When it comes to advertising, however, the companies behind tobacco – such as R.J. Reynolds and Philip Morris – have to be creative in their approach. According to some adversaries, this very creativeness is causing problems.

In 1998, the major tobacco companies settled with 46 states in one of the largest class action suits ever to hit the court rooms. In this settlement, the tobacco companies agreed to a number of different concessions and prohibitions – one of them being prohibition on cigarette advertising to children. According to researchers from the University of Chicago, all three of the major tobacco companies selectively increased youth targeting¸ even though they agreed they would not.

These researchers claim that the tobacco companies took advantage of the inconsistencies between the ban on cigarette advertising and the government’s definition of youth magazines. As a result, they were able to reach more youth than ever through such channels. The companies had to be subtle in their approach, and researchers claim they were more successful than ever. Their suggested solution: ban cigarette advertising from all magazines.

In all fairness, all tobacco companies are in business to sell as many cigarettes as possible and have a duty to their shareholders to put strategies in place that drive market share. Whether or not they violated the agreement, it could easily by argued both ways. The tobacco companies were truly only held to the terms of the agreement and if there were loopholes in the agreement, they had every right to take the loophole. The opposite side would likely do the same.

Of course, this still leaves the reality that an overwhelming number of youth continue to try cigarettes and then develop a habit that threatens their health. A prohibition on cigarette advertising was meant to help drive the “out of sight, out of mind” philosophy. The only problem is that research shows peer smoking has a much larger impact on an individual’s likelihood of starting.

Is the ban effective? It may only encourage the big three tobacco companies to drive more innovative forms of advertising for their cigarettes. Such innovation may also be more costly, driving up the price per pack. Smokers will ultimately pay the price, whether the ban is effective in thwarting underage use or not.

Experts believe people with a compulsive gambling disorder may have a hidden desire for self-harm, or are experiencing emotional factors like insecurity, inability to live in reality, or have low self-esteem. They have an uncontrollable desire or urge to gamble, even to the point of destroying their finances, relationships and lives. Many compulsive gamblers falsely believe they will be able to keep the gambling in check, and will also find ways to make it viable or “pay off” in some form.

A compulsive behavior, such as gambling, is marked by an inability to control the desire to perform the behavior, along with a sense of release of tension and/or gratification when the behavior is performed. Studies show that people who are compulsive gamblers are also more likely to have other types of mental illness or problems, such as bipolar disorder, depression or anxiety disorders. It is believed compulsive gambling may be caused by imperfect communications between certain areas of the brain, especially those that control emotions, feelings and responses to stress. Medications that correct brain imbalances have been shown to be effective in controlling the behavior.

Like many compulsive disorders, the gambler will often need increasing levels of the behavior to reach the same level of high. The disorder affects more men than women, and usually begins during the teenage years. Increasing levels of compulsive gambling are believed to be a product of new Internet forms of gambling and gaming.

A first step in treatment is recognizing the problem, and then counseling or group therapy may be helpful. Gamblers Anonymous is a national group therapy program that follows the traditional Twelve Step model as Alcoholics Anonymous does. The National Council on Problem Gambling may also be a helpful resource. Cognitive-behavior therapies with a counselor or therapist may help change destructive thought patterns and teach patients how to face uncomfortable feelings, rather than escape through gambling.

It can be difficult to determine exactly how much gambling indicates compulsive gambling disorder, but some experts suggest any gambling that is a problem should be addressed. In addition to the money lost during gambling, the amount of time spent away from work, family or other obligations is also a factor in determining if someone has a compulsive gambling problem. Additional signs may include lying to cover up the behavior, borrowing money to gamble and withdrawal from relationships.

Therapists and experts stress that recovery from problematic gambling requires a steadfast commitment to reducing the stressors that may increase the behaviors. Some patients benefit from releasing control of their money to a family member or professional; replacing gambling with other activities; and scheduling other time commitments that make a trip to the casino too difficult.

For family members and friends whose loved one is a compulsive gambler, it is suggested that they refuse to loan money to the gambler, seek support in group sessions and plan ahead for how they will address requests for money. Compulsive gambling, like many compulsive disorders, is a serious problem requiring support and treatment to achieve recovery.

A recent Science Daily release examines a study that suggests perhaps the problem is not as much the nicotine as it is the habit of smoking. This study was conducted by the Tel Aviv University and points to the ineffectiveness of nicotine patches and gum in fighting the addiction to tobacco and nicotine.

