book on tobacco and is highly recognized for his work on Oral Cancer and Tobacco Cessation.)

Make quitting tobacco a pleasure journey. Talk to the experts!! Call ICanCaRe Quitline 011-43077695 or visit  www.icancare.in.

ICanCaRe Quit Coach – Your Life Boat to Quitting Tobacco Forever!

A Quit Coach is Your Life Boat to Save You from Drowning in the Ocean of Withdrawals and Cravings!

Quitting tobacco is a challenge. Once a person commits to quit, he needs to be guided and supported at all times, especially in desperate times of dealing with cravings and withdrawals. If a coach is available for assistance at all times, imagine how smooth and easy it becomes to reach out to the needed support when one needs it!

At ICanCaRe, a fully Scientific, Digitized and Protocol based tobacco cessation program is practiced to build a fully customized and personalized plan for the quitter to de-addict themselves. However, this is not enough. The person faces many challenges from a simple headache to quite complicated experiences. A support system is needed on a regular basis. This is where the quit coach provides assistance to handle all these situations with ease through home remedies and other activities. Regularly following up and discussing with the patient instills grave confidence in the quitters to stay firm on their resolve to quit and at the same time all challenges ranging from simple issues like dryness of mouth on quitting tobacco to more complicated issues related to withdrawals are solved with simple tips and techniques.

Yes, a quit coach is a bridge, a partner and buddy in quitting.

Introducing a quit coach for quitters, helped our ICanCaRe team to improve the success rate of quitting from 50-60% to 92% from the month of introduction itself. This was a huge success and the protocol has been upgraded with a quit coach assistance for all kinds of smokers and chewers.

The quit coach connects well with the quitters through compassion and empathy, listens to their stories and gives them techniques to manage their challenges based on their lifestyle and behavioral pattern. This coach proactively follows-up with the quitters, constantly motivates them and encourages them to stay quit in their complete journey. The coach provides assistance as per the need and comfort of the quitter so that their daily routine activities are not disturbed and there is very smooth transition into a healthy individual without any discomfort.

With each day the ICanCaRe team is making a difference in the lives of many persons!

Don’t waste time self-quitting many times! Come join our Online Tobacco Wellness Program to quit tobacco forever in the first attempt itself! Call us on 011-430-77695 or Book an appointment with cessation specialist today! Let us help you to become a healthy you with ease. It’s a promise the journey with be simple and quick.