HealthyLife Articles

Tag: tobacco

  • Snuff Out Smokeless Tobacco

    Tobacco Cessation

    Image of smokeless tobacco.

    Regardless of whether you smoke it, chew it, or just place it between your cheek and gums, all forms of tobacco are hazardous to your health. “Snuff” and chewing tobacco were once considered safe alternatives to cigarettes. They’re not. People who use smokeless tobacco absorb nicotine through the mucous membrane of the mouth. Nicotine absorbed in this way is no less addictive than nicotine inhaled from cigarettes. People who pack tobacco in their mouths or chew it run a high risk of cancer of the mouth and a precancerous condition called leukoplakia (a whitish, wrinkling of the mouth lining, with thickening of the area that comes in contact with the tobacco).

    The best way to avoid these risks, of course, is to never use smokeless tobacco. But if you already use it, here are some suggestions to help you give it up.

    *  Ignore the appeals of sports figures who promote smokeless tobacco in advertisements.

    *  Use substitutes like gum, mints, or toothpicks.

    *  Distract yourself with other activities.

    *  Reward yourself each day you don’t chew tobacco.

    Page from A Year of Health Hints book by the American Institute for Preventive Medicine. www.HealthyLife.com. All rights reserved.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Review & Prepare 8

    SleepWell® Program

    Week 5

    Image of women sleeping peacefully.

    Look at your pattern of sleep over the past week. Compare it to your sleep patterns during the previous weeks. Beyond Week 6, continue to reflect on a weekly basis. Notice when your sleep quality is slipping. Make changes as soon as you notice this.

    Answer these questions:

    *  I fall asleep more quickly now.

    *  I have more daytime energy.

    *  I wake up fewer times during the night.

    *  If or when I do wake up, I am able to fall asleep again more quickly.

    *  Ways I have discussed my sleep goals with the people I live with.

    *  How I will approach a conflict (or have already dealt with one).

    *  Are you ready for another week of attention to your sleep?

    Shift Your Bedtime Again

    Do you feel you are now sleeping most or all of the time you are in bed? Continue to shift your bedtime back by 15 minutes each week until you are satisfied with your energy during the day. Remember, only make a shift when your sleep quality is high.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Balance Of Choice

    Healthylife® Weigh

    Part 1

    Dumbbells, scale, towel, fruit, BMI body mass index formula rate formula in a board.

    Learn what is pulling you toward your goal and what is holding you back. All thoughts and feelings are valid. Is your goal more important to you than the challenges to achieve it? Are you pursuing this goal just because someone said you “should” do it? If you think of something later, come back to this to add another point.

    Benefits – “Pros” vs Costs-“Cons”

    Making a change.

    Pro Example: I will have more energy.

    Con Example: I won’t be able to have sweets as often as I do now.

    Not changing.

    Pro Example: I can keep all of my current habits.

    Con Example: I could keep putting on more weight.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Quit Smoking

    Healthylife® Weigh

    Part 3

    Hands breaking a cigarette in half.

    Smoking and the use of other tobacco products causes serious harm to the body, including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and emphysema. Smoking can also complicate diabetes and other health conditions.

    If you are smoking, try to quit. Talk to your doctor about tools to help you quit. Call 800-QUIT-NOW (800-784-8669) to talk to someone who can help you quit.

    Quitting smoking may cause some weight gain as your body learns to regulate blood sugar and appetite normally again. Smoking can also be a coping strategy for stress, so you will need to learn new ways to manage stress. It is worth it to quit smoking.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine

  • Harmful Hookahs

    WELL-BEING

    Image of a hookah.

    Despite warnings from the CDC that hookah smoking can be just as dangerous as cigarettes, many young adults believe that using the water pipes is not harmful to their health, according to a UCLA School of Nursing study.

    Researchers visited three Southern California hookah lounges and asked patrons between the ages of 18  and 30, “Do you believe smoking a hookah is harmful  to your health?”

    Fifty-seven percent said they thought that it was not. When asked why they thought hookahs were not harmful, 47% said they believed that the smoke gets filtered through water, and 35% said they thought that fruit used to flavor the tobacco would detoxify tobacco’s harmful chemicals. Still others, 16%, said they assumed hookahs are not harmful because the tobacco is not addictive and does not contain nicotine.

    Unfortunately, none of those beliefs is true.

    © American Institute for Preventive Medicine