Alpha Life Style Center

Smoker’s Face

It’s finally summer! Exercising and eating healthy are definitely ways to get yourself looking great for beach parties, cookouts, and even walks in the park, but there’s nothing better you can do for your skin than to quit smoking. Did you know……..Wikipedia even has a listing for the term Smoker’s Face!

With smoking comes lines and wrinkles in your skin which is very noticeable around the face and eyes. More than 4000 toxins come from the cigarette smoke that is carried through your bloodstream out to your skin.

Not only does your skin retain these toxins, but your skin cells wear out faster and become much less able to reproduce themselves causing skin to age at a rapid pace. The nicotine in cigarettes causes narrowing of the blood vessels in the outermost layers of your skin. This impairs blood flow to your skin. With less blood flow, your skin doesn’t receive the oxygen and important nutrients (such as Vitamin A) necessary to maintain healthy, vibrant skin. Many of the chemicals in tobacco smoke also damage collagen and elastin, which are fibers that give your skin its strength and elasticity. As a result, skin begins to sag and wrinkle.

In addition, repeated exposure to the heat from burning cigarettes and the facial expressions you make when smoking (pursing lips, squinting eyes) can contribute to wrinkles.

The beauty of your skin decreases every time you smoke. Why not get back on the right track to beautiful, healthy skin? Quitting smoking is tough! Side effects can be unbearable………..and old habits die hard!

Let Alpha Life Style Center help get your skin looking great without the painful withdrawal symptoms that are typically experienced when quitting smoking cold turkey.

No Comments »

Confirmed….Smoking is the leading cause of statistics!

Lung cancer is one of the deadliest  cancers and is most often caused by smoking. The more you smoke, the greater are your chances  of  getting lung cancer. Lung cancer also affects those who are exposed to second hand smoke.

In addition to lung cancer, smokers are also more prone to cancer of the voicebox, stomach, mouth and throat.. In the US alone, tobacco use is the cause of about one in five deaths every year. CLICK HERE for more statistics http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/index.htm

With such a great risk of cancer, why do people continue to smoke? It often seems easier to have just one more smoke than to endure the painful withdrawal symptoms of quitting.

There is a way to help YOU get healthy and significantly reduce your risk of cancer-related illnesses without all of the discomfort typically associated with quitting cold turkey, such as irritibilitly, anxiety, short temper, inability to focus,etc.

Alpha Lifestyles Center of Birmingham offers a unique Laser Therapy program to help minimize  the withdrawal sypmtoms, greatly improving the likelihood of a full recovery and long-term freedom from nicotine addiction.

The time is NOW! The place is Alpha Lifestyle Center of Birmingham. And the reason is YOU! Many of Alpha’s customers report that quitting smoking is THE MOST difficult thing that they have ever had to do, so why do it alone?? Let us help you help yourself. Call Alpha Lifestyle Center of Birmingham today #248-594-1303.

No Comments »

Why is quitting smoking such a draaaaag?

Although quitting smoking is one of the best decisions you can make for you health, it is not an easy task and often comes with a great deal of discomfort. Withdrawal symptoms and side effects from Nicotine Replacement Therapies and Drugs can dampen your determination to kick the habit.

Alpha Lifestyle Center of Birmingham offers laser therapy for the treatment of nicotine addiction, designed to minimize (and sometimes even eliminate) the side effects/withdrawal symptoms associated with stopping nicotine use (cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, nicotine gum, patches, inhalers). Laser treatment to quit smoking is a unique and comprehensive alternative to traditional methods without pain, needles, drugs or side effects.

When quitting smoking, many different areas of your body are affected, especially moods and emotions. Irritation and depression are common when quitting smoking as is difficulty in focusing on even the simplest of tasks. Click Here for some great information about the challenges of quitting smoking, the rationale for withdrawal symptoms and additional tips for managing the temporary discomfort of nicotine withdrawal.

No Comments »

Stress & Smoking- The Chicken or The Egg?

Does stress drive us to smoke…or does smoking cause us stress?

Many smokers use stress as an excuse for putting off quitting smoking because they are conditioned to use cigarettes to cope with stress.  For this reason, quitting isn’t usually recognized as a stress-reduction technique.  But, whether it is stress to the body, pocketbook, conscience, image, family or property, smoking actually causes stress.  Smokers-please take a moment to discover just how much less stressful life will be without cigarettes. 

