M.Sc. Dr. Alberto Quirantes Hernández
Master of Science and Consulting Professor
Head of the Endocrinology Service
Teaching Hospital Dr. Salvador Allende
Havana Cuba

Reviewing figures, there are more ex-smokers in the world than smokers of all ages, races and social conditions. If the majority could turn their backs on tobacco, why can’t you do that?

Your addiction or dependence on tobacco is caused by the nicotine contained in the steam of these perverse and costly enemies. It simply means that you can not stop smoking, despite the damage this can provoke in your own body.
Nicotine generates changes in your brain temporarily pleasurable, stimulates the desire to consume tobacco and creates addiction.
On the other hand, stop using tobacco can cause withdrawal symptoms, including irritability and anxiety.

The consequences of the toxic effects of tobacco, heart disease, strokes and various cancers are due to other multiple substances, none harmless, contained in this vegetable villain.
In this article we will show you the cerebral mechanisms responsible for this addiction and the way to neutralize them so that you can definitively leave this deadly addiction. No matter how long you smoked, quitting smoking can significantly improve your physical, mental and monetary health.

THE FIRST SYMPTOMS OF ADDICTION
In many cases, the use of any amount of tobacco can quickly produce a dependence on nicotine.
Signs that you may have an addiction include not being able to quit despite several attempts to quit; feel withdrawal symptoms when you have tried such as anxiety, irritability, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, depression, frustration, anger, unusual hunger, insomnia, etc .; you can not quit smoking despite having lung or heart health problems, you drop social or recreational activities, even important meetings to smoke,or you may stop going to restaurants, concert halls or smoke-free theaters or stop socializing with some family or friends because you can not smoke in those places or situations, among others.

CEREBRAL MECHANISMS OF ADDICTION
Nicotine is the chemical product of tobacco that makes you unable to stop smoking. Nicotine is very addictive when it is incorporated into the body through the lungs by inhaling tobacco smoke; You released nicotine quickly into your blood and allowed it to reach your brain within a few seconds after inhaling. In your brain, nicotine increases the release of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters; they, malignant and anomalously, help you regulate mood and behavior.
Dopamine, one of these neurotransmitters, is released in the “reward center” of your brain and produces improvements in mood and pleasurable sensations. Experiencing these effects of nicotine is what makes tobacco for you so addictive and necessary.

Nicotine addiction includes behavioral factors such as routines, habits and feelings along with physical factors. These links of your behavior with the act of smoking can act as triggers for situations or sensations that trigger an intense desire to use tobacco, even if you have not smoked for a while.

A MORTAL TRIGGER
The behaviors and triggers that you can associate with cigarettes include certain times of the day, such as the early morning coffee, the one after meals or during breaks at work, when you drink alcohol, in certain places or with certain friends almost always smokers, when talking on the phone, in stressful situations or when you feel depressed, when you observe or smell a lit cigarette and even a used ashtray, when you drive …

¡Be careful! To overcome the dependence on tobacco, you must become aware of your triggers and develop a plan to face the behaviors and routines that you associate with cigarettes.

RISK FACTORS OF RETURNING AN ADDICT TO TOBACCO
All smokers may have some risk factors for developing tobacco dependence. These include the home and the negative influence of smoking parents. Children who grew up in this environment are more likely to become smokers, so cautious and loving parents of their children, this is worth to know.

Children with smoking friends are also more likely to try tobacco, possibly induced by them. Evidence suggests that smokers shown in movies and the Internet can encourage young people to smoke by wanting to imitate them.

Genetics could play its part. The probability that you start smoking and continue smoking may be, in part, inherited; genetic factors can influence the way in which neuron surface receptors respond to high doses of nicotine supplied through cigarettes. Age is very important in terms of surveillance, advice and control over minors. Most people start smoking during childhood or adolescence. The sooner you start smoking, the more likely you are to become a regular smoker when you become an adult. Depression or other mental illnesses show an association with smoking. People who suffer from depression, schizophrenia, post-traumatic stress disorder or other forms of mental illnesses are more likely to become smokers. Those who abuse alcohol and illegal drugs are more likely to become smokers.

Working out the dump
Possibly there is no smoker in the world that does not want to get rid of this addiction. It is not that they do not want, it is that they can not. But, reviewing figures, in the world there are more ex-smokers than smokers of all ages, races and social conditions. If the majority could turn their backs on tobacco, why can’t you do that?
The first thing is to have a firm desire to stop smoking. Then find how to do it. If you tried to stop smoking and you did not succeed, you are not alone. Most smokers make several attempts to stop smoking before achieving stable, prolonged and definitive abstinence.
You are very likely to succeed if you follow a treatment that addresses the physical and behavioral aspects of nicotine dependence. Working together with a counselor who has special training to help people quit smoking, such as a specialist in anti-smoking treatments, will greatly increase the chance of definitive success.
Attend the Mental Health Center in your municipality to receive help to develop a treatment plan that works for you. You will gain in health, in self-confidence and meantime it is as if you received a new and generous salary for the money you are going to stop spending in an addiction just as expensive as dangerous.

Taken from:
http: //www.cubahora.cu / blogs / medical-consultations / know-how-to-get-addicted-to-tobacco

Translated by: Lic. Vilma Jay
Professor of English
Dr. Salvado Allende School of Medicine
La Habana – Cuba