Congratulations! You've decided to quit smoking. Now you just need to decide when. Many smoking cessation programs suggest that the first step to quitting is choosing a quit date. But how do you make that choice? Does when you quit have an impact on how successful you'll be?
If you're ready to make the commitment, here are some things to think about when choosing your quit date.
Choose to quit within the next several weeks. This will give you time to prepare yourself, but not enough time to change your mind.
1. Give yourself time to heal if you've experienced a recent loss or traumatic event. The grieving process is hard work. It can drain your energy and affect your ability to concentrate. The stress after a trauma or loss will likely increase your urge to smoke, too.
2. If you are facing a stressful event, such as marriage, buying a home or graduating from college, wait a while. Stress will probably make you want to smoke more often. And your focus is going to be on your big event, not on quitting. You are more likely to absently reach for a cigarette when your mind is somewhere else. The fewer distractions you have, the more likely you are to succeed.
3. When making your decision, try to pick a date that holds special meaning for you. Is there a day that holds unique meaning in your life? Would you like to link the day you quit to a special event? Some people choose a random date, but others prefer to pick a birthday, anniversary or some other special day. Others opt for a more symbolic choice, such as the Great American Smokeout, Independence Day or New Year's Day.
4. If you smoke at work, consider quitting on a weekend. When you return to your job on Monday, you'll already be enjoying the benefits of being smoke-free for two days.
Stay focused
Write your quit date on your calendar where you can see it every day. Don't come up with excuses to wait. Stay committed to your plan.
Choosing a plan
If you haven't done so already, work with your doctor to choose the smoking cessation plan that is best for you. You may decide to go cold turkey or use nicotine gum, the patch or some other option. Whatever you choose, take some time to prepare yourself mentally for the challenge ahead. The more prepared you feel, the better your chances will be of kicking butts for good.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
MAKING THE TEXT LARGER ON A PAGE
I know many of us wish the text was larger on some web pages, to do this, hold the CTRL key down on your keyboard, and scroll the wheel in the middle of your mouse, down (or up). Watch the web page while you're doing this & you will see the text getting larger, scroll it up & it will make the text smaller. This really helps if your eyes "aren't like they used to be" like mine.
Monday, November 24, 2008
Friday, November 21, 2008
Pain relief may just be mind over matter
According to new research, the belief that a pill will relieve pain is enough to cause the brain to release its own natural painkillers. The finding is the first direct evidence that the brain's own pain-fighting chemicals, endorphins, have a role in the phenomenon known as the "placebo effect" - and that this response corresponds with a reduction in feelings of pain.
"This is telling us that placebos are powerful," said study lead author Dr Jon-Kar Zubieta, an associate professor of psychiatry and radiology at the University of Michigan. "When there is a belief that something may take place, this belief actually activates systems in your brain that are directly modifying experience. If you receive a drug and you believe it is active, the drug itself might not be doing very much."
The report appears in the August 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
"We looked at the response of pain control systems in the brain," Zubieta said. "We observed that a placebo that was believed to be an agonistic agent was able to enhance the release of these anti-pain endogenous opioids."
For the study, Zubieta's team induced pain by injecting concentrated salt water solution into the jaws of 14 healthy young men who agreed to the experiment. The injections were given while the men underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
During one scan, the men were told they would receive pain medicine. Instead, they were given a placebo. Then every 15 seconds during the subsequent scans, the men were asked to rate the intensity of their pain on a scale of 0 to 100. After the experiment, they provided more detailed pain ratings.
The researchers found that after telling the men that the placebo was coming, the amount of concentrated salt water needed to maintain the pain increased. This indicated that sensitivity to pain was reduced. So thinking they were getting a pain drug actually allowed the participants to tolerate more pain, the researchers said.Zubieta classified nine of the men as "high placebo responders" because they exhibited a strong placebo effect. The other five were classified as "low placebo responders." In addition, the researchers were able to show the power of the placebo effect. "There was more relief in response to this inactive medication as a function of belief," Zubieta said. "In fact, in some areas of the brain, the release was related to how much they believed the drug was going to be effective."
Zubieta believes these findings tell you something about how humans function. "Understanding these mind-body connections are important," he said. "There are many treatments that are believed to be effective, when in reality they may not be more effective than placebo."
Harnessing the placebo effect may have some positive therapeutic applications, Zubieta said. "You want to enhance the placebo effect under some circumstances," he said. "And in some others you want to reduce it - like when you do a clinical trial."
