There are millions of smokers in the United States of America. A close estimate would put the number of active smokers at about 45 million people. This is quite a sizeable number of people. Many people, especially those who have discovered first-hand the damage that smoking can do to the body are trying to kick the habit but this is easier said than done. It is very difficult to stop smoking and many people spend many years and even decades trying to quit smoking but with no luck. A smoker should be aware that there are many different ways to stop smoking and for each way to stop smoking there are various advantages and disadvantages. In this article we will discuss two different ways to stop smoking.

One way to stop smoking is by simply quitting “cold turkey”. Quitting “cold turkey” simply refers to a sudden and complete withdrawal from an addictive drug. Nicotine in cigarettes is an addictive drug. When someone quits cold turkey it is very difficult to not relapse because there are many nicotine withdrawal effects and for some people these effects are quite unbearable. Some of them include depression, irritability, and anxiety. The reason these things occur is that the intake of nicotine triggers the release of good feelings within the brain and when nicotine is absent the opposite feelings are released. Many people who quit using this method also report that they sometimes shake uncontrollably because of the anxiety. The good thing about this method is that it does not cost anything, that’s assuming that you do not relapse of course. The bad thing is that it can take a lot of quits to finally quit using this way to stop smoking.

Another way to stop smoking is by using NRT. NRT stands for nicotine replacement therapy. This way of quitting involves feeding nicotine into the bloodstream using nicotine patches or using nicotine gum. These products provide you with a steady stream of nicotine throughout the day and since you will be getting nicotine into your system you won’t have to smoke. The advantage of this is that you do not inhale tar into your system which means you do not blacken your lungs and you reduce your chances of developing throat and lung cancer. The negative side is that you are not addressing your nicotine addiction and there are many side-effects associated with NRT. Some of them have proved to be quite severe.

There are a lot more ways to stop smoking and they are not just limited to those we have discussed here. You should choose the best method for you and then proceed to quit using that method.