The findings from this study suggest that psychologically-based smoking cessation programs may be more successful when this habit-based addiction exists. In fact, researchers suggest that the cravings for cigarettes are so intense because of a psychological element, rather than any addictive chemical addiction to nicotine.

The results of this study actually undermine the assumed physiological role of nicotine and actually suggest that it is more a focus of mind over matter. Researchers also suggest that smoking cessation programs may be more successful if the physical impact is better understood.

Two different studies examined this phenomenon and researchers concluded that nicotine is not actually addictive, according to the definition of normal physiological addictions. The substance does play a role in increasing cognitive abilities, including attention and memory, but is not a true addictive substance as it does not create the true systemic and biologically-based withdrawal symptoms such as those created by heroin.
 

One method used to help smokers quit is called looming vulnerability. In this type of program, a person is introduced to the perceived dangers due to smoking in hopes that an increased anxiety level will encourage them to stop smoking. A recent study examined the effectiveness of looming vulnerability on smoking cessation (McDonald, D., O’Brien, J., Farr, E., & Haaga, D.A.F., 2010).

The study was performed using a randomized control study design. 72 adult smokers were surveyed, and researchers administered a questionnaire. The questions involved topics such as demographics, smoking history, nicotine dependence and state anxiety.

There was a four-minute audiotape-guided imagery exercise provided for the experimental group. It focused on the act of smoking and the associated possible health consequences. The imagery also made a connection between smoking and other impending dangers by using images such as riding a conveyor belt towards a diagnosis of lung cancer.

The control group was also shown images, but they were calm images that included movement. For example, one image illustrated riding up an escalator in an empty mall.

After they were finished viewing the imagery, the participants completed measures for state anxiety, motivation and contemplation to quit smoking. One month later, the researchers had the participants return to complete measures of motivation, contemplation, nicotine dependence, current smoking behavior, and quit attempts.

The results of the study show that the anxiety rating for the looming condition was slightly higher than those in the control group after the test. No significant differences were found between the groups when considering motivation, contemplation, nicotine dependence, quit attempts or attempts to receive formal help for cessation of smoking.

The participants in the looming vulnerability group did smoke fewer cigarettes than the participants in the control group.

The study’s findings are limited by a few factors. The results were based on self-report, and the measures of contemplation and motivation to quit were only completed after the test, so there was no way to know what the contemplation and motivation levels were without the effects of the study.

The findings of the study indicate that looming vulnerability was successful in increasing the participants’ state of anxiety immediately after the imagery was used. While it did have a significant impact on the number of cigarettes smoked at the one-month follow-up period, there were no other significant changes.

The study shows how an induced behavioral change may not affect internal motivations for that behavior. The findings also show that a longer follow-up period may reveal that looming vulnerability does not have a lasting effect on the behavior of the participant.
 

What the general public has known all along, science is confirming. Junk food may be addictive, after all. A new study has shown that compulsive eating is caused by the same molecular mechanisms that drive drug addictions. These mechanisms build up a similar tolerance shown for drug use, and obesity follows.

The study, presented at a Society for Neuroscience meeting in Chicago and authored by Paul J. Kenny and colleagues, highlighted the extremely difficult challenge of trying to stop eating junk food. The study showed that in rat models the development of obesity coincides with a progressively deteriorating chemical balance in reward brain circuitries.

As the rats were given more and more junk food, the pleasure centers in the brain were less responsive, developing a tolerance for the pleasure provided by high-fat, high-calorie foods, such as bacon, sausage and cheesecake. The rats consumed larger quantities of the junk food until they became obese. The same changes occur in the brains of rats when they consume cocaine or heroin.

The study spanned nearly three years and confirmed the “addictive” nature of eating increasing amounts of junk food. The results are significant because they provide the most compelling research so far that the same underlying neurobiological mechanisms affect drug addiction and obesity.

The study showed that the rats had the tell-tale sign of an addiction: they lost all control of their eating behavior. The rats continued to indulge even when they knew that the behavior would lead to an electric shock. They were very motivated to keep consuming the high-fat, high-calorie foods.

When the researchers switched the junk food for the “salad bar option,” the rats simply refused to eat. Their preferences had been so altered that they preferred to starve rather than choose to eat healthy foods. The rats that showed the most profound shift in food preference were the ones who had the most severe “crash” in brain reward circuitries after becoming accustomed to eating the junk food.