One expert thinks the findings are important, but miss the larger point.
"It's clearly another step in elucidating these mechanisms, which is really terrific," said Daniel E. Moerman, the William E. Stirton Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in Dearborn, and the author of Meaning, Medicine and the Placebo Effect.
But he added, the question of a mind-body connection as a separation between the two "is not even 16th-century quality thinking," Moerman said. "Socrates did better than that."
"It's only the technology that has made this an interesting area to study," Moerman added. "You can scan this stuff now. You can see it, so there it is, and therefore it's sort of real."
"This is telling us that placebos are powerful," said study lead author Dr Jon-Kar Zubieta, an associate professor of psychiatry and radiology at the University of Michigan. "When there is a belief that something may take place, this belief actually activates systems in your brain that are directly modifying experience. If you receive a drug and you believe it is active, the drug itself might not be doing very much."
The report appears in the August 24 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.
"We looked at the response of pain control systems in the brain," Zubieta said. "We observed that a placebo that was believed to be an agonistic agent was able to enhance the release of these anti-pain endogenous opioids."
For the study, Zubieta's team induced pain by injecting concentrated salt water solution into the jaws of 14 healthy young men who agreed to the experiment. The injections were given while the men underwent positron emission tomography (PET) scans.
During one scan, the men were told they would receive pain medicine. Instead, they were given a placebo. Then every 15 seconds during the subsequent scans, the men were asked to rate the intensity of their pain on a scale of 0 to 100. After the experiment, they provided more detailed pain ratings.
The researchers found that after telling the men that the placebo was coming, the amount of concentrated salt water needed to maintain the pain increased. This indicated that sensitivity to pain was reduced. So thinking they were getting a pain drug actually allowed the participants to tolerate more pain, the researchers said.Zubieta classified nine of the men as "high placebo responders" because they exhibited a strong placebo effect. The other five were classified as "low placebo responders." In addition, the researchers were able to show the power of the placebo effect. "There was more relief in response to this inactive medication as a function of belief," Zubieta said. "In fact, in some areas of the brain, the release was related to how much they believed the drug was going to be effective."
Zubieta believes these findings tell you something about how humans function. "Understanding these mind-body connections are important," he said. "There are many treatments that are believed to be effective, when in reality they may not be more effective than placebo."
Harnessing the placebo effect may have some positive therapeutic applications, Zubieta said. "You want to enhance the placebo effect under some circumstances," he said. "And in some others you want to reduce it - like when you do a clinical trial."
One expert thinks the findings are important, but miss the larger point.
"It's clearly another step in elucidating these mechanisms, which is really terrific," said Daniel E. Moerman, the William E. Stirton Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan in Dearborn, and the author of Meaning, Medicine and the Placebo Effect.
But he added, the question of a mind-body connection as a separation between the two "is not even 16th-century quality thinking," Moerman said. "Socrates did better than that."
"It's only the technology that has made this an interesting area to study," Moerman added. "You can scan this stuff now. You can see it, so there it is, and therefore it's sort of real."
Friday, November 7, 2008
Sunday, November 2, 2008
১টি অকাল মৃত্যু
আজ সকালে ঘুম ভাঙলো কাকদের তুমুল হট্টগোলে। কি ব্যাপার দেখার জন্য বাইরে এসে
দেখি একটি কাক (প্রথমে কাক মনে হয়েছিল) আমাদের বাসার গেটের কাছে মরে পড়ে আছে। কাছে গিয়ে বুঝলাম এটি ফিঙ্গে। আহ্ যোয়ান তরতাজা পাখিটি বিদ্যুৎতাড়িত হয়ে অকালে প্রাণ হারালো।
বউ এর সাথে ঝগড়া করে রাগের মাথায় বিদ্যুতের তারে বসে পড়েছিল। মাথা ঠিক ছিলনা
বলে খেয়াল করতে পারেনি যে এটা গাছের ডাল নয়। রাগই তার মৃত্যুর কারন হলো।
বউ হয়তো দুপুরের খাবার নিয়ে অপেক্ষা করবে আর ভাববে খামোখা ওর সাথে লাগতে
গেলাম, মিনসের যে রাগ হয়তো বাইরেই খেয়ে নেবে। এখন বোধহয় আসবেনা।
কিন্তু ফিঙ্গে বউটি কখনো জানতেই পারবেনা আমি তার মৃত স্বামীকে ডানায় ধরে ডাস্টবিনে
ছুঁড়ে ফেলে দিয়েছি!
