 Tobacco Avoidance can help with the following: | |  | | | Addictions |  Cigarette Smoke Damage |
Allergy |
 Allergic Rhinitis / Hay Fever |
Autoimmune |
Myasthenia Gravis | Dr. Fred Klenner, MD claims that patients with myasthenia gravis will hinder their progress if they use tobacco. |
Crohn's Disease| | A study of 474 smokers with Crohn's disease found that patients who stopped smoking for more than 1 year had similar rates of flare-ups as patients who never smoked, and both groups had fewer problems than current smokers. Quitters, for example, had a 65% lower risk of flare-up than patients who were still smoking [Gastroenterology, April 2001]. Furthermore, smoking significantly increases the likelihood for Crohn's disease symptoms after surgery, particularly in women and heavy smokers. |
Ulcerative Colitis| | Smokers have lower than average rates of ulcerative colitis, but higher than average rates of Crohn's disease. Some patients with ulcerative colitis, in fact, have reported that their disorder began after they quit smoking, and many studies have reinforced the association between smoking and protection against ulcerative colitis. Studies are showing that the nicotine patch helps to induce remission and reduce symptoms in almost 40% of patients who use it for four weeks. Another study found, however, that patches are not useful for maintaining remission. Side-effects, particularly in nonsmokers, include nausea, lightheadedness, and headache. Investigators are studying methods of applying nicotine directly into the colon. (No one should smoke for relief of ulcerative colitis symptoms; the risks from cigarettes far outweigh the potential benefits of their nicotine.) |
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Circulation |
Intermittent Claudication
Atherosclerosis| | Even damage from a history of heavy smoking can be reversed by quitting. The longer the period of time that passes after quitting, the greater the return toward normal vascular health. |
Angina
Coronary Disease / Heart Attack
 Hypertension |
Digestion |
Gastric/Peptic/Duodenal Ulcers| | Cigarette smoking not only causes ulcer formation, but also increases the risk of ulcer complications such as bleeding, stomach obstruction and perforation. Cigarette smoking is also a leading cause of ulcer medication treatment failure: smoking slows the healing of ulcers. |
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Lab Values |
High Levels Of Triglycerides |
Mental |
Panic Attacks| | A history of smoking may play a small role in the onset of panic disorder in women, but not in men. |
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Metabolic |
Cluster Headaches
Susceptibility to Hangovers| | Smoking intensifies the problems of a hangover because of the additional toxins and further dehydration. |
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Musculo-Skeletal |
Osteoporosis - Osteopenia| | Studies have shown that women who smoke one pack of cigarettes per day have on average 5-10% less bone density at menopause than do nonsmokers. |
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Organ Health |
Glomerulonephritis| | There is steadily increasing evidence that smoking directly contributes to damaging the delicate blood vessels that form the glomeruli, even in people who do not have a chronic kidney disease. |
Retinopathy
Poor Bone Health| | Smoking has been shown to increase the risk of developing osteoporosis. |
Diabetes Type II| | Diabetics should control blood sugar and blood pressure closely and should refrain from smoking. |
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Respiratory |
COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease)| | Smoking is the primary cause of COPD. |
Acute Bronchitis| | If you smoke, the best defense against acute bronchitis is to quit. Smoking damages your bronchial tree, making it easier for viruses to cause infection and slowing down the healing process. The bronchial tree will heal faster if you cut down on the number of cigarettes or, better still, stop smoking altogether. |
Asthma| | Even second-hand smoke should be avoided. In a study of passive smoke exposure, cotinine levels, when tested in asthmatic children, correlated with their bronchial sensitivity. The higher the level of cotinine in the child's urine, the worse the child's bronchial sensitivity. This held true for adults also. [Clin Chem 1999;45(4): pp.505-509] |
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Skin-Hair-Nails |
Body Odor| | As well as causing bad breath, tobacco use is a major cause of body odor. Not only does it come back through your lungs, but it comes through the skin. It probably mixes with other elements of your body's chemistry to create a distinct odor. If you stop smoking it may take several weeks for the body to rid itself of odor-causing substances. |
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Tumors, Malignant |
Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma| | The following study suggests a link between cigarette smoking and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In 17,633 U.S. male insurance policy holders, 49 deaths from Hodgkin's lymphoma and 21 from multiple myeloma occurred during a 20 year follow-up. Men who had ever smoked cigarettes had an elevated mortality for non-Hodgkin's, with a risk almost fourfold greater among the heaviest smokers compared with those who used no tobacco. |
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Uro-Genital |
Pregnancy-Related Issues| | Smoking in pregnancy is very clearly linked to a higher risk of miscarriages, low birth weight babies and premature babies. There is also a link to risks of stillbirths and babies dying in the first few weeks of life. This is due to nicotine which decreases the amount of blood delivered to the fetus, therefore less nutrients and oxygen is received by the baby.
