The Facts About Smoking in the Workplace and Creating Policies
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Smoking in the workplace is an issue that concerns employees and employers who smoke and who do not smoke. Therefore, most states have created a law often known as the “clean indoor air law,” which restricts workplace smoking. The law varies from state to state. Some states prohibit smoking in all workplace facilities, while other workplace facilities only prohibit smoking in some form or another.
Restrictions on smoking in the workplace may be a designated smoking area for smokers. Other restrictions may prohibit smoking in public workplaces and not in private workplaces. However, restrictions may only occur in workplaces such as restaurant dining areas and hospitals.
To find out what laws apply to your state check with the labor and health department. State laws are not the only government agency mandating smoking in the workplace. City and county governments may also set smoking restrictions within their area call ordinances. To find out what these restrictions are, contact local government offices.
Smoking in the workplace is like any other issue. Management should address this issue accommodating both the smoker and the non-smoker. Creating a policy that will have all employees in mind helps keep everyone happy.
Creating Policy
Creating a policy for smoking in the workplace requires research and co-operation from all involved. The first step is to create a committee or board that determines what the policy should state. The committee or board should include people from management and employees. However, there should be smokers and non-smokers chosen to create the policy.
Creating a questionnaire to distribute to everyone is a good start to finding out everyone’s opinions about smoking in the workplace. The questionnaire results can then be the start to creating a smoking in the workplace policy.
Other topics that should be discussed is the air quality of the building and what designated areas are the most appropriate for smoking. When determining the designated areas, keeping in mind the location of all employees and other workplace areas is an important factor with making the policy decision.
The most important criteria for implementing a smoking in the workplace policy is knowing what state, county, and city laws are on smoking. After a smoking in the workplace policy has been implemented all employees of the workplace need to be informed of the facts.
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The Facts About Smoking Lung Cancer
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Smoking and lung cancer are directly related. Smoking lung cancer is ten times more likely to kill an individual than lung cancer in non-smokers. The more cigarettes an individual smokes and the longer he she smokes increases the chances of them developing smoking lung cancer. However, the risk of developing lung cancer can be reduced by quitting smoking.
Types of Lung Cancer
There are two types of lung cancer. Small cell and non-small cell. Small cell lung cancer spreads much quicker than non-small cell lung cancer. Non-small cell lung cancer consists of three types. These types are squamous cell carcinoma, ademocarcinoma and large cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma is more likely to be seen in those who smoke cigarettes that are unfiltered and have high levels of tar, while ademocarcinoma is seen more in individuals who smoke filtered low tar cigarettes.
Signs and Symptoms
There are many signs and symptoms of smoking lung cancer. However, lung cancer is usually advanced before the symptoms occur. The symptoms of smoking lung cancer are chronic cough, persistent cough, or coughing up blood. An increase in mucous production may also occur. When breathing, an individual may experience wheezing, shortness of breath, or chest pain. Some individuals may also be hoarse, lose his or her appetite, and lose weight. Finally, bronchitis and/or pneumonia may develop.
Diagnosis
Smoking lung cancer is very easy to diagnose by your doctor. First, he or she will get a thorough medical history from the patient. The final diagnosis of smoking lung cancer will be determined by a CT scan.
Treatment
Treatment of smoking lung cancer varies from patient to patient. These types are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy or combination therapy, which is a combination of the other three treatments. However, no matter what treatment is chosen, quitting smoking is a must.
Surgery is only chosen as a treatment when the disease is in a limited number of stages. The location of the tumor can also determine whether or not surgery is an option. If surgery is chosen, the tumor will be removed and part of a lobe, a whole lobe or the entire lung may also be removed.
Radiation therapy is an x-ray that kills cancer cells. It can be used to relieve the pain that the tumor causes. Also, it can decrease or eliminate the tumor altogether. Chemotherapy comes in the form of a pill, injection or catheter. Each form consists of a medication that is used to decrease the size of the tumor or eliminates the cancer.
