By now, everyone knows at least one or two smoking facts off the top of their head. With surgeon general warnings, news bulletins, and articles on the Internet spreading the word with every laboratory finding, it isn't all that hard to stumble onto some piece of information about smoking. The public at large are aware that it can cause lung cancer, that it might have some antidepressant properties, and that it is more dangerous to non-smokers than to the actual smokers. Well, more research is still being conducted and more things are being discovered about what some have described as “the filthiest legal habit in the world,” so the list of “smoking facts” is liable to just get longer. For example, one of the latest bits of information regarding smoking is that women may find it harder to quit, on a purely physiological basis, than men.
This is hot on the heels of the research that reveals that women who smoke have a tendency to die more than both male smokers and non-smoking women. According to the American Cancer Society, 3 million women died prematurely because of smoking-related illnesses since 1980, almost double the number for their male counterparts. The statistics and clinical data also shows that women are more likely to develop some sort of serious health problem than men due to smoking, with lung cancer and heart disease being listed. As disturbing as these smoking facts are, there are signs that things might get even more disheartening for female smokers. Lung cancer, bronchitis, and emphysema are all listed as possible illnesses that could kill a female smoker.
Quitting is hardly an easy task, as many former smokers can bear witness to. Even if the addiction gets kicked, it is often much harder to stay off smoking. However, recent data is starting to show that withdrawing from smoking might be harder for female smokers than males. A research group discovered that there are some common threads that run in the minds of females who attempt to quit, or are considering quitting. These factors, according to the various research teams involved, form various roadblocks that make the prospect of quitting difficult.
The collective studies revealed a number of possible factors, the first being the prospect that nicotine substitutions were not as effective on women. There is currently no clear reason for this being the case, but further research is underway. Another factor, the study stated, would be female hormone levels. There is some lab data that shows signs that a woman's hormone levels, such as during pregnancy or at certain points in the cycle, can tamper with the effectiveness of medication designed to help someone quit smoking. Some women reported being afraid of gaining weight after they quit, which was found to be of minimal concern to men who were considering quitting. Emotional support was also a reported issue, with the perception that men are more likely to get support from the women around them regarding quitting than a woman would if the situation were reversed. Finally, women appeared to be more susceptible to environmental and social cues to smoke, contrasting men, who were found to generally have more internal “smoking cues.”
Harvey Ong is currently working as a writer-researcher for an online pharmaceutical company. Want receive Updates regarding our Products,Promos and Freebies visit
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