Smoking cessation: how's it going?

If quitting smoking is a very difficult step for some, this is not always true for others because it depends on the level of dependence. Nicotine is a substance that easily provides a high degree of dependence. Patches, pills, gum ... but above all, psychotherapy is needed.

Smoking is a state of dependence to all products containing nicotine. Smoking cessation is a set of neurological signs and / or physical related to smoking cessation. Quitting smoking is an important step if you want to stay healthy, yet this step requires a lot of motivation and commitment on the part of the subject because nicotine is a substance that easily carries a high level of dependence, both physical on the psychic plane. After smoking cessation, several attempts are often useful and relapses are frequent. The permanent abstinence is often very difficult to achieve.

The intensity of the signs and the duration of the withdrawal is the level of dependence, such as the duration of smoking, and intake during periods of dose dependence. The level of dependency is evaluated on a test to know the degree of stimulation of neuroreceptors by nicotine.

Stopping smoking is essentially beneficial to health, much improvement is observed in the cardiovascular system, respiratory system, taste, smell, breath, as well as expectancy life.

Smoking cessation is manifested by several signs reflecting the lack of nicotine in the body. These signs persist for a few days to a few weeks, some are constant, others depend crucially on the individual tolerance to nicotine withdrawal.

Basically, there are physical signs and neurological signs

physical signs	neurological signs
Headaches tremors Sleep disorders (insomnia, restlessness) Increased appetite, frequent hunger, taste sweet foods or sweets Weight gain Digestive disorders (constipation) Respiratory symptoms: cough	Anxiety, irritability, hyperactivity Cravings, difficulty concentrating Signs of depression: sadness, aggression

Neurological signs often persist longer than the physical signs, which usually leads an individual to take tobacco.

There are no rules to follow to stop smoking. Each will have its own rhythm, its numbers of attempts, his reasons ... however, the medical aid is necessary to motivate the individual to help them succeed in the appropriate manner and adopted by the individual. Several methods are available for smoking cessation specialists in anti-tobacco center, each treatment is specific, and suitable for everyone. Nicotine replacement therapy are often used to avoid frequent relapses. According to several studies, several attempts and relapses sometimes succeed before arriving at the final judgment.

NRT are substances that produce a certain amount of nicotine, which can compensate for the lack of nicotine in the body. Nicotine replacement therapy can also tolerate or avoid signs related to smoking cessation. The dosage of these substances will be reduced gradually to prevent the recurrence of signs. However, in order to ensure efficiency, these substances are used in combination with cognitive behavioral therapy (psychotherapy), which is to help the patient to have a new behavior vis-à-vis tobacco and accompany methods of weaning. Some methods seem to be effective in patients with lower as acupuncture or homeopathy level of dependence.

There are several forms of nicotine replacement therapy, which can combine to ensure greater efficiency:

- Patches

- Chewing gums

- Tablets (sublingual or suck)

- Stamps

We do not routinely use nicotine substitutes for all patients. Several parameters are used to assess the level of dependence, before defining the need for nicotine replacement therapy, and what form to use. Patches, gum or tablets are usually given in cases of medium length.