An addiction to nicotine, also known as nicotine dependence or tobacco dependence can occur in any age group. This habit is formed mostly by influence, whether in real life or in virtual. Most people who smoke have spouses, friends, or family members who also smoke or they see in TV or movies. There are many harmful effects of smoking which can start as early as a few days of smoking. Homeopathy can help in reducing the craving for smoking and also help in the reversal of the harmful effects done by smoking in the body.

Nicotine

• Nicotine in tobacco is a psychoactive substance that produces patterns of dependence, tolerance, and withdrawal.
• In small doses, it stimulates the central nervous system and can also cause high blood pressure and increase the risk of heart disease and cancer.
• When it is inhaled into the lungs, it enters the bloodstream and in only 7 to 20 seconds after a person inhales the smoke, the nicotine reaches the brain.
• It appears to stimulate specific receptors – nicotine acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) – in the midbrain reticular formation and the limbic system, the site of the “pleasure pathway”.

The Psychology of Smoking

Reasons why people start to use tobacco:

• To kill boredom
• To bring out the creativity
• To show they are not timid or afraid.
• To fit with the peers
• To appear cool
• To feel like a grown-up
• To be independent
• As a sign of protest, rebellion, or defying authority- How dare they asked me to stop or reduce!
• Being given free samples from friends or advertisers
• Influences from people most respected, loved and admired
  • Spouse/ Partner/ Girlfriend/ Boyfriend
  • Parents or relatives
  • Images of famous actors, movie stars, or role models
  • Famous sports players
• The illusion that it will calm nerves
• As a kind of “air freshener”

People are seduced to try tobacco by glamorization or a gentle nudging force. Addiction to nicotine makes it hard to quit smoking once you have started.

What does smoking do to your body

• Heart disease- Smoking is responsible for around 30 percent of all heart attacks and cardiovascular deaths.
• Cancer- It is responsible for 40 percent of all cancer deaths and 88 percent of lung cancer deaths each year.
• Lung problems- Responsible for 82 percent of deaths due to emphysema and chronic bronchitis.
• Smoking delays the healing of peptic ulcers of the stomach and duodenum.
• Its effects on blood vessels cause chronic pains in the legs (claudication) which can progress to gangrene and amputations of the toes or feet.
• Causes wrinkling of the skin of the face to develop earlier in chronic smokers. On average they look 5 years older than non-smokers of the same age.
• Greying of hair
• Hairfall
• Smoking also brings on earlier menopause in women, advancing it by 5 years.
• It reduces women’s fertility and delays conception.
• It impairs erections in middle-aged and older men and may affect the quality of their sperm.
• Smoking accelerates the rate of osteoporosis, a disease that causes bones to weaken and fracture more easily.
• Women who smoke during pregnancy damage their unborn child, causing effects that last throughout the child’s life. The risks of miscarriage, premature birth, and death of the baby in its first year of life are all significantly increased.

The Illusion of a Smoker

Many smokers feel that they are the masters of their own destiny and that they could quit smoking anytime they want, but then they convince themselves that they enjoy smoking and that they will not quit today. As time passes, the habit becomes deep until it becomes a lifestyle and an addiction that causes physical discomfort. The only way to stop smoking is to overcome the psychological dependence on tobacco and the physical addiction to nicotine. Homeopathy has quite a wonderful role to play in overcoming both these.

Homeopathy as a savior

The harmful effects of smoking can be reduced with the help of homeopathic remedies and it can also help in reversing the effects already caused in the body. To remove the bad effects of smoking, removing the habit is a must, without which bad effects cannot be rooted out. Homeopathy offers an effective, gentle alternative for the smoker who’s ready to quit by reducing the craving for nicotine, increasing willpower, and easing withdrawal symptoms. Homeopathic remedies work without toxicity or side effects. Mostly, homeopathic treatments given in these cases are constitutional, meaning they are based on the whole persona of the patient and the reason they started smoking.

Some homeopathic medicines include:

• Lycopodium – The patient is cowardly in nature and takes on this habit of smoking to impress others.
• Baryta or Calcarea – These patients have family history of smoking.
• Nitric Acid or Mercurius – It is mostly given to patients who have taken the habit out of resentment.
• Argentum Nitricum and Arsenic Album – The patient is full of apprehensions and anxieties and it compels him to start smoking.
• Natrum Mur or Aurum Met – The patient has a history of grief or sadness and started smoking because of those reasons.
• Medorrhinum and Nux Vomica- Patient who has a lot of business or work stress tends to take up smoking.

Etc.. Etc

These medicines should be taken under the advice and diagnosis of a qualified Homoeopath. Homeopathy works well in conjunction with a variety of lifestyle-improving strategies.