Kenny explained that the addiction process is simple. The reward pathways in the brain become overstimulated until the system turns on itself, adapting to the new reality of addiction. It doesn’t matter if that addiction is to drugs or food.

"These findings confirm what we and many others have suspected," Kenny said, "that overconsumption of highly pleasurable food triggers addiction-like neuroadaptive responses in brain reward circuitries, driving the development of compulsive eating. Common mechanisms may therefore underlie obesity and drug addiction."

Further Reading: http://www.eating-disorder-resources.com/eating-disorder-articles/anorexia/compulsive-eating-linked-to-same-brain-mechanisms-as-drug-addiction/
 

#1: I don’t have a gambling problem.

Anyone who flat-out denies they have a gambling problem, despite evidence to the contrary, is either well on their way to full-blown gambling addiction or is already there. By the time someone is deep into gambling, their behavior becomes consistent and predictable. They will do anything and say anything to get to their primary goal: gambling. That they stretch the truth or tell outright lies is an understatement. Gambling addicts, even after disastrous losses, bankruptcy and financial ruin, legal problems, deteriorating family and personal relationships, will often steadfastly maintain that they don’t have a gambling problem.

Denial is a coping mechanism the compulsive gambler uses to attempt to mask his or her problem. By hoping to keep the truth from coming out, the gambler tries to buy time – time he or she uses to keep on gambling. Thus, there’s self-denial and denial to others. Both types of denial are symptoms of many kinds of addiction, not just gambling addiction. The more a person swears they don’t have a problem – gambling or alcohol or drugs or other addictive behavior – the more likely it is that they do.

Lie #2: I can stop anytime I want.

Confronting a compulsive gambler – calling him or her on the indisputable facts that indicate gambling has become an addictive behavior – will usually generate this kind of lie in response. The gambler cannot admit to you or him/her self that there’s a problem, number one, and, number two, if that doesn’t work, he or she will profess vehemently that stopping is no problem. To prove it, the compulsive gambler may even stay away from the casino, sports book, Internet gaming, or track for a short period of time.

But the lure of cashing in on the big score, snagging the elusive prize is too great. Before long, the compulsive gambler is right back at it. He or she simply cannot resist the temptation. The urge to gamble has become a craving that gnaws incessantly on the consciousness. To ignore the craving is to suffer – and the compulsive gambler only wants the high that comes from gambling.

Lie #3: My gambling doesn’t hurt anyone.

Most addicts believe – some, even sincerely – that their addiction doesn’t hurt anyone. Some even believe their addiction doesn’t even hurt them. It’s just as true with compulsive gambling as addiction to alcohol, illicit drugs, prescription drugs used nonmedically, or other addictive behavior including compulsive sex, overwork, eating disorders, and so on. In fact, gambling addiction, like all addictions, is considered a family disease/disorder. What happens when one individual in the family is addicted impacts all members of the family.

What kinds of harm does this potentially involve? Depending on the length of time the individual has been gambling, and the other addictions the person may also have, the damage may be extensive. Compulsive gamblers often are addicted to alcohol, nicotine, or other harmful substances. This can result in physical deterioration to the addict as well as mental and emotional difficulties: cognitive impairment, difficulty concentrating, loss of memory, explosive rage, extreme mood swings, depression, psychosis, and thoughts of suicide, among others.

Dealing with the effects of gambling addiction, the family suffers right along with the gambler. As gambling takes up more and more of the individual’s life, taking care of family responsibilities becomes less important. Many gamblers lose their home, go bankrupt, get arrested for various crimes (embezzlement, fraud, theft, violence, DUIs, etc.), lose their job or source of income, become violent and abusive to family members, lose their families. As a unit, the family often disintegrates. In fact, without treatment, compulsive gambling is a downward spiral that has, at its final stage, a predictable outcome for the individual: prison, commitment to a mental institution, or death.

Lie #4: I didn’t go gambling.

Meeting the gambler at the door and asking where he or she was is like asking for the inevitable lie: I didn’t go gambling. What else can the compulsive gambler say? Admitting that he or she went gambling is tantamount to admitting loss of control, an inability to set and keep boundaries, and a refusal to keep a promise. If there’s the smell of alcohol and the individual reeks of cigarette smoke or there are other telltale signs of substance use – and you know the person has a history of gambling – hearing the denial will only add fuel to the fire.

