Comments Off on What Stress Can Do To You

By admin, February 17, 2023 4:50 am

Stress doesn’t only affect the mind; it can also have some adverse effect on your body if left unchecked. Even if we are mentally capable of doing all our tasks, there is a possibility that our body is not fit enough to cope with the burden you are subjecting it to. If you push it to the limit, then you will surely feel a breakdown that might disable you permanently.

We can never deny the fact that all of us have our limits. Like our minds, our body can only take so much until it falls apart. It is a common fact that we can do anything if we set our minds into it, but we need to realize that our body should be able to cope with what we want it to do.

Your Body And Stress

Stress affects us different depending on the state of our body. The most common ailment attributed to mental stress is headache or migraine, or even dizziness from time to time. We would also feel some minor cramps, aches and pains on our back, shoulder, or in different parts of our body when under the grip of stress.

There is also a possibility that stress can affect our body chemistry as well. Too much brain activity can lead to nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, or even constipation. There were even reports that stress is attributed to a bout of ulcer when a hyperactive body produced too much acid that can abrade the linings of your organs.

There is a chance that a person might need to go to