30 Interesting Cigarette Facts:

(Part One): Facts 1 – 10
1. Cigarettes are the single-most traded item on the planet, with approximately 1 trillion being sold from country to country each year. At a global take of more than $400 billion, it’s one of the world’s largest industries.
2. The nicotine content in several major brands is reportedly on the rise. Harvard University and the Massachusetts Health Department revealed that between 1997 and 2005 the amount of nicotine in Camel, Newport, and Doral cigarettes may have increased by as much as 11 percent.
3. In 1970, President Nixon signed the law that placed warning labels on cigarettes and banned television advertisements for cigarettes. The last date that cigarette ads were permitted on TV was extended by a day, from December 31, 1970 to January 1, 1971 to allow the television networks one last cash windfall from cigarette advertising in the New Year’s Day football games.
4. U.S. cigarette manufacturers now make more money selling cigarettes to countries around the globe than they do selling to Americans.
5. The American brands Marlboro, Kool, Camel and Kent own roughly 70% of the global cigarette market.
6. Cigarettes contain arsenic, formaldehyde, lead, hydrogen cyanide, nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, ammonia and 43 known carcinogens.
7. In the early 1950s, the Kent brand of cigarettes used crocidolite asbestos as part of the filter, a known active carcinogen.
8. Urea, a chemical compound that is a major component in urine, is used to add “flavor” to cigarettes.
9. The ‘Cork Tip’ filter was originally invented in 1925 by Hungarian inventor Boris Aivaz, who patented the process of making the cigarette filter from crepe paper. All kinds of filters were tested, although ‘cork’ is unlikely to have been one of them.
10. In most countries around the world, the legal age for the purchase of tobacco products is now 18, raised from 16, while in Japan the age minimum is 20 years old.

30 Interesting Cigarette Facts, (Part II):

Facts 11 – 20 ~

11. Contrary to popular social belief, it is NOT illegal to smoke tobacco products at any age. Parents are within the law to allow minors to smoke, and minors are within the law to smoke tobacco products freely. However, the SALE of tobacco products is highly regulated with legal legislation.
12. Smoking bans in many parts of the world have been employed as a means to stop smokers smoking in public. As a result, many social businesses have claimed a significant drop in the number of people who go out to pubs, bars and restaurants.
13. Scientists claim the average smoker will lose 14 years of their life due to smoking. This however does not necessarily mean that a smoker will die young – and they may still live out a ‘normal’ lifespan.
14. The U.S. states with the highest percentage of smokers are Kentucky (28.7%), Indiana (27.3%), and Tennessee (26.8%), while the states with the fewest are Utah (11.5%), California ( 15.2%), and Connecticut (16.5%).
15. Cigarettes can contain more than 4,000 ingredients, which, when burned, can also produce over 200 ‘compound’ chemicals. Many of these ‘compounds’ have been linked to lung damage.

16. The United States is the only major cigarette market in the world in which the percentage of women smoking cigarettes (22%) comes close to the number of men who smoke (35%). Europe has a slightly larger gap (46% of men smoke, 26% of women smoke), while most other regions have few women smokers. The stats: Africa (29% of men smoke, 4% of women smoke); Southeast Asia (44% of men, 4% of women), Western Pacific (60% of men, 8% of women)
17. Nicotine reaches the brain within 10 seconds after smoke is inhaled. It has been found in every part of the body and in breast milk.
18. Sugar approximates to roughly 20% of a cigarette, and many diabetics are unaware of this secret sugar intake. Also, the effect of burning sugar is unknown.
19. ‘Lite’ cigarettes are produced by infusing tobacco with CO2 and superheating it until the tobacco ‘puffs up’ like expanding foam. The expanded tobacco then fills the same paper tube as ‘regular’ tobacco.
20. Smokers draw on ‘lite’ and menthol cigarettes harder (on average) than regular cigarettes; causing the same overall levels of tar and nicotine to be consumed.

30 Interesting Cigarette Facts, (Part 3):

Facts
~ 21 – 30 ~
21. ‘Lite’ cigarettes are manufactured with air holes around the filter to aerate the smoke as it is drawn in. Many smokers have learned to cover these holes with their fingers or their lips to get a stronger hit.