You know it’s an outright lie. Confrontation isn’t the way to deal with it. At least, it’s not the solution right now. You need to pick your time for the discussion, and it needs to be when the compulsive gambler is rational, calm, and able to carry on a conversation about the situation in a normal manner.

Lie #5: I have my gambling under control.

If you are the partner or spouse who relies on the compulsive gambler to take care of the bills and other financial responsibilities in the household, you may be tempted to believe this lie. He or she has unrestricted access to the checking and savings accounts, credit cards, lines of credit and other avenues. If, on the other hand, you are the one who controls the purse strings, so to speak, and you constantly give in to the requests for money, you are enabling the compulsive gambler to continue with his or her addictive behavior. You are complicit, codependent, and have just magnified the problem by making it easier for the compulsive gambler to continue.

When someone says they have their gambling under control, they are lying not only to you but also to themselves. A person who only buys a Lotto ticket once in a while will never make this statement. Someone who goes to the track daily, or can’t go by the casino without going in and gambling for hours, maxing out the ATM withdrawals, badgering friends for cash, is very likely to utter these words – and probably more than just a few times. After a while, they just aren’t believable anymore. And the evidence will mount to prove just how big a lie it is.

Lie #6: I didn’t touch our savings.

Desperation sets in the longer the compulsive gambler engages in the addictive behavior. Why is this? While the gambler may initially (in the early stages of gambling behavior) have some wins, the odds are literally stacked against him or her. Sooner or later, the house always wins. It doesn’t matter if the form of gambling is at an actual casino, or sports betting, or Internet gaming, the gambler’s luck eventually runs out.

But the gambler is convinced it’s only a temporary setback. If he or she just keeps gambling, the luck will return. There’s always the big score, the huge payout, just around the corner. All that’s needed is the infusion of cash.

Where to get the cash? Gamblers will rob savings accounts, jockey funds back and forth, hide the passbook or bank statements, and delay the inevitable – all in the futile attempt to keep you from the truth. If you hear your partner or spouse say he or she didn’t touch your savings, you’d better check it out with the bank yourself. Chances are this is just another lie the compulsive gambler tells you.

Lie #7: You won’t believe what happened…

The more deep in debt the compulsive gambler gets – and there’s no way around the fact that this will occur – the more elaborate and exaggerated the lies and stories he or she begins to concoct. There’ll be the robbery that occurred as he or she was depositing money in the bank – and now everything’s gone. Or someone stole his or her wallet and now the credit cards are gone. There may have been an unbelievable investment opportunity and it had a limited window, so he or she had to jump in now or lose the chance… All this and more will come out of the compulsive gambler’s mouth as a way to explain what happened to your money.

If you hear the words: You won’t believe what happened… don’t believe it. No matter how convincing it sounds, it’s likely a lie.

Lie #8: My friend was in trouble and needed money.

This lie is an evergreen one that almost every compulsive gambler uses on more than one occasion. In fact, it’s so common that it’s nearly predictable that you will hear it sooner or later. Certainly there are times when your spouse or partner’s friends may be in trouble. Who doesn’t have such an experience? But when your partner is a compulsive gambler, you have reason to be suspicious. Naturally, you want to give someone you care about the benefit of the doubt, but after falling for this lie time and time again, you’re again only enabling the addictive behavior to continue.

The story about a friend being in trouble and needing money fast also falls into the lie category of you won’t believe what happened. Elaborate, exaggerated, and preposterous stories – all lies – are part and parcel of the compulsive gambler’s repertoire.

Lie #9: You can trust me now.

Trust is a fragile thing. Once you lose trust in another individual, it’s very hard to ever trust that person again. The closer you are to the person, especially if you are married or live with him or her, the more difficult it is to re-establish trust once it’s lost.
Compulsive gamblers need to be able to continue their addictive behavior. In order to do that, they either have to have a complicit or codependent partner, or they have to convince whomever they need to in order to continue to gain access to cash. Friends will eventually see through the lies and refuse to lend any more money to the gambler. After all, this money is rarely, if ever, repaid. They know it’s going for gambling, despite the lies the gambler tells. They gradually avoid the gambler, refusing to take his or her calls, quickly finding an excuse to leave if approached. There’s no trust there now.