The current recommendation of doctors is for the mother to not smoke at all, however if the mother is having difficulty quitting, 3-6 cigarettes a day is the absolute maximum. If you are a smoker, the best time to stop is before you get pregnant because the first few weeks of pregnancy are crucial to the development of the baby. Also, you should encourage other members of the family to quit smoking or not to smoke in your presence because passive smoking may be damaging to the mother and fetus. In addition, smoking around your new-born increases his/her risk of developing asthma and other respiratory disease. |
Female Infertility| | Cigarette smoking is associated with female infertility due to tubal and cervical causes. In animal studies, nicotine has not only been shown to decrease tubal motility and blood flow, but appears to decrease estrogen levels as well. Cotinine, a byproduct of nicotine, is found in the cervical mucus of female smokers, and may be toxic to sperm. |
Interstitial Cystitis| | In people who have already been diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, symptoms may be less likely to flare up if the patient stops smoking cigarettes. |
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Tobacco Avoidance can help prevent the following:
KEY | | May do some good | | | Likely to help | | | Highly recommended |
GLOSSARY
Acute
An illness or symptom of sudden onset, which generally has a short duration.
Asthma (Asthmatic)
A lung disorder marked by attacks of breathing difficulty, wheezing, coughing, and thick mucus coming from the lungs. The episodes may be triggered by breathing foreign substances (allergens) or pollutants, infection, vigorous exercise, or emotional stress. Extrinsic Asthma is triggered by pollen, chemicals or some other external agent; Intrinsic Asthma is triggered by boggy membranes, congested tissues, or other native causes… even adrenalin stress or exertion.
Bronchitis
Inflammation of the mucous membrane of the bronchial tubes, frequently accompanied by cough, hypersecretion of mucus, and expectoration of sputum. Acute bronchitis is usually caused by an infectious agent and of short duration. Chronic bronchitis, generally the result of smoking, may also be known as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or Emphysema.
Cancer
Refers to the various types of malignant neoplasms that contain cells growing out of control and invading adjacent tissues, which may metastasize to distant tissues.
Carcinoma
Malignant growth of epithelial cells tending to infiltrate the surrounding tissue and giving rise to metastasis: An invasive malignant tumor derived from epithelial tissue that tends to metastasize to other areas of the body.
Chronic (Chronicity)
Usually referring to chronic illness: Illness extending over a long period of time.
Claudication
Often Intermittent claudication: Condition caused by interruptions of blood supply to the muscles, characterized by limping and pain chiefly in the calf muscles: symptom characterized by pain during walking.
Cluster Headache (Cluster Headaches)
A headache in which pain originates behind or around one eye and generally awakens the individual from sleep; pain may radiate into the temple, jaw, nose, teeth, or chin; the eyelid droops, the eye tears, the face flushes, and the nose congests; causes excruciating pain. Individual headaches last 15 minutes to 3 hours but tend to "cluster", occurring up to several times per day for periods of about 1 to 16 weeks and then not again for months or years.
