What happens when you quit smoking    by Rob Harris

in Health / Quit Smoking    (submitted 2011-07-13)

Cigarette smoking, which was once considered elegant and widely acceptable in society, has fallen from grace especially after its ill effects and connections to various illnesses including cancer was confirmed by the end of the 1960’s. Today Medical organizations, social activists and organizations, policy makers, politicians and “moral” activists are actively up in arms against smoking and its evils and have managed to curb the demand for cigarettes considerably (especially in the developed nations). There still exists however, a humongous market for cigarettes in the world. In fact, it is said that some of the reputed tobacco manufacturing corporations are so rich that they might as well be allowed permission to print currency notes and save the government mint its time and resources.

The main reason for the addiction to smoking cigarettes and the difficulties that arise when you try to quit it are the byproduct of the presence of nicotine in a cigarette. Nicotine persuades the body’s glands into releasing various hormones like glucose, adrenaline, dopamine etc. that contribute to feelings of euphoria and relaxation (just like alcohol gives you a high that makes one loose one’s inhibitions at first and then, when more is consumed, it sedates the individual). What basically happens is that nicotine bypasses the safety perimeter maintained by the brain and blood cells to affect the brain in a way that persuades it to release dopamine in increasing quantities. What dopamine does is, it convinces the human brain that the things that cause its increased secretion are those that are absolutely necessary for the survival of the body (in fact the purpose of dopamine is to repeatedly point out such activities to the brain). Since Nicotine misleads the brain into releasing dopamine, the body is convinced that nicotine is essential for its survival.

Thus, what happens when you quit smoking is that the body recognizes the drop in nicotine (within an hour of finishing a cigarette only .03 mg nicotine is left out of the one mg gained by smoking a cigarette) and lashes out in protest which causes the discomfort normally experienced while trying to quit smoking. This leads to a serious drop in the degree of dopamine hit experienced. In a layman’s words, what happens when you quit smoking is that you experience a what in medical terminology, is called withdrawal symptoms or - mental and physical manifestations or signs of the bodies trying to cope with the absence of the addictive substance (which it was convinced was necessary for its survival) coupled with discomfort minutely resembling grief since dopamine induces feelings of relaxation and comfort along with a sense of achievement.

This explains the physical and mental discomfort that a person trying to quit smoking goes through which includes feeling increasingly irritable, increased sleepiness or lack of it, tightness of the chest, craving for a cigarette (this is actually a carving for a source of nicotine which can be reduced by using nicotine patches, gum and lozenges since smoking is the only method that ushers nicotine directly to the brain in an instant “rush”), occasional dizziness, mouth sores, constipation etc.

What happens when you quit smoking is therefore not really a reason to avoid making the decision as the benefits in terms of money saved, social cost and health far outweighs the initial discomfort.

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