But when you live with the compulsive gambler, have a relationship that’s lasted for some period of time, even have children with the gambler – you have a vested interest in maintaining the relationship. You obviously care for (or have cared for) the person. Your heart breaks over what’s been happening as your loved one slides deeper into gambling addiction. Time and time again, you’ve given in and accepted the lies. You’ve told yourself that it’s only a phase, or it’s not that bad, or he or she will outgrow it. Who’s lying to whom now?

Trust is earned through action. Trust is not gained through words. If your partner or spouse says you can trust him or her now, say that it will take time and action – getting treatment, quitting gambling – for you to again be able to place your trust in him/her.

Lie #10: I’ll never gamble again.

The compulsive gambler will tell you what you want to hear – even though it’s a lie. Usually, when you hear the person swear that he or she will never gamble again, it’s after a particularly disastrous loss, arrest, legal entanglement, loss of a job, or other serious consequence.

Instead of letting the lie go unchallenged, you will need to take a stand. Will you continue to put up with this addiction? What are your options? Only you can decide how you will handle your spouse or partner’s gambling addiction. While you certainly can’t force someone else – even one you love dearly – to quit gambling, you can decide how you are going to live your own life. You need to tell this individual how his or her gambling has hurt you and the family, how much you care about the person and want him/her to get help to overcome this situation. You can choose not to involve yourself in his/her behavior. No more lying to friends, family, employer or others about your partner’s gambling. No more excuses. No more looking the other way when the signs and consequences of mounting gambling debt are all around you.

If and when your spouse or partner is ready to admit to the problem and genuinely wants to get treatment to overcome gambling addiction, then you may begin to see a glimmer of hope on the horizon. The words alone shouldn’t convince you. In order for them to have meaning, they need to be backed up by action. Your spouse/partner needs to go into treatment.

You can help by looking into available treatment facilities, either residential treatment facility for gambling addiction or outpatient treatment facilities. Remember that the gambling addict has to want to change in order for change to have a chance. He or she will need professional help in order to overcome his/her addiction. With treatment, not only will the addict learn about the disease of addiction, but he or she will also learn how to avoid triggers and learn and practice coping behaviors to prevent relapse. Part of the treatment process will be to identify the underlying reasons why compulsive gambling is so attractive and to work on overcoming those urges.

If the gambler is adamant about not getting treatment but still maintains he or she will never gamble again, there’s nothing you can do about it – for him or her. But there is something you can do for you. Attend Gam-Anon meetings. These are 12-step fellowship groups whose purpose is to help those family members and friends of gambling addicts cope with the situation. You cannot change the gambler, but you can change how you interact with the gambler and change your behaviors so that you are not enabling the gambling to continue.

Bottom line: When you’ve had enough of the lies, you must make a choice. If you set limits, be sure that you’re willing to enforce them. Don’t make a statement that you’re not able to back up. If you say that you will leave the compulsive gambler if he/she doesn’t get help, you’d better be ready to go through with it. Again, what you do is very much your choice. But you don’t have to try to wade through the emotional minefield on your own. Get help and support from others in your situation.
Will the lies ever stop? The good news is that gambling addiction is treatable. If your spouse or partner seeks and completes treatment and attends 12-step meetings (such as Gamblers Anonymous) in recovery, with your support and encouragement (and your own Gam-Anon meeting attendance), there’s a very good possibility that compulsive lies – and compulsive gambling – will become a thing of the past.

Compulsive spenders can find themselves struggling to make ends meet – much like problem gamblers – as they spend too much of their financial resources supporting a habit. Such individuals will buy things they don’t need, adding to a mountain of unsecured debt. They are often found searching out payday loan establishments and struggling with bad credit.

For those with an addiction to shopping, their urges can be just as overpowering as the individual dealing with a sex or Internet addiction. They often want to stop the behavior, but feel they are ill-equipped to do so on their own. Compulsive shoppers often find that they are dealing with a much larger problem than just an inability to save money – they also continually fail to achieve solvency.

Debtors Anonymous was founded on the principle of helping those individuals with the disease of “debting” become solvent. The organization first began in 1968 by a group of individuals who were members of Alcoholics Anonymous. This group of individuals had become sober, but each individual found that they were struggling financially.

The group originally called themselves Penny Pinchers. When an inability to become solvent was identified as the root of the problem, the name Debtors Anonymous was selected. The group then adopted the 12 steps of Alcoholics Anonymous to deal with their “disease” and stop adding to their unsecured debt.

To accomplish their goals, each member was encouraged to keep specific records of the amount of money they earned, spent and owe to creditors. Members could attend meetings on a weekly basis and were encouraged to take part in pressure relief meetings. Such meetings invited a newer member of the organization to meet with two senior members to review finances in detail.

