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Smoking Study

If you’re a smoker, do you choose light cigarettes to limit your exposure to the dangerous substances in tobacco?

That may be more of a woman thing to do.

There’s a huge difference between the smoking habits and beliefs of men and women--differences that affect their approach to quitting.

“I think it was the general health reasons. I was getting older and I was starting to feel some of the consequences of smoking and I just knew that I had to quit.” Like many women, cigarettes had become a major concern for Mayumi Takatami.

In fact, worrying about the health risks of smoking is much more typical for women.

New research shows females who smoke are more likely than men to feel guilty, feel afraid, and worry in relation to tobacco use and quitting the habit.

Virginia Reichert, Director of the Center for Tobacco Control at North Shore/LIJ Health System, says, “More women than men had far more concerns like fear of gaining weight, fear of failing, and trying to quit again. They are worried about smoking is going to make them sick, yet they felt very guilty that they smoked and found themselves unable to quit many times on their own.”

“I went to a hypnotist twice and it was not successful, and i also tried quitting cold turkey once or twice and my friends and family said I was very cranky and it did not work for several hours,” recalls Maumi.

More women than men reported feeling guilty about their smoking habit. And 41 percent of women feared gaining weight, compared to only 15 percent of men.

Indeed, men who smoke spend little time thinking about their habit and the harmful effects of smoking, especially if they have few physical side effects.

However, when it comes to misinformation about smoking, both sexes are affected significantly. For example, a large proportion of both men and women believed that nicotine causes cancer.

However, when it came to taking action, more women than men reported smoking “light cigarettes,” believing them to be less harmful, which they aren’t.

Ms. Reichert says, “I think 70% of the women smoke light cigarettes, um and light implies safer to many people, or less harm. If you smoke light cigarettes, you are going to smoke many more cigarettes. So, light cigarette smokers wind up getting more poisons to get the nicotine that they need.”

The best approach--whether you’re a man or a woman--is to stop worrying, and stop trying to avoid the inevitable with light cigarettes.

Just make up your mind to quit once and for all. Still, the author says that many smokers—men and women—don’t know the right way to quit.

The women are correct, in that most smokers cannot do it alone. Because nicotine is more addictive than heroine or cocaine, so going out and buying some nicotine patches and thinking that you’re going to succeed on your own is terribly misdirected for most people.

One should go to a smoking cessation program, many are available at local hospitals or through your physician.

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