However, many old smokers have encountered such problems when they quit smoking in the past: suddenly they don’t smoke, but their bodies become unwell! There is even a saying in the society that “suddenly quitting smoking will upset the balance of the body and is bad for the body”. Old smokers suddenly quit smoking, the body will really be affected?
Experts say that the smoking age in more than two or three decades of old smokers, in the early stage of quitting, the body may indeed appear some discomfort symptoms, which is the “withdrawal symptoms” after quitting smoking, the health effects are not significant. As for the “quit smoking anti-harm” is indeed no scientific basis.
Physical discomfort is a withdrawal symptom
”Quit smoking early sleep, the whole body is weak, anxious and irritable, if you smoke a cigarette symptoms will be better.” In smoking cessation clinics, such complaints are not uncommon, and many smokers are tempted to give up the idea of quitting for this reason. Some studies show that smokers will try to quit an average of six to nine times before they succeed in quitting, and relapse is common.
At the end of 2013, internet vlogger Ren had announced on Weibo that he was quitting smoking, but accidentally caused an online controversy about whether or not to quit. Some microblogging celebrities even advised Ren not to quit smoking suddenly, for example, the former Sohu vice president @Liu Chun said on microblogging, “It’s not good to quit smoking suddenly, disrupting the body’s balance system, prone to endocrine disorders, prostate enlargement and rapid obesity.”
Professor Xiao Dan of the Center for Tobacco Pathology and Cessation at China-Japan Hospital said that in the early stages of quitting smoking, it may indeed produce uncomfortable symptoms such as anxiety, depression, increased salivary gland secretion, lack of concentration, sleep disorders, and even weight gain in some quitters, which are all normal withdrawal reactions.
”Nicotine in tobacco is the main substance of smoking addiction, the nicotine in tobacco is inhaled, will stimulate the nerve cells in the brain to produce dopamine, so that people produce a sense of pleasure. When nicotine is metabolized, dopamine in the human body will drop sharply, prompting smokers to keep ingesting nicotine.” Zhi Xiuyi, director of the Lung Cancer Treatment Center at Capital Medical University, explained that withdrawal symptoms are very common in the early stages of quitting smoking, and that health care workers in smoking cessation clinics should explain clearly to smokers and provide smoking cessation drugs for intervention if necessary.
But there are no endocrine disorders, prostate enlargement and other pathological changes. On the contrary, smoking is the cause of endocrine disorders, and there is evidence that smoking can lead to type II diabetes.
The degree of withdrawal reaction depends on the age of smoking
Zhi Xiuyi said that the degree of withdrawal symptoms varies from person to person, depending on the smoking history, the number of cigarettes smoked per day and the age of the smoker, to determine the degree of his nicotine dependence. If a smoker is mildly dependent, there is generally no discomfort at the beginning of quitting; if he is moderately or severely nicotine dependent, especially if he smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day, or if he has been a smoker for more than 20 or 30 years, there is already a certain demand for dopamine in the brain center, and if he suddenly quits without appropriate intervention, he may experience withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, and panic.
The “China Clinical Quit Guidelines (2015 Edition)” published by the National Health Planning Commission states that tobacco dependence is manifested in both somatic and psychological dependence. In general, withdrawal symptoms can begin to appear a few hours after stopping smoking, and are most intense during the first 14 days of quitting, and then gradually decrease until they disappear. Most withdrawal symptoms last for about 1 month, but some patients have a craving for smoking that lasts for more than 1 year.
Don’t rely on perseverance alone to “dry quit”
Smoking as a nicotine dependence disease, has been classified as a special disease by the World Health Organization, so in a way, quitting smoking is the same as a cure, but only by willpower “dry quit” relapse rate is very high.
”Previous smokers’ experience of quitting tells us that personal perseverance alone ‘dry quit’ has a success rate of less than 5%. Older smokers may need a nicotine replacement or cessation medication to help them get through the early withdrawal symptoms. Therefore, older smokers need to quit scientifically and effectively under the guidance of a doctor in a smoking cessation clinic.” Professor Xiao Dan of the Center for Tobacco Pathology and Cessation at China-Japan Hospital said that nicotine replacement medication is mainly used to replace or partially replace nicotine obtained from tobacco by providing nicotine to the body, which not only alleviates nicotine withdrawal symptoms during the cessation process, but also prevents direct harm from harmful substances in smoke and slowly reduces the craving for nicotine to achieve smoking cessation.
In addition, Zhi Xiuyi reminded that if an old smoker suddenly does not want to smoke without any reason, the body has resistance and aversion to smoking, this should be highly alert, it is likely to be a signal of lung cancer or disease.