While Debtors Anonymous is tailored after the very successful Alcoholics Anonymous, an addiction to shopping is still not the same thing as an addiction to alcohol. The organization claims success stories, yet does not publish success rates. And, while the process is proven to be effective, the truly successful will decide they want to overcome their habit before they ever walk in the door.

One truth with any addiction is that the individual suffering truly finds relief when they feed the addiction. The compulsive shopper will seek shopping opportunities in order to satisfy an urge. When he or she does so to the point of financial trouble or failure, a change must be made to preserve survival. It may take hitting rock bottom before the individual decides to make a change. Once this happens, Debtors Anonymous could be a positive place to land.

Why are carbohydrates bad?

Carbohydrates, including sugar, starches and grains, turn to sugar in the human body and raise insulin levels. Very simply, if the body doesn’t need the sugar for fuel at that minute, it will store it as fat. Yes, fat.

Conversely, excess protein that is not needed for fuel cannot be stored and is eliminated from the body. Unless one eats the precise amount of calories needed for daily fuel or less, excess carbs will be stored as fat and likely never be needed again – newly eaten carbohydrates will take care of current energy needs and fat stores will stay firmly on your hips. People on a diet high in carbohydrates are also more likely to experience episodes of intense hunger that will result in the need for a constant supply of these deadly carbs. People on a high protein diet, on the other hand, often need to remind themselves to eat.

Unlike with other types of substance addiction, where the source of addiction can be completely eliminated from the lifestyle, carbohydrate addicts actually need the substance – food – to survive. Thus, overcoming an addiction to carbohydrates takes willpower and a very strong constitution in order to avoid putting in their mouths what is right in front of them.

I believe that there are two types of carbohydrate addiction. The first type I’ll call the “craving” type of addiction. In this type of carbohydrate addiction, the addict craves certain high-carbohydrate foods such as soda, chocolate, potatoes, bread, and pasta. Simply put, these foods taste better to a carbohydrate addict than anything else. And, like any other addict, the carbohydrate addict will choose these foods over others when given the choice. In serious cases, the person will actually crave the particular type of food and seek it out. If I were to name my absolute favorite food, I would have to pick potatoes. That’s it. If I had mashed potatoes every meal for the rest of my life I probably wouldn’t complain. For others, it’s sweets. It doesn’t matter what your carb of choice is because, remember, it all turns to sugar when it hits your bloodstream.

The second type of carbohydrate addiction I call the “convenience” type. Convenience carbohydrate addicts eat them because they meet some sort of necessary characteristic for a particular lifestyle. For instance, carbohydrates are cheaper than protein. You can buy a one pound box of pasta for about two dollars; one pound of chicken will run you four or five. Carbs are also easier and faster to prepare, an essential characteristic for bachelors, single parents, and working women. When eating out, dishes that are high in carbohydrates are much more plentiful than dishes that aren’t. In some types of restaurants, such as Italian restaurants in the United States, protein is but an afterthought and used only to enhance the carbohydrate (for instance, spaghetti and meatballs).

By the time a carbohydrate addict realizes that there is a problem, typically in mid-adulthood when metabolism starts slowing down, the damage has been done and takes an almost Herculean effort to reverse.

So, what kind of carbohydrate addict are you?

When I was little, my mother was a single parent who also ran her own successful business. Although the cost of food wasn’t an issue, she had little time to prepare my meals. What she did cook was high on carbs and convenience. I only liked to eat junk food and carbs and she did nothing to force me to eat anything else. I liked ramen noodles, Spaghettios, hot dogs, Doritos, and Lipton noodles or rice & sauce. Although she often gave me chicken, minute steak, and pork chops, in my warped little mind these items were there simply as an accompaniment to my main starch course. Corn was the only “vegetable” I would eat – and I ate a lot of corn. I was also allowed to drink all the soda and sugary “juice” drinks that my little heart desired. Thankfully, I wasn’t big on desserts.

Although I certainly experience periods of craving, I am definitely a convenience carbohydrate addict now. In college, I gained the “freshman fifteen” and then some. The cafeteria was in the basement of my dorm and, because I am a very picky eater, I ate pasta bar or pizza almost exclusively for lunch and dinner.

