English in a pill – Angielski w pigułce, Lesson 11

Giving up smoking

Quitting smoking isn't easy, but there are plenty of good reasons to do it. There are also many ways to go about it, and lots of help is available.

You know that smoking is bad for you

- but the urge to smoke is so strong that this knowledge can easily be put to one side in favour of another cigarette. Tobacco smoke contains the powerfully addictive drug nicotine, as well as a whole range of other harmful chemicals, including the poisons: carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and hydrogen cyanide.

Smoking causes a very long list of diseases and health problems including: lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, impotence, osteoporosis (brittle bones), making them more susceptible to fractures, cervical cancer in women. Smoking can also affect your breathing, taste and sense of smell.

Nicotine is an addictive drug that causes both physical and psychological dependence. Smokers often continue smoking because they experience unpleasant withdrawal symptoms when they stop. Common withdrawal effects include: irritability, difficulty

concentrating, craving for another cigarette, weight gain.

By stopping smoking, you can improve your health and enjoy a longer, healthier life. Moreover, you will also save money.

It's important to understand your smoking before you give up. Keep a smoking diary for a week, noting down when you smoke, where you are, who you are with and how you felt before and after smoking. You may spot patterns, triggers or habits. If you notice smoking triggers, write down how you could deal with them if you were to stop smoking - a good way to break a habit is to replace it with a new one. It's also helpful to choose a target date for stopping smoking, perhaps a month ahead.

Fortunately there is something which is called nicotine replacement therapy (NRT). It supplies your body with nicotine, but as a smaller short-term supply than your body is used to getting from smoking cigarettes. It can help reduce withdrawal symptoms and can be used in different forms: chewing gum, patches that you apply to your skin, inhalers, tablets or lozenges nasal spray.

For a while after you quit, try to avoid places where lots of other people smoke or that you associate with smoking. Smoking is often associated with drinking alcohol. If people offer cigarettes, ask them not to. Remind yourself that most smokers wish they too could stop. Say "No thanks, I'm not a smoker".

Break the usual routines. Avoid situations that you associate with smoking. For example, if you usually smoke after dinner, leave the table and do something else instead.

If you do have a lapse, don't use it as an excuse to start smoking regularly. Many ex-smokers admit to the odd mistake, but remain smoke-free. If you do lapse, think about why you smoked and then work out how best to avoid that trigger in future. Don't give up on giving up.

WORDS

• First-aid kit / Apteczka
• an urge - potrzeba, pragnienie
• in favour of - na rzecz czegoś
• harmful - szkodliwy
• carbon monoxide - tlenek węgla
• formaldehyde - formaldehyde
• hydrogen cyanide - cyjanowodór
• susceptible to - podatny na
• a fracture - złamanie
• cervical cancer - rak szyjki macicy
• withdrawal symptoms - zespół abstynencji
• craving - pragnienie, chęć
• to trigger - wywołać, wyzwolić
• to break a habit - zerwać z nałogiem
• replacement - zastępczy
• a patch - plaster
• a lozenge - pastylka do ssania
• a lapse - potknięcie, słabość

A joke

Three kayakers paddled 10 kilometers through heavy seas from one island to another. The first kayaker said: "I paddled it in 2 hours". The second kayaker said: "I paddled it in one and a half hours because I had a wind at my back". The third kayaker said: "I paddled it in 30 minutes". The first and second kayaker asked the third kayaker: "How ever did you do that. That's amazing". The third kayaker replied: "Because I had run out of cigarettes".

„Farmacja i Ja”, wrzesień 2008