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  • The Ingredients Of Cigarettes
  • Nicotine Addiction: Is It Real?
  • The Threat of Secondhand Smoke
  • Passive Smoke and Children
  • ADHD and Smoking
  • HPV and Smoking
  • Public Smoking Bans
  • Future Science Smoking Cessation
  • Smoking Cessation Products
  • Stop Your Children Now!
  • Your Psychological Loss
  • The Fear Of Gaining Weight
  • Smokers Defence Tactics
  • Setting Your Quit Date
  • How To Beat Nicotine Withdrawal
  • Tip: Keep A Craving Journal
  • You Have To Quit For You!
  • One Great Reason To Quit Smoking
  • The Positives of Quitting
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Understanding the effects of nicotine and the way it affects our brain and body can help smokers to quit successfully. While some of us find it hard to give up the habit of smoking, it's the nicotine addiction that keeps us hooked.

Nicotine affects our body and mind in these ways:

• It is absorbed quickly by inhaling smoke into our lungs and bloodstream, and only takes about 10 seconds to reach the brain.
• Nicotine interferes with our nerve cells and gives us a feeling of pleasure when we smoke.
• As our body adapts to new levels of nicotine, we begin craving a more frequent dose to prevent the onset of withdrawal symptoms.
• Nicotine acts as a stimulant, increasing our heart rate and blood pressure.
• Our body perceives nicotine as having tension relieving factors and prompts us to smoke when we are anxious or stressed.

An important thing to know about nicotine and its effects on smoking is that it only takes minutes to leave the brain, and three or four days at the most before our body is completely free of traces of nicotine. It does, however, leave smokers with the problem of withdrawal, both physical and mental.

Withdrawal symptoms range from headaches, tiredness, depression, feelings of irritation or even anger. Some of these are related to the sudden reduction of nicotine in our system, but for many of us it's the perception of the withdrawal that makes us believe we are still addicted to smoking - even when we don't have any nicotine left in our body.

This is where smokers often fail in their attempt to quit, and looking at ways to beat the craving can be a huge positive step to stopping smoking, and staying quit. There are plenty of resources that you can look for to help to quit smoking, including smoking cessation clinics, self-help groups, hypnosis and many more. However, finding a way to get over the nicotine addiction, whether real or not, can be a more difficult concept.

Some people use smoking cessation products; nicotine replacements including patches, gum, lozenges or inhalers are said to help reduce the craving gradually. Other solutions could be in the form of prescription medicines, herbs or vitamins.

For many smokers who want to quit, just being able to recognise the way nicotine affects us and our smoking addiction could be enough to get over the perceived withdrawal symptoms. Believing that the nicotine has gone from our system helps us realise that quitting smoking may not be as difficult as we thought!