22. The immune systems of smokers has to work harder every day than non-smokers. As a result, a smokers’ blood will contain less antioxidants, although a smokers immune system may be quicker to respond to virus attacks due to its more active nature.
23. Smokers often smoke after meals to ‘allow food to digest easier’. In fact, this works because the bodies priority moves away from the digestion of food in favor of protecting the blood cells and flushing toxins from the brain.
24. Some people (mostly males) can be aroused by the sight of smoker smoking (usually females). This is called the Smoking Fetish, and affects a small number of the population. As with most fetishes, the reason for this arousal can usually be traced back to incidents in childhood. However, cigarettes – particularly menthols, force blood away from the penis if smoked while aroused.
25. According to the World Health Organization, approximately 25% of cigarettes sold around the world are smuggled.
26. Most smokers take up the habit in their mid teens, well before the legal age for purchasing them, and is seen as a right of passage towards adulthood. Other perceived rights of passage include: aftershave, wearing stilettos, alcohol, drugs and sexual intercourse; with a combination of these sometimes being cited as the main causes of teenage pregnancy.
27. Smoking tobacco is the ultimate gateway drug in that it is legally available, and involves mastering a unique method of intake – much more so than alcohol (which has such a significant effect that users need look no further for stimulation). Smokers looking to get ‘high’ will very rarely do so from cigarettes after the initial stages of taking up the habit.
28. Smokers generally report a variety of after-effects; such as calmness, relaxation, alertness, stimulation, concentration and many others. In fact, smoking will produce a different effect in each individual depending on ‘what they expect to get’; turning the cigarette into the worlds most popular placebo (satisfying the brains hunger for nicotine being the only ‘relaxing’ factor). The smoker will then use these expectations as a means to continue the habit.
29. Several active ingredients and special methods of production are involved in making sure the nicotine in a cigarette is many times more potent than that of a tobacco plant.
30. ‘Toppings’ are added to the blended tobacco mix to add flavor and a taste unique to the manufacturer. Some of these toppings have included; clove, licorice, orange oil, apricot stone, lime oil, lavender oil, dill seed oil, cocoa, carrot oil, mace oil, myrrh, beet juice, bay leaf, oak, rum, vanilla, and vinegar.

Remember 9/11 Prayer ~

Almighty God, 2001 will be indelibly inscribed in our memories.

We looked with horror on the terrorist attacks of September 11th. But we looked with honor on acts of courage by ordinary people who sacrificed themselves to prevent further death and destruction.

We shed our tears in a common bond of grief for those we loved and lost.We journeyed through a dark valley, but your light has led us to a place of hope.You have turned our grief into determination.We are resolved to do what is good, and right, and just.

Help us to remember what it means to be Americans—a people endowed with abundant blessings.Help us to cherish the freedoms we enjoy and inspire us to stand with courage, united as one Nation in the midst of any adversity.

Lord, hear this prayer for our Nation.

Amen.

(Compiled by a Navy Chaplain in commemoration of 9~11~2001.)

What's in a Cigarette ~

Nothing New Here:
Just a reminder...
Your body gets more than nicotine when you smoke.
~ There are more than 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke. Some of them are also in wood varnish, the insect poison DDT, arsenic, nail polish remover, and rat poison.
~ The ashes, tar, gases, and other poisons in cigarettes harm your body over time. They damage your heart and lungs. They also make it harder for you to taste and smell things, and fight infections.

Source:

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Reducing Tobacco Use: A Report of the Surgeon General. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2000.

Tobacco Facts ~

Tobacco is one of the strongest cancer-causing agents.
* Tobacco use is associated with a number of different cancers, including lung cancer, as well as with chronic lung diseases and cardiovascular diseases.
* Cigarette smoking remains the leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing an estimated 438,000 deaths - or about 1 out of every 5 - each year.
* In the United States, approximately 38,000 deaths each year are caused by exposure to second hand smoke.
* Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women in the United States, with 90 percent of lung cancer deaths among men and approximately 80 percent of lung cancer deaths among women attributed to smoking.
* Smoking also increases the risk of many other types of cancer, including cancers of the throat, mouth, pancreas, kidney, bladder, and cervix.
* People who smoke are up to six times more likely to suffer a heart attack than nonsmokers, and the risk increases with the number of cigarettes smoked. Smoking also causes most cases of chronic obstructive lung disease, which includes bronchitis and emphysema.
* In 2007, approximately 19.8 percent of U.S. adults were cigarette smokers.
* Twenty-three percent of high school students and 8 percent of middle school students in this country are current cigarette smokers.
* In the United States, an estimated 8 percent of high school students are current smokeless tobacco users. An estimated 3 percent of middle school students in this country are current smokeless tobacco users.