Colitis
Colon inflammation, usually involving the mucus membranes. Mucus colitis is a type with cramps, periods of constipation, and copious discharge of mucus with feces. Ulcerative colitis has pain, inflammation, ulceration, fever, and bleeding, all interspersed at various times - a long and serious illness.
Colon (Colonic)
The part of the large intestine that extends to the rectum. The colon takes the contents of the small intestine, moving them to the rectum by contracting.
Colorectal Cancer
A cancerous tumor of the large intestine. It is marked by dark, sticky stools containing blood and a change in bowel habits.
Cotinine
A chemical from cigarette smoke found in the urine of those exposed to smoke. Levels reliably reflect the degree of second hand smoke exposure also.
Crohn's Disease (Crohn's)
Chronic inflammatory disease of the gastrointestinal tract. The most common symptoms are abdominal pain, often in the lower right area, and diarrhea. Rectal bleeding, weight loss, and fever may also occur. Bleeding may be serious and persistent, leading to anemia.
Dementia (Senile Dementia)
An acquired progressive impairment of intellectual function. Marked compromise exists in at least three of the following mental activity spheres: memory, language, personality, visuospatial skills, and cognition (i.e. abstraction and calculation).
Diabetes Mellitus (Diabetes, Diabetic, Diabetics)
A disease with increased blood glucose levels due to lack or ineffectiveness of insulin. Diabetes is found in two forms; insulin-dependent diabetes (juvenile-onset) and non-insulin-dependent (adult-onset). Symptoms include increased thirst; increased urination; weight loss in spite of increased appetite; fatigue; nausea; vomiting; frequent infections including bladder, vaginal, and skin; blurred vision; impotence in men; bad breath; cessation of menses; diminished skin fullness. Other symptoms include bleeding gums; ear noise/buzzing; diarrhea; depression; confusion.
Estrogen (Oestrogen)
One of the female sex hormones produced by the ovaries.
Glomeruli (Glomerulus)
Tiny tufts of capillaries which carry blood within the kidneys. The blood is filtered by the glomeruli. The blood then continues through the circulatory system, but a certain amount of fluid and specific waste products are filtered out of the blood, to be removed from the body in the form of urine.
Hangover (Hangovers)
A commonly used nonmedical term for the disagreeable physical effects following excessive consumption of alcohol (or the use of other drugs).
Hodgkin's Disease (Hodgkin's)
Cancer of the lymphatic system and lymph nodes.
Interstitial Cystitis
A chronic bladder problem involving a bladder wall that is inflamed and irritated. Symptoms include an urgent need to urinate, both daytime and nighttime; pressure, pain and tenderness around the bladder, pelvis and perineum (the area between the anus and vagina or the anus and scrotum) which may increase as the bladder fills and decrease as it empties during urination; a bladder that won't hold as much urine as it did before; pain during sexual intercourse; in men, discomfort or pain in the penis or scrotum. In many women, the symptoms get worse before their menstrual period. Stress may also make the symptoms worse, but it does not cause them.
Kidneys (Kidney, Renal)
Bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist. They are located near the middle of the back, just below the rib cage. The kidneys are sophisticated reprocessing machines, each day handling about 50 gallons of blood to sift out about half a gallon of waste products and extra water. The waste and extra water become urine, which flows to the bladder through tubes called ureters. The actual filtering occurs in tiny units inside the kidneys called nephrons. Every kidney has about a million nephrons. In a nephron, a glomerulus -- which is a tiny blood vessel, or capillary -- intertwines with a tiny urine-collecting tube called a tubule. A complicated chemical exchange takes place, as waste materials and water leave your blood and enter your urinary system. The kidneys recycle chemicals such as sodium, phosphorus, and potassium and thus regulate their levels. Renal: Pertaining to the kidneys.
Lower Esophageal Sphincter (LES)
A band of muscle around the bottom of the esophagus where it meets the stomach. The LES opens after a person swallows to let food enter the stomach and then immediately closes to prevent regurgitation of the stomach contents, including gastric acid. It then maintains this pressure barrier until food is swallowed again.
