Overview
Why is it so hard to quit smoking?
Among US adults, 21 percent smoked cigarettes in 2005, according to the American Cancer Society. Of these 45 million adults, 23 percent were men and 19 percent were women. Smoking is the most common form of addiction in the U.S.
Giving up cigarettes or other tobacco products is difficult because smoking causes nicotine addiction. Nicotine, like cocaine or heroine, is not just habit-forming. It is a drug that alters brain function and structure. The result is a chemical dependence on nicotine and the behavioral reinforcements associated with smoking.
Nicotine binds to brain cells, which causes the release of dopamine, a brain chemical that gives us the pleasure associated with smoking. Over time, more cigarettes are required to produce the same amount of pleasure and people want to smoke more. This phenomenon is called "tolerance."
When attempting to quit, most smokers experience some degree of nicotine withdrawal, such as mood swings, nervousness, headaches, insomnia, and poor concentration, among other symptoms. Withdrawal symptoms last for about two weeks. Cravings last much longer, and may recur even years after quitting.
Smoking is most likely to become addictive during the teen years. The younger a person is when he or she begins to smoke, the more likely the person is to become addicted to it. Nearly 90 percent of adult smokers became addicted to tobacco before they turned 18-years-old.
What is smoking cessation?
Every ex-smoker is not so much a graduate of a quit-smoking program as a survivor of a tough process - overcoming nicotine addiction. Within minutes of smoking your last cigarette, however, your heart and blood pressure rates will start to drop. Within two weeks to three months after quitting, your circulation will improve and your lung function will increase.
Learning to quit takes practice. Even years after quitting, your body will react in the same addictive way after smoking just one cigarette.
Most people have to try three or four times before finally quitting for good. Whether quitting cold turkey or with help from a smoking cessation therapy program, quitting is hard work that takes trial and error, imagination and innovation.
More than 46 million Americans have been able to quit for good and are enjoying the benefits of being cigarette-free.
More on Smoking
Smoking - Not So Sexy
What's in Your Cigarette?
Some Good Reasons to Kick the Habit
Secondhand Smoke and Your Kids
Plan Ahead and Stay Tobacco Free
Smoking During Pregnancy: How Harmful Is it?
Breathin' Easy: Tips for Managing Bad Breath
In the Encyclopedia:
Lung diseases due to gas or chemical exposure
Buerger's disease
Smoking
Superior vena cava syndrome
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