Three More Apps to Help You Quit Smoking Now

One of the more popular articles this blog has published featured Quitbit and Smokio - two easy-to-use and effective electronic helpmates to smokers looking to quit and track their progress as they did so. In today's very competitive mobile app market, these two gadgets aren't the only ones available out there. Here are three more apps to help you whittle down the number of cigarettes you finish in a day until you don't need them anymore just to function normally.

Screenshots of Quit Now for Android. source: quitnowapp.com

Quit Now!

The app provides the user with real-time stats of his or her cigarette use. It counts the number of minutes, hours and days since you last smoked a cigarette. It also calculates the money and time you have saved because of not smoking.

In addition to these features, the Quit Now! app also provides important information regarding your health using indicators based on World Health Organization standards. You're also given an achievement list that you will unlock one by one. This is to motivate you to continue reaching for the short-term goals indicated on your app until you finally achieved the greater goal of quitting smoking.

Fewlaps, a Spanish software developer of mobile apps for iOS and Android devices, created this app. It is now available on iTunes and Google Play.

Screenshots of Quit Smoking app for Android devices. source: quit.azati.com

Quit Smoking

This widget application for Android devices is designed to wean you off your dependency on analog cigarettes. It calculates the number of cigarettes you have or haven't smoked since the day you installed the app. It also shows the recommended number of cigarettes you're supposed to limit yourself to each day in the step-down program. The limit changes in number until you're down to zero.

You can download the app from the Google Play store or from the developer's website.

Stop Smoking

This is a mindfulness meditation app to help end your dependency on nicotine. This app works with people who already practice meditation as part of their smoking cessation program. It plays a relaxing audio clip to put your mind and body at ease while you're meditating. You can set the app's music to run in a loop for either 5 or 10 minutes.

The app begins with a narration to guide newbies through the process. For advanced users, there's no narration and only a soft bell sound to mark the passing of time.

Of course, these aren't the only apps out there. There are more you can check out from either iTunes or Google Play. Find the app that works perfectly for you.

Do E-cigs Really Help You Stop Smoking?

You know how they always say that e-cigs has helped many people quit their smoking habit? Well, it seems there's scientific evidence to support that claim. In 2013, a group of researchers did a 12-month randomized controlled study on 300 smokers who had no plans of quitting. Here are the results of the study:

Declines in cig/day use and eCO levels were observed at each study visits in all three study groups (p<0.001 vs baseline), with no consistent differences among study groups. Smoking reduction was documented in 22.3% and 10.3% at week-12 and week-52 respectively. Complete abstinence from tobacco smoking was documented in 10.7% and 8.7% at week-12 and week-52 respectively.

The takeaway from this technical mumbo-jumbo is that a significant number of smokers who participated in the study went on to completely abstain from tobacco after a year of using e-cigarettes in a controlled manner. It's interesting to note that these smokers didn't want to quit at the time they began the study. You can just imagine how much more effective the process could have been if they asked smokers who wanted to quit in the first place.

The significant reduction in cigarette consumption and the enduring tobacco abstinence aren't the only good things to come out of this study. Participants also reported a substantial decrease in side effects and fewer withdrawal symptoms.

Two years after, another group of researchers came along with the same intent: find proof that e-cigarettes have the potential to help smokers reduce their nicotine intake and ultimately end their nicotine addiction altogether.

It should be noted that at the end of T8 follow-up about 53% of participants were still abstinent from tobacco cigarettes (only e-cig users); this cessation rate is higher than the 21% obtained by Adriaens and colleagues at the same time interval. In light of this result, it could be considered that the technical, behavioural, and psychological support offered in our medically assisted training was able to offer a quicker and efficient intervention to help the participants.

All in all, smokers - whether they wanted to quit or not - will eventually stop their smoking habit when they undergo a medically assisted training program on e-cigarette use. The cravings disappear, withdrawal symptoms are less severe, and no overdose incidents are observed. A large number of smokers gradually ended their nicotine dependence and showed significantly fewer biomarkers of cigarette combustion products in the body.