After graduating from college and getting my first job I embraced whole-hardedly the advantages that carbohydrates provided me – ease of preparation and ubiquitousness in restaurants (where I ate at least one if not both main meals a day). Carbohydrates also kept my appetite up, so I ate A LOT of them. I gained some more weight during this period, but it was such a gradual change that I barely noticed it.

I eventually did notice it, though, and have been fighting to take off the pounds ever since. In order for me to lose weight, the process is pretty simple. I need to 1.) eat just enough nutrients for my body to survive and to satisfy my hunger while 2.) allowing my body to get the rest of the fuel it needs from the fat on my body (and not muscle, like on a low-fat diet).

I must avoid carbohydrates (other than vegetables and some fruit) and eat only protein. However, because I am, primarily, a convenience carbohydrate addict, I can only accomplish this by making sure there is an almost limitless supply of readily-edible protein at my fingertips at all times (no, a raw steak isn’t going to help when I get a hunger pain). Because I also have some craving addiction as well, I must completely avoid eating out and ordering take-out. For me, there is no moderation. Carbohydrates are my cocaine, alcohol and cigarettes. Keep them away from me – I am powerless over carbohydrates.

The National Survey on Drug Use and Health asks questions about the risk of cigarette use among adolescents and the information is used to determine risk factors and decision-making circumstances for teenagers.

Recently the data showed a decline in past-month cigarette use, from 13.0 to 9.1 percent from 2002 to 2008, but 2008 over a million teenagers tried their first cigarette. The NSDUH data says that one major factor in that decision to try cigarettes may be related to the teen’s mother.

A recent report analyzed the mother’s smoking and mother’s depression as a risk factor for adolescent children’s cigarette use. The report looked at 2005 to 2007 NSDUH data from mothers that were 18 years or older and their children aged 12 to 17 who lived at home with their mothers.

The NSDUH asked participants aged 12 or older whether they had smoked cigarettes, and asked those 18 and older if they had experienced a major depressive episode in the last year. The data showed that those respondents who were mothers with a past year major depressive episode had a higher rate of smoking than those who did not have a past year major depressive episode.

An average of 24.6 million adolescents live with their mothers. Of those who live with their mothers, 9.7 percent had mothers with a past year major depressive episode, and 25.6 percent of adolescents had mothers who had used cigarettes in the last month.

The data also showed that 21.9 percent of the adolescents who lived with mothers who smoked in the last month but had not experienced a past year major depressive episode. 6.0 percent lived with mothers who had experienced a major depressive episode but had not smoked in the last month. 3.7 percent lived with mothers who had smoked and had experienced a major depressive episode.

Teenagers find many reasons to begin smoking, but the data did show that the two combined maternal risk factors of a mother who smoked and a mother who had major depressive episodes raised the risk for smoking among adolescents.

Adolescents who lived with a mother who smoked also chose to smoke at a rate of 14.3 percent, while those adolescents with a mother who had experienced a major depressive episode smoked at a rate of 7.9 percent.

Adolescents who were exposed to both maternal risk factors of smoking and major depressive episodes had a significantly higher risk for smoking at 25.3 percent. This rate is more than four times higher than that of adolescents whose mothers had neither smoked or had a major depressive episode (5.6 percent).
 

According to a recent Osceola Iowa report, this year’s efforts will focus on the harmful effects of tobacco marketing towards women and will emphasize the importance of controlling the epidemic of tobacco among this population. Women currently account for roughly 20 percent of the world’s 1 billion smokers and 17.4 percent of adult women in the U.S. smoke.

Research shows that smoking cigarettes kills more than 173,000 women in the United States every year. While both women and men face certain risks when smoking, women are at risk for a unique set of complications, including certain cancers and problems with fertility and pregnancy.

Even when knowing the risks, women continue to smoke as it is an addiction they find difficult to break on their own. "Nicotine is highly addictive, and smoking should be treated as a chronic, relapsing medical condition," explained Carol Southard, RN, MSN, and tobacco treatment specialist with the Northwestern Memorial Physicians Group at the Center for Integrative Medicine and Wellness.

Like any other addiction, when the individual tries to stop taking the substance – in this case, nicotine – they can experience withdrawal symptoms. In the process, they can relapse and have a cigarette to ease the symptoms.

Those who are seeking to quit can work with a health care provider to set up and stick to a plan to quit that could include tobacco dependence counseling and medication treatments. They can also ask friends and family to help them stay away from cigarettes and triggers that make them want to smoke.