The best way to prevent smoking lung cancer is to not smoke at all. Decreasing the amount that you smoke or switching to a lower tar cigarette does not reduced your chances of getting lung cancer. It only changes the type of lung cancer that you will get. Therefore, not smoking is your best option for not getting smoking lung cancer.
Quit Smoking: You Can Do It!
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You can quit smoking, even though you may feel frustrated and unsure, especially if you have tried before to no avail. Smoking is an incredibly dangerous habit, one that can actually result in death if continued for an extended period of time.
If you quit smoking then you will have immediate as well as long term benefits, not only for you but for your family and friends as well. Within 12 hours of your last cigarette in fact, your body will begin to heal itself, and this is really quite impressive. This is true however, because the levels of carbon monoxide and nicotine that are in your system will begin to decline rapidly as soon as you have your last smoke, and your heart and lungs will begin to repair themselves as well.
How to Quit Smoking
Although many people think that quitting cold turkey is the worst idea because your body will go through withdrawal, it is actually the most successful method. Most people who quit smoking cold turkey do not begin smoking again later on in the future.
The problem with this method is that most people are simply not able to do it. Especially those people who have been smoking for years will find it incredibly difficult and even seemingly impossible to just quit smoking cold turkey. There are other options available to you here.
There are quite a few successful stop smoking aids that you can use to help you in your quest here. The nicotine patch is one of the most popular options and definitely one of the most successful. Nicotine patches work by providing a certain amount of nicotine to your system over an extended period of time, thereby helping to curb your cravings and deter you from having to smoke.
There are a few different companies that retail the patch, and although there are certainly differences between the various options, the basics tend to remain the same. Most brands of the nicotine patch are available in opaque and clear and are specially formulated with the patented SmartControl technology.
Another effective stop smoking aid that can help you quit smoking for good is the stop smoking gum. Nicorette is the most popular stop smoking gum, and each piece of this gum replaces some of the nicotine that your body and brain are used to getting. The level of nicotine is lower than cigarettes and helps your body to gradually adjust to a decreased amount of nicotine.
Counting the Days and the Ways to Quit Smoking
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Smoking is a nasty habit that can be difficult to break. Quitting smoking might seem like the obvious choice, but many people are reluctant to quit because they are aware of the many withdrawal symptoms that go along with quitting smoking. However, what these people do not know about are the many ways to quit smoking. Such a wide assortment of options for kicking the gross habit makes it easier for people to quit smoking once and for all.
Feeling Sick
People are often discouraged from quitting smoking because, regardless of the many ways to quit smoking that exist, the withdrawal can be a very difficult process. Your body becomes physically addicted to the nicotine and cigarettes, and it becomes used to putting things in the mouth. Employing one of the ways to quit smoking eliminates both of these factors, thus causing withdrawal.
People who experience withdrawal might have many different symptoms, including: cigarette cravings, irritability, frustration or anger, tremors, decreased heart rate, fatigue, restlessness, depression, increased appetite, constipation or upset stomach, anxiety or nervousness, difficulty concentrating, headaches, insomnia, and increased coughing. These symptoms can last anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after you first find a way to quit smoking.
Taking the Plunge
Though quitting smoking is difficult, it is important that you do so for your on health, and for the health of those around you. Today, there are many different ways you can quit smoking. One of the most common ways is medication of some sort. There are many nicotine and non-nicotine medications available, such as a nicotine patch, nicotine gum, and Varenicline.
If you do not wish to take medication, then there are other ways to quit smoking as well. Hypnosis, acupuncture, behavioral therapy, and nicotine vaccination are all alternatives to using medication in order to quit smoking.
Management Skills
One you have found a successful way to quit smoking, then you will still have to manage the cravings that might occur in your daily life. This requires using psychological strategies. For example, remind yourself about why you decided to quit. Another idea is to keep busy, so you do not constantly think about smoking.
Other people find it helpful to brush their teeth or drink water when they experience a craving. The trick is finding the strategy that works best for you. Although quitting smoking is a very difficult task, once you have done it, you will have made a very big accomplishment that you and all of your loved ones can be proud of.
