candystripper
Posts: 3486
Joined: 11/1/2005
Status: offline
|
The activity known is 'chain smoking' can occur in both smokers and non-smokers. Many people who view themselves as 'non-smokers' have chain smoked at least once due to a variety of stressors or circumstances, such as an incident of 'binge drinking' alcohol, or shock following the sudden death of a loved one.
Chain smoking may not involve smoking cigarettes. Any means of injesting tobacco, such as chewing it, can be a form of 'chain smoking'.
Chain smoking is the behavior of 'constantly smoking' for a period of time. A smoker who usually consumes a carton of cigarttes (200) in two weeks might instead smoke them all in 3 or 4 days. Certainly, smoking 40 cigarettes in a 24 period can be called 'chain smoking'.
What are the risks?
Well, if person's cost of smoking is usually is $100 per month it may suddenly rise as high as $600 Due the type of mpetuses that typically cause chain-smoking, the person affected is highly-motivated to spend that addtional $500, perhaps to the point of skipping a month's rent on their home or a car payment.
Additonally, chain smoking often occurs while a person is somewhat disoriented, due to alcohol consumption, severe insomnia or shock of some sort. Because of this, there is an increase in risk of accidential fire from 'careless smoking' , even for if the sufferer is a very experienced smoker.
There is also a risk of nicotine poisioning from chain smoking. This risk arises for most adults if their consumption rate reaches 60 cigarettes in a 24 hour period or higher.
What is nicotine poisioning?
quote:
At present, nicotine is one of the most lethal poisons known to man and virtually all toxicities involving nicotine are from cigarettes. Most nicotine poisoning cases occur as a result of its use as a pesticide. It is said that 60 milligrams of nicotine can potentially kill an adult. That is the amount of nicotine in 3 packs of cigarettes or half a cigar.
Acute nicotine poisoning results from skin contamination or inhalation of tobacco smoke. The two main symptoms of nicotine poisoning are respiratory stimulation and gastrointestinal hyperactivity. Other symptoms may appear depending on the amount of exposure.
In small doses, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, tachycardia, high blood pressure, sweating, and drooling are often observed. The patient gradually recovers after a period of weakness. In large doses, burning of the mouth, throat, and stomach occur in addition to the other symptoms. It may progress to prostration, convulsions, bradycardia, arrhythmia, and coma. Death occurs between 5 minutes to 4 hours. In addition to this, tobacco smoking increases the incidence of coronary heart disease and respiratory tract cancer.
Note: While I cannot explain it because my hands are tied by the TOS, the risk of nictotine poisioning is much greater to anyone who is not an adult. If someone such as that is in the environment during an episode of chain smoking, those who are adults should be as vigilant as possible. 90% of all victims of nicotine poisioning in the United States are not adults.
http://stopsmokinginfos.com/2007/08/28/i-smoke-so-why-am-i-not-getting-nicotine-poisoning/
What can be done to try and manage an episode of chain smoking? The person should first set a 'maximum consumption level' to which he will make very effort to adhere. This maximum level generally should be no higher than 40 cigarettes in a 24 hour period.
Some people, like insomnia sufferers, have difficulty sensing when one day ends and another begins.
To achieve this awareness, one simple way is to set an alarm clock to go off at the same time every day, probably midnight.
If this by itself is not enough, the chain smoker should buy a carton of 10 packs of cigarettes and divide them into two piles. Five can be marked 'am' cigarettes and 5 marked 'pm' cigarettes. Keep them separate, if only by using two different bags to hold them.
This may hekp orient the person so that they know, once the alarm goes off at midnight, thay may only consume the contents of one pack of the 'am' cigarettes, or 20 cigarettes. Once noon arrives, the chain smoker may have more, but only 20 -- one pack of 'pm' cigarettes. Note: if consumption at this level remains constant in time for a 24 hour period, this would result in smoking 1.75 cigarettes in any hour. (Yes, it is possible to smoke 75% of a single cigarette and sometime later smoke the remaining 25%.). Many people suffering an episode of chain smoking would experience that as far too low.
If the chain smoker has difficulty orienting as to the difference between 'am' and 'pm' time, a second alarm can be set to go off 12 hours after the first, usually at noon.
If a person cannot manage to adhere to a maxium of 40 cigarttes per day or mistakenly smokes much more, consider calling a poision control center for advice as to whether to seek emergence medical care for poisioning.
Throughout the United States all local poision control centers can be reached by calling the same number:
1-800-222-1222
http://www.poison.org/actFast/1800.asp
This is probably a number everyone should have handy as part of their 'first aid kit' in any event, regardless of smoking, as the hazard of accidetial poisioning exists from various materials found in and around most home and work environments..
I hope this information is useful to someone.
candystripper
< Message edited by candystripper -- 8/17/2008 9:58:49 PM >
|
Chain Smoking -- Management & Risk - 
Profile
New Messages
No New Messages
Hot Topic w/ New Messages
Hot Topic w/o New Messages
Locked w/ New Messages
Locked w/o New Messages
Post New Thread