Happy Labor Day ~

Two Months Smoke Free ~

I haven't had a cigarette for two months now -- but that doesn't mean I'm out of the danger zone!

This seems to be the time most people -- including myself many times in the past -- experience a relapse. Our biggest challenge isn’t always the quitting, it’s the staying quit. One ingredient to a successful quit plan is to be prepared to handle difficult situations that increase cravings and ‘triggers’ when they occur or are at their most intense. See Combating Those Nasty Triggers ~

From the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:

* The greatest risk for relapse is with in the first three months of quitting.
Plan ways you can cope when you are around other smokers or in difficult situations where you're tempted to take a puff.

* If you used to smoke to handle stress or calm your nerves, (and you know we all do or did), it's important to find other ways to do that. Integrate stress reduction into your daily life. I took up not only deep breathing but also I try to walk some daily.

* If you do slip and have a smoke, don't beat yourself up, and don't give up.
This has always been my downfall in the past -- thinking I could ‘handle’ just one and then not stopping there rather thinking I would stop again after this pack or the next!

* Recognize these ‘triggers’ and try to avoid them if possible. But lets face it, its not always practical -- one of my triggers was spending the morning writing out my monthly bills. I had to change the way I did that and not give in during this time.

* Limit or monitor your use of coffee and alcohol; these trigger the urge to smoke for many people. (I had to do that during the monthly bill paying I wrote about above.)

* Eating healthy food and exercising is important. I already spoke about my daily walking but I also have take up eating a lot of Popsicles -- maybe not the most healthy but they are only 35 calories each. (Did I ever mention I am handsomely slender and that’s not really an issue for me anyway.) However, research shows that large weight changes are unusual and there’s medication that can help limit weight gain.

* Don't forget to remember all the benefits of quitting smoking. (This is important. It’s really helped me this time.) One good thing to keep pictured in your mind is this PSA I posted last month. ~I Heart New York ~ (This video creeps me out, I’m so glad I didn’t see it until after I quit smoking!)

* Finally, read the exercise article I posted Monday of this week (8~31~2009) & Kevin's comments below... I keep saying I've taken up walking to combat my cravings, triggers and desires; I believe it's helped a great deal. I would encourage anyone to do the same.

The Best Testimonial Yet~

Just wanted to reply about exercise staving off cravings and let you know it really has worked for me. When I first quit July 1st I could barely squeez out 15 push-ups. I started doing them and crunches every time I had a craving. Now I can do 60 push-ups at a time and over 200 a day, I don't count the crunches reps. With walking I've actually lost weight since quiting.

Welcome Phil. This a really inspirational blog that's done wonders for me. FJW does a great job

so check back often and good luck. It can be done.

Thanks again,Kevin

Sometimes something from the comment section is so good,

I have to pull it out here to the main page ...

I'm just not sure how many people read the comment section.

Heck ~ I'm not even sure how many people even read this blog!

Thank You Kevin... comments like this inspires me to keep blogging!

No Smoking Bra ~

Introduced by Swiss Panty Maker Triumph International.

(In keeping with my women's health theme.)

This Swiss-based underwear maker has developed a bra it claims can helps women quit smoking. Embedded with perfume capsules that react with cigarette smoke making it unpleasant smelling.

The capsules contain lavender which has a sedative property as well as jasmine which alters the taste of cigarettes.

The bra is also treated with liquid titanium to break down cigarette smoke.

It was presented at a trade show in Tokyo but Triumph has not yet decided if it will actually produce the bra.

Now I'm curious as to what they'll do to prevent panties from smoking!