Side Effects of Smoking That You Might Find Particularly Surprising
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Almost everybody knows that smoking can cause heart disease and lung disease along with several other types of cancers. These are the more serious side effects of smoking that should propel smokers to quit smoking. Other side effects of smoking focus mainly on the path of the smoke as smokers inhale it such as the mouth and the lungs.
Lesser Known Side Effects of Smoking
Smoking affects our production of collagen and elastin. Collagen is one of the primary factors for elastic skin and is also a common element in tendons and ligaments. The decrease of collagen production can impair the healing of your tendons and ligaments as well as make them prone to injury. In connection to collagen and elastin, smoking also increases our susceptibility to wrinkles and sagging skin.
Nicotine, one of the main ingredients of cigarettes, can affect the blood vessels by constricting them. One of the side effects of smoking is the limiting of the supply of blood and vital oxygen to our parts of the body and bones. If a smoker breaks a bone, the healing of the bone will take longer because of the decrease of blood and oxygen supply to it.
Studies have also brought to light another side effect of smoking which is connected to age related blindness. Recent studies have shown that age related macular degeneration is most likely to happen to smokers than those who do not smoke. Many of the side effects of smoking are related to the circulatory system and the inability of the veins and blood vessels to supply enough blood all over our body.
Other side effects of smoking are the dulling of our taste buds and the decrease of our sense of smell. Tar, another ingredient in cigarettes and other tobacco products, has the ability to coat out mouth, taste buds and esophagus. Once it coats our taste buds, it lessens the taste buds’ ability to sense taste and flavor. The same side effects of smoking can also be attributed to the dulling of our olfactory nerves which can also affect our perception of food.
Although these side effects of smoking are not life threatening they can still affect your life negatively. There are studies that show a reverse of some of the side effects of smoking when the individual quits smoking. The reversal may take some time but there is improvement especially in the circulatory system.
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Facts About Using Hypnosis to Stop Smoking
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Hypnosis is a method of relaxation. With hypnosis a person will become relaxed while focusing on a problem and a resolution to the problem. Hypnosis to stop smoking will have the mind imagine a life as a non-smoker, allowing the subconscious to think and accept this notion as the reality.
Does it Work?
There are a variety of ways for an individual to stop smoking, but does the method of hypnosis to stop smoking actually work? This method has a successful rate of double the gum and patch quit smoking methods.
However, by using hypnosis to stop smoking and another quit smoking method better results can be achieved. Hypnosis to stop smoking studies have shown that 66% of cases where people have wanted to quit smoking has worked. Unfortunately, this method may not be right for everyone.
Types of Hypnosis
There are two main types of hypnosis to stop smoking. Self-hypnosis and hypnotherapy administered by a certified hypnotherapist. Self-hypnosis is a method where an individual uses techniques to relax on their own by using specific images to quit smoking. However, this method of hypnosis to stop smoking takes longer than hypnosis by a hypnotherapist.
Hypnosis administered by a licensed hypnotherapist helps an individual to quit smoking. With this technique the hypnotherapist will get an individual relaxed by using words and images to get them to quit smoking. Most hypnosis to stop smoking programs only require one hypnosis session. However, some hypnotherapists will recommend more sessions to help defeat the smoking habit.
A third option combines the first two types of hypnosis. Using this method an individual purchases a program to listen to in the privacy of their home. This method is less expensive and gives an individual more flexibility to choose when and how often to use hypnosis to stop smoking.
Benefits
Hypnosis to stop smoking has many benefits. First, hypnosis can motivate and reinforce positive reasons for becoming or being a non-smoker. Second, hypnosis can eliminate the mind and body’s desire for the drug nicotine. The third benefit is hypnosis can prevent or completely rid an individual from having withdrawal symptoms.
Two other benefits with hypnosis is that it offers healthy ways to relax eliminating stress that may have caused the smoking habit in the first place. Hypnosis also encourages success making the individual feel he or she has accomplished a major goal. The method of hypnosis to stop smoking an individual must be open-minded, because quitting is no easy task. Habits die hard, but with hypnosis these smoking habits may be a thing of the past.
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