As a smoker: choosing to continue a behavior that is proven to be harmful (or is already problematic) causes stress; Spending money on cigarettes (that would be better spent elsewhere) causes stress; There may be someone in your life pressuring you to quit, further contributing to your stress; You may be ashamed of being a smoker, which is stressful; And maybe you’re even hiding your habit from disapproving friends, family members, co-workers or people you worship with…… being deceitful  ALWAYS compounds stress. Also, do you remember the anguish of burning a hole in your new couch, car seat or favorite sweater?

These are all in addition to the stress associated with the growing inconvenience of merely being a smoker: When will I be able to smoke? Where will I be able to smoke? Will I have enough time to smoke? Do I have enough cigarettes? How cold is it?

If you’ve heard you inner, addictive mind suggest that you’re under too much stress to quit smoking right now, review this article again and reconsider how much stress quitting smoking can eliminate. The empowering and liberating feelings that emerge from quitting smoking will fuel your ability to manage the other, UN-modifiable stressors in your life. Remember….smoking is a MODIFYABLE behavior.

The decision to quit smoking doesn’t usually occur overnight. Only you will know when the time is right. Quitting for good usually takes practice…..so don’t get discouraged. BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF  about the effects that smoking has on your life. Write them down so that you can literally SEE how much stress can be eliminated altogether by quitting.  Good Luck!

Kelly Lewis-Alpha Lifestyle Center of Birmingham 

No Comments »

Secondhand Smoke Causes 1 in 100 Deaths

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 603,000 people, including 165,000 children, die each year worldwide due to secondhand smoke.  This equates to around one out of every 100 deaths.  A recent study revealed the following statistics

·         40% of children, 33% of male non-smokers and 35% of female non-smokers are exposed to secondhand smoke.

·         Each year, exposure causes approximately 379,000 deaths from heart disease; 165,000 from lower respiratory infections; 36,900 from asthma and 21,400 from lung cancer.

·         47% of deaths from secondhand smoke occurred in women; 28% occurred in children and 26% in men.

·         Childhood deaths tended to be most common in low and middle-income countries, while adult deaths were spread across countries of all incomes.

It is hoped that the recent public smoking bans that have taken effect in various cities and states across the United States will lower these numbers in the years go come.  Not only is it important to quit smoking for you own health, but for the health of your friends, family and others around you.  Alpha Life Style Center offers the help you or a loved one needs to quit smoking.

No Comments »

Great American Smokeout Marks 35th Anniversary Thursday

November 18th marks the American Cancer Society’s 35th annual Great American Smokeout, which encourages smokers to either pre-plan to quit on that day, or use the date to create a plan if they haven’t yet.

The concept started with a 1971 event held in Randolph, MA, where a campaign asked people to give up cigarettes for a day and donate the money they would have spent on them to a scholarship fund. In 1974 Minnesota held the state’s first Don’t Smoke Day on November 18. On the same date two years later, the California division of the American Cancer Society got nearly one million smokers to quit for the day. The first national Great American Smokeout was held in 1977.  Since then, The Great American Smokeout has been promoted by numerous celebrities, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Edward Asner, Natalie Cole, Larry Hagman, Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, Mr. Potato Head and many others.

While you can stop smoking on November 18, 2010, any day is a great day to make the decision to quit smoking!  Whenever you make the commitment to quit, make sure to utilize the resources available to aid in the process.  You don’t have to go through it alone!

No Comments »

Why Teenagers should Kick the Butts

Many teens have heard about the days when their parents were young and people could buy cigarettes and smoke pretty much anywhere.  Even in older movies, actors were smoking just to be cool.  Back in the day, ads for cigarettes were all over the place.

Thankfully, this isn’t the case anymore. Today, we are much more health conscious and more aware about how dangerous smoking is for our health. In fact, smoking is prohibited in almost all public places and cigarette companies are no longer allowed to advertise on TV, radio, and in many magazines.

What are some facts about smoking that almost everyone knows?

Smoking Causes Cancer

Smoking Causes Emphysema

Smoking Causes Heart Disease

Smoking can shorten your life by 10 years or more.