Lung (Lungs, Pulmonary)
Organ of the body, located in the chest cavity which is designed to bring oxygen from the air into the blood stream, while also expelling carbon dioxide and other waste gases out of the body. Pulmonary: Related to the lungs.
Lymphoma (Lymphomas)
Any tumor of the lymphatic tissues.
Menopause (Menopausal)
The cessation of menstruation (usually not official until 12 months have passed without periods), occurring at the average age of 52. As commonly used, the word denotes the time of a woman's life, usually between the ages of 45 and 54, when periods cease and any symptoms of low estrogen levels persist, including hot flashes, insomnia, anxiety, mood swings, loss of libido and vaginal dryness. When these early menopausal symptoms subside, a woman becomes postmenopausal.
Miscarriage (Miscarriages, Spontaneous Abortion)
The expulsion of a fetus before it is able to survive outside of the womb.
Motility
Capacity for spontaneous movement, frequently in reference to the intestine.
Mucus (Mucous)
The viscous, slippery substance that consists chiefly of mucin, water, cells, and inorganic salts and is secreted as a protective lubricant coating by cells and glands of the mucous membranes.
Nausea
Symptoms resulting from an inclination to vomit.
Osteoporosis
A disease in which bone tissue becomes porous and brittle. The disease primarily affects postmenopausal women.
Panic Disorder
A condition whereby an affected individual has recurrent and unexpected panic attacks and worries a great deal of the time about having another. The individual may also have persistent concern or fear that a panic attack might cause unrelated health problems or a demonstrable change in usual behavior. The symptoms of panic disorder must be present for at least one month to confirm the diagnosis.
Pelvis
The lower part of the abdomen between the hip bones. Organs in a woman's pelvis include the uterus, vagina, ovaries, fallopian tubes, bladder and rectum.
Placebo (Placebos)
A pharmacologically inactive substance. Often used to compare clinical responses against the effects of pharmacologically active substances in experiments.
Retinopathy
An eye disorder that does not cause inflammation but results from changes in the eye (retinal) blood vessels.
Stomach
A hollow, muscular, J-shaped pouch located in the upper part of the abdomen to the left of the midline. The upper end (fundus) is large and dome-shaped; the area just below the fundus is called the body of the stomach. The fundus and the body are often referred to as the cardiac portion of the stomach. The lower (pyloric) portion curves downward and to the right and includes the antrum and the pylorus. The function of the stomach is to begin digestion by physically breaking down food received from the esophagus. The tissues of the stomach wall are composed of three types of muscle fibers: circular, longitudinal and oblique. These fibers create structural elasticity and contractibility, both of which are needed for digestion. The stomach mucosa contains cells which secrete hydrochloric acid and this in turn activates the other gastric enzymes pepsin and rennin. To protect itself from being destroyed by its own enzymes, the stomach’s mucous lining must constantly regenerate itself.
Ulcer (Ulceration, Ulcers)
Lesion on the skin or mucous membrane.
Ulcerative Colitis (Colitis Ulcerosa)
Ulceration of the colon and rectum, usually long-term and characterized by rectal bleeding or blood in the stool, frequent urgent diarrhea/bowel movements each day, abdominal pain.
Vascular
Relating to the blood vessels of the body. The blood vessels of the body, as a group, are referred to as the vascular system. They are composed of arteries, veins and capillaries - arteries that pass oxygen-rich blood to the tissues of the body; veins which return oxygen-depleted blood from the tissues to the lungs for oxygen; and the capillaries that are the tiniest vessels and are between the arteries and veins.
Virus (Viri, Viruses)
Any of a vast group of minute structures composed of a protein coat and a core of DNA and/or RNA that reproduces in the cells of the infected host. Capable of infecting all animals and plants, causing devastating disease in immunocompromised individuals. Viruses are not affected by antibiotics, and are completely dependent upon the cells of the infected host for the ability to reproduce.
Last updated: Apr 13, 2008
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