Smoker Faster than expected comes the smoker's leg

Whether lung cancer, smoker's leg or asthma: Cigarettes pose a massive threat to health and, according to the "Tabakatlas Deutschland 2015", they cause more than 120,000 deaths each year. Nearly two-thirds of smokers would like to give up their vice, but only just under half of smoking cessation attempts is permanently successful. Experts recommend a combination of behavioral therapy and nicotine replacement supplements to minimize the long-term craving for a cigarette. Also, various home remedies and relaxation techniques can provide effective support in weaning.
Smoker's share is decreasing altogether 121,000 people die each year as a result of smoking, which accounts for 13.5 percent of all deaths. This is the result of the current "Tobacco Atlas Germany 2015" of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), which was presented earlier this week in Berlin. Although the proportion of smokers has fallen nationwide, in countries such as Berlin or Bremen still smolder more than 34 percent of men and more than 23 percent of women. Many smokers would like to quit - but they are afraid of "withdrawal" and can not imagine a life without a cigarette.

If the vessels clog by smoking a so-called smoker's leg threatens. Picture: Bergringfoto - fotolia

Like "Jana," who smoked 40 to 50 cigarettes every day and sometimes even got up at night to satisfy the craving for a clown. As Jana talks to Die Welt, she had been smoking her first cigarette at the age of 15 - at the window of her nursery, accompanied by coughing, dizziness and the feeling of being "poisoned". However, in the course of her "smoking career", smoking became more normal and it did not matter where the nicotine came from. While she initially smoked filter cigarettes, she switched to tobacco for cost reasons during her studies, and when she was exhausted, she turned another cigarette out of the old stubs.

Nicotine is more toxic than arsenic or cyanideAn enormous burden on the body, as nicotine is more toxic than arsenic or cyanide according to the DKFZ. Therefore, anyone who smokes 20 cigarettes a day would take between 20 and 40 mg of nicotine throughout the day - the lethal single dose for an adult is 50 mg. Also Jana knew about the health consequences, so the report of the "world". But this knowledge was not sufficient at first to finally give up the addiction. For even greater was the fear, the "withdrawal" not to create. Not an isolated case, because the withdrawal is difficult due to the high dependence potential of cigarettes and succeeds only in about half of the cases permanently. But convinced smokers, according to the DKFZ, are still few. Instead, the majority would like to stop, only 35 percent have never tried to quit smoking in their lives.

Social disapproval of smoking plays an important role
According to the Tobacco Atlas, the main reasons for wanting to quit smoking are concerns about one's own health, the desire to be a role model for children and the high costs involved. Likewise, e.g. the need to protect others from secondhand smoke, medical advice and the social disapproval of smoking play an important role. But the task of the vice is usually difficult, because it is not just the physical dependence that bothers many. On the contrary, smokers have to give up their habits and stay strong in situations in which they have smoked otherwise.

E-cigarettes are not a sensible alternative Nevertheless, most smokers (76 percent) succeed in getting out, according to the DKFZ without any support. Around seven percent would therefore use information materials such as brochures as an aid, four percent use nicotine replacement products such as nicotine patches or chewing gum. A further six percent would use e-cigarettes to create smoking - but from an expert's point of view, this would be an ineffective alternative, since it also maintains the addiction to nicotine.

Schüssler salts and autogenic training to strengthen in the weaning phase Accordingly, only a few smokers would go the way recommended by weaning experts. As the most successful support is currently a behavioral therapy in combination with nicotine replacement products, so the German Cancer Research Center on. Hypnosis and acupuncture can be used effectively to stop smoking in addition to the replacement preparations. Similarly, in many cases, stress relief techniques provide good support when the craving for a cigarette is strong, causing tension and anxiety.

Here are methods such. Autogenic training or progressive muscle relaxation may be considered, and yoga or meditation may help to relax during the weaning phase and reduce the desire to smoke. Also Schüssler salts and Bach flowers can be a soothing help. For example, Bach flower therapy has When fears and nervousness in the wake of weaning Aspen (Aspenwood) proven, Cherry Plum (cherry plum) can also help to regulate mood swings and reduce the fear of "letting go".

Withdrawal symptoms disappear after a few weeks. Jana managed to get away from her addiction with a "cold withdrawal", after which her fear of a smoker's leg of less than 30 had become so great that smoking was no longer an option. But after almost a decade as a smoker, she experienced the first day without nicotine as a "horror trip" with massive mood swings, sleep disturbances and irritability. After four months, the situation improved slowly, until after a year she began to believe in her success. Today she has lived as a non-smoker for 14 years. (No)