Giving up smoking - Personal resistance, low motivation and lack of information about other, less harmful choices

Unhealthy diet, frequent sitting, smoking, inconsistent balance between work and private obligations - these are all challenges of modern life that require discipline, good organization and persistence to overcome.

However, some habits are not easy to eradicate because people often give up at the first difficulty, thinking that change is not possible at all. An unwritten rule says that every person needs 21 days to acquire a habit, or 90 days until that habit becomes a lifestyle.

If we take smoking as an example of a bad habit, statistics show that a large number of smokers plan on quitting smoking, but a smaller percentage of them succeed, and this is usually due to giving up at the first difficulty or due to lack of motivation. In recent years, experts have argued that changing harmful habits to less harmful choices can also be an intermediate solution for reducing the risk and permanently getting rid of tobacco smoke.

This most often refers to the category of devices that represent alternatives to classic cigarettes, with a reduced risk to the smoker's health and without the release of tobacco smoke, which is proven to be the main cause of smoking-related diseases.

- We know that use of cigarettes can cause stroke, coronary heart disease and disease of peripheral arteries - but we also know why smokers continue smoking, because of nicotine, which binds itself to special receptors, gives a feeling of pleasure and relieving anxiety - he said. Dr. Ignatios Ikonomidis, cardiologist and president of the Association of Independent Experts on Smoking Control and Harm Reduction (SCOHRE).

Speaking about side effects that demotivate smokers to continue quitting, Ikonomidis indicated that experts should inform such people about "better options they can use."

- Of course, as doctors, our main goal is to encourage smoking cessation, considering its harmfulness, but we must be aware that some people have difficulties in quitting, facing serious health risks. That is why it is important to inform people about the existence of better options which they can use - said Ikonomidis.




While there is debate in professional circles on how acceptable the innovations are, millions of people still do not have access to less harmful alternatives and continue to smoke. That is why a dialogue on better solutions is carried out with all interested parties who want to hear the opinion of science.

Greek cardiologist Konstantinos Farsalinos presented his opinion on the application of devices that do not burn tobacco, but heat it, and the very concept of reducing harm from smoking at the Scientific Summit dedicated to the concept of reducing the harm from smoking.

- I think the principle of harm reduction is absolutely necessary, because, unfortunately, medical science was not been able to find universally effective methods, drugs or therapies for most smokers. That's why alternative means are badly needed, where harm reduction is a supplement and not a substitute for other smoking control strategies - says Farsalinos.

It concludes that the fear of innovation, which has been present in the history of every new technology, must be overcome as concrete progress is made in this area.

Association of Independent Experts for Smoking Control and Harm Reduction

SCOHRE

Ignatios Ikonomidis

Konstantinos Farsalinos

smoking

bad habits

harmful habits

acquiring habits

how to quit smoking

less harmful alternatives to smoking

heating tobacco