EAGLES: Help For Smokers

When I was smaller, my father used to smoke. He smoked for many, many years and finally he stop smoking on his own.  He decided to get into a wellness program at one of our local hospitals and he stopped smoking and started bike riding.  I remember he chewed a lot of gum. I think I was in college when He finally stopped.  He was a chain smoker of Winston cigarettes.  I remember when I was in elementary and middle school, I would go to school with so much smoke in my clothes that the teachers used to ask me if I was the one who smoked.  I guess they were looking to turn me in.  I would have to tell them that I did not smoke, but my father did and that was why my clothes were always so smoky.  He never opened any windows and smoked in the house and the cars.

I remember that on summer nights we would leave the sliding glass door open after dinner. The porch light would be on but the inside light was off.  If you looked at the top of the door you could see smoke pouring out of the house through the open door.  I showed that to my mother and she made a rule that their could be no more smoking in the house.  So with that, teachers did not ask anymore about me coming to school smokey. With that also came the fact that my mother decided that my father had to air himself out before coming into the house.  If he did not she would spray him with Lysol.  Not a joke...she did. I was witness to that many times.

Back them smoking was everywhere.  Even on TV, actors smoked and there was smoking in public places.  Back then when I was in school they did not any of the smoking cessation products they have today, like gum and patches and pills. Great advances have been made in the fight to stop smoking .  That is good.You do not see actors lighting up on TV and now, it is unheard of to smoke in any  public place. Still, people still smoke.  A few.  I never walk down see people walking around smoking.  Not even teens very much.

For those who are hooked on those little cancer sticks there is  help and hope.  There is still great advancements being made for those who want to stop smoking.  To help one give up being a slave to cigarettes, there is a global cessation study called EAGLES that can help you  stop smoking . Each year over 4 million people die from smoke related illnesses. I order to begin the process a smoker must be educated on all the health issues smoking can cause.  They range from low birth weight in babies from mothers who smoke, lung cancer and impotence to increased in dementia, thinning bones and illnesses caused by second hand smoke.  Those are just a few.

If you are eager to stop, participation in the EAGLES program might be for you.  The basic criteria are people between 18 and 75 who smoke more than 10 cigarettes a day.The program lasts for 24 weeks and there will be a group who receives actual medication and a group who receives placebos.  All will get the same counseling, support and follow up via phone and by attending in-person  sessions.

If you are a smoker and this is a monkey on your back, shake it off or at least get help in shaking it off.  Please check out the site and get more information about the trial.  Just the information alone consolidated in once place about the ill effects and dangers of smoking and what it can do to your health makes the site a valuable resource.  There is even a smoking financial calculator to help you face the reality of the vast amount of money you may be spending on cigarettes.

Today smoking does not have to rule your life.  There are various resources to help you kick the habit.  EAGLES just may be the start you need.

You can chase a butterfly all over the field and never catch it. But if you sit quietly in the grass it will come and sit on your shoulder. ~~Unknown~~