• The Anatomy of an Addiction:         

Nicotine addiction is when a person psychologically, physically, and/or socially has a compulsive need for the substance.

There is a persistent craving for nicotine.

The amount and frequency with which a nicotine product is used continually increases (for example, a person now feels the need to smoke 2 packs/day, instead of 1 pack/day).

In your brain nicotine can act as a psychomotor stimulant, increase alertness, increase concentration, increase attention, and can make you less hungry.

Nicotine use continues, even though the dangerous health risks are known.

There have been repeated unsuccessful attempts to quit.

Repeated use produces tolerance and dependence (you're addicted and can't live without the stuff) in as little as a week! Seventy percent of those who quit relapse in one year.

Claims of being unable to quit due to sickness, weight gain, and/or cravings for nicotine, when there is no usage. This often means nicotine is being used to avoid the withdrawal syndrome.

People experience withdrawal symptoms - severe discomfort, even illness - when they try to quit. So when you're not smoking you might become irritable, have less concentration, gain some weight, feel tremors, but the worst side effects are those intense cravings for "just another puff."

Withdrawal occurs within several hours of your last fix and is about 1 week long (unfortunately, the cravings and weight gain may last a little longer). This is what stops many people from being able to quit.

“Ninety-five per cent of lung cancer deaths are due directly to cigarette smoking", according to Dr Desmond Carney, oncologist at University College, Dublin, and secretary general of the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer.

Women who smoke increase their risk of dying from lung cancer by nearly 12 times and the risk of dying from bronchitis and emphysema by more than 10 times. Between 1960 and 1990, deaths from lung cancer among women have increased by more than 400%--exceeding breast cancer deaths in the mid-1980s.(Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1993;42(44)) The American Cancer Society predicts that 80,000 women will develop lung cancer this year and 67,000 will die from it, as compared to 43,500 deaths from breast cancer.

Men who smoke increase their risk of death from lung cancer by more than 22 times and from bronchitis and emphysema by nearly 10 times. Smoking triples the risk of dying from heart disease among middle-aged men and women. (CDC Smoking-attributable mortality and years of potential life lost--United States, 1990. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report 1993;42(33):645-8.)

Now that you're totally terrified,
take a look at it another way...

70%of all cancers occur in non-smokers.

The National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health report in the 1995 Information Please Almanac states that only 30% of all cancers are caused by smoking.

Did you know that United Nations statistics have listed Japan and South Korea respectively as first and second in both life expectancy and tobacco consumption? If smoking were really as dreadful, harmful, and dangerous as the Anti-Smoking propaganda blitz claims it to be . . . how can this be true?!

The Japanese smoke twice as much as Americans and yet have half the number of lung cancers per 100,000 people.

Why do some people get lung cancer -- even if they never smoke?
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), lung cancer is the number one cause of cancer deaths worldwide. The American Thoracic Society points out that over 75 percent of lung cancers are small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) and have an average overall 35-year survival rate of only 14 percent. Previous research has shown that about 90 percent of NSCLC appear to be activated by specific signaling pathways in lung tissue. The new study by Dr. Cho and his research team found that high amounts of dietary inorganic phosphates actually stimulate those same cancer-triggering pathways.

New research suggests eating a lot of processed foods containing inorganic phosphates could be the explanation. In research published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, published by the American Thoracic Society, scientists from Seoul National University conclude that a diet high in inorganic phosphates, which are found in a host of processed foods including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products, might spur the growth of lung cancer. The researchers also suggest the food additive may contribute to the development of malignancies in people predisposed to lung cancer.

While living organisms need a moderate level of phosphate, the use of inorganic phosphates as a food additive to increase water retention and improve food texture artificially has soared over the past decade. That means the average American diet is loaded with excess amounts of phosphates. "In the 1990s, phosphorous-containing food additives contributed an estimated 470 mg per day to the average daily adult diet. However, phosphates are currently being added much more frequently to a large number of processed foods, including meats, cheeses, beverages, and bakery products. As a result, depending on individual food choices, phosphorous intake could be increased by as much as 1000 mg per day," Dr. Cho explained in the media statement. [Processed Foods Linked to Lung Cancer, Viewzone]

Scientific Facts:

Nicotine is a drug. It is the substance in tobacco that keeps you hooked.

Nicotine is the most prevalent psychoactive drug.

Nicotine is second only to alcohol as the most abused substance.

Each cigarette delivers about 6mg to 8mg of nicotine.

The amount of nicotine entering the lungs, oral cavity, and gastrointestinal system, is increased by smoking (about 90% is absorbed into your body!).

The nicotine particles act on every cell (all your organs are made of little units called cells) in your body.

There are no healthy benefits from taking nicotine.

In your body, nicotine can increase salivation (makes you drool), increase stomach acid and motility (gives you heartburn and diarrhea), and increase heart rate and blood pressure.

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