As a teenager, these side effects may seem so far into the future that they do not phase you.  However, let’s take a look at some side effects that affect even those who are still in High School.

Smoking can cost a smoker thousands of dollars a year. (Spring Break?)

Smoking causes Bad Skin. It’s tough being a teen. Your skin is something that makes you extremely self-conscious. Why contribute to acne, paleness and wrinkles?

Smoking causes Bad Breath. Who will you impress with smokers breath?

Smoking causes bad Smelling Clothes and Hair. Again, do you really want to smell bad on your big date?

Smoking causes reduced athletic performance. We all know that the jocks are the popular kids in High School. But not if they can’t perform..

Teenager Smoking

This is just a small list of the many consequences of smoking.  Smoking is a hard habit to break because tobacco contains nicotine, which is highly addictive. Like heroin or other addictive drugs, the body and mind quickly become so used to the nicotine in cigarettes that a person needs to have it just to feel normal.

All forms of tobacco including cigarettes, pipes, cigars, hookahs, and smokeless tobacco are hazardous to your health. The only thing that really helps a person avoid the problems associated with smoking is staying smoke free or quit while you are ahead. The good news is that the number of teens who smoke has dropped dramatically over recent years. Today, about 20% of high school students smoke – which means 4 out of 5 don’t.

If you do smoke and want to quit, there are different approaches to quitting that work for different people.  For some, quitting cold turkey is best and others find that a slower approach is the best way to go. Perhaps using an alternative approach, such as Cold Laser Therapy, will do the trick.

When quitting, it can be helpful to realize that the first few days are the toughest. So don’t give up too easily. Some people find they have a few relapses before they conquer quitting for good.  To keep your attitude positive, remember that staying smoke free will give you a whole lot more of everything – more energy, better performance, better smell, better looks, more money in your pocket, and, in the long run, a longer life to live!

No Comments »

Using Mobile Apps to Quit Smoking

Sophisticated mobile phone apps are being developed and tested around the world for use in the mental health field. Some of the applications include: help quitting smoking.  The computing power of mobile phones allows them to be used as part of psychotherapy for several mental health problems. In terms of quitting smoking, these apps help you manage your quitting process.

Let’s face it, today is Quit Smoking World Day and there’s no better day to snuff out that cigarette. If not for your health, what about for the money you would save?  Imagine if you spend $30 on a pack of cigarettes each week. That’s about $1,440 spent in a year, which is an awful lot of money that could be put to better use.

The emphasis this year is to bring attention to the need to protect people from the harmful effects of tobacco use and smoke. Most everyone has a smart phone now-a-days, and we are all on them a lot!  If you have an iPhone, in particular, here are some free applications to get you started toward a healthier lifestyle.

Since iQuit

Simple interface that lets you know what you how long it has been since you kicked the habit, in years, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds. It also includes a Money Saved page that tells you how many cigarettes you have not smoked and how much money you have saved!

iQuit

Different quitting methods work for different people; for some, cold laser therapy is the best one. But this is often a gradual process.  iQuit offers you a timer that notifies you when you can go have a smoke, gradually increasing the time between cigarettes and a goal. A Facebook app connection lets your friends follow your progress and guilt you into staying quit.

Quitter

Another simple interface that tells you how many days it has been since your last cigarette and how much money you have saved.  This app helps you to stay on track with your progress.

Stop Smoking Free

This app is rather morbid, but it certainly gets it point across.  It doesn’t offer an array of features, but it does remind you each day how much of your life you are cutting short by smoking.  For some, this may be pretty impactful.

Coach Quit

Coach quit allows you a certain number of cigarettes a day, gradually decreasing, and each time you want a smoke, it starts a timer that delays your smoke for five minutes. You can then input how much of the cigarette you smoked and whether you found it satisfying.

SmokeTrack

This little tracker does just that! It tracks how many cigarettes you have per day, and when. Each time you have a smoke, you hit the button. It will log the time of your smoke. You can also take notes each day.

NoSmokingLife

This app allows you to enter an accurate pack size, how many cigarettes a day you smoke, and how much a pack will cost you. It will then calculate how much money you save and how long you have extended your lifespan. You can also set yourself a target, a reward, like a new watch!

GottaKickIt Now

This app is another timer, like iQuit. It gradually increases the time between cigarettes until eventually you’re smoke-free. It also has an alarm built into it, that you can keep on or turn off.

No Comments »

Laser Therapy for Weight Loss

Cold laser therapy was approved in 2001 by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as being a safe and effective method of temporary pain relief.  Since then, cold laser therapy has been used to address a variety of conditions, including obesity. Another name for this treatment is low level laser therapy (LLLT), soft therapy and laser acupuncture.  This treatment is now used to assist patients with the objective of weight loss and management.

How does Cold Laser Therapy actually work?

Cold laser therapy is considered an “alternative” weight loss and management method because it is based on the same idea as acupuncture. Basically, specific pressure points are targeted by the laser lights, emitted by a hand-held device, to trigger shifts in the patient’s inner energy. This same principle is used in acupuncture, reflexology and shiatsu.

Rather than using heat to penetrate the skin tissue, as in other laser treatments, cold laser therapy uses infrared or near-infrared light energy to penetrate the skin tissue and stimulate the skin cells. This is the same function as lasers used in smoking cessation treatments: The body’s metabolism and enzymes are activated to change the physiological desires of the patient. For quitting smoking, it’s not craving nicotine, and for weight loss treatment, it’s not craving food.

Expectations

Cold laser therapy is not intended to be used as the only treatment for weight loss; it is meant to supplement weight loss efforts. Diet and exercise are crucial to achieving a healthy weight. Also, multiple treatment sessions are always required in order for treatment to be effective. For weight loss treatment, Alpha Life Style Center recommends at least five sessions, one every seven to 10 days.  Doing so will result in an appetite reduction from each session that should carry the patient through to the next session. The idea is to build the metabolism, boosting it in manageable increments with each laser treatment session. For pricing, visit www.alphalaserinfo.com/pricing

No Comments »

Quitting Smoking while Pregnant

Nicotine addiction is a tough habit to quit. I bet a lot of you are wondering what you should do to quit now that you are pregnant.  The truth is, quitting while pregnant is extremely important but keep in mind that quitting smoking can be even tougher on unborn babies.  Today, recommendations for heavy smokers are much more flexible–sudden “cold turkey” smoking cessation is not the best approach.

Risks Associated with Tobacco Use during Pregnancy

Public education campaigns have made a very clear point when it comes to smoking during pregnancy and how it poses severe risk to the health of the fetus. Pregnancy complications thought to be caused by smoking include unprompted abortion or miscarriage, malplacement of the placenta and babies that are small and have low birth weights.  This list also includes limb reduction deformities (missing fingers and toes), hemorrhage, maternal perineal and vaginal lacerations, prematurity, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and childhood asthma. Babies exposed to nicotine in the womb are also more likely to smoke as adults.

Do Not Quit Cold Turkey

I know they say “just quit,” but it’s not that easy and unfortunately you can cause great harm to yourself and to your baby if you quit cold turkey.  This works for some people, but a heavy smoker (someone who smokes more than 20 cigarettes a day) should wean off of tobacco gradually. Sudden cessation can lead to seizures in heavy smokers, injuries from falling and oxygen deprivation, not to mention the unpredictability of where or when a seizure might occur.  Consider alternative solutions such as Laser Therapy to help you quit smoking.

In addition to seizures, if you stopping smoking abruptly during the first trimester of pregnancy you risk facing increased spontaneous abortion or miscarriage. The physical and emotional stress of withdrawal from smoking is thought to release chemicals in the mother’s bloodstream that cross the placenta and cause fetal distress. Likely also are uterine contractions. It is not known if abrupt smoking cessation in the last trimester could result in premature birth, but this is a possibility.

Cutting Down and Seeking Help

Instead of the “Cold Turkey” approach, consider smoking five cigarettes a day.  This is a level of minimal risk in pregnancy. Some mothers use a different strategy to avoid harmful contaminants and chemicals in cigarettes; they only smoke the tips and discard the cigarette very soon after lighting up. This requires many more cigarettes, but the expense is worth it.

Seeking help from family & friends, Twitter followers, Facebook friends, and support groups is a great idea.  You’d be surprised how many people out there want to invest their time to help you succeed.  The internet has made it super easy to find the information you need, as well as find or create a safe community of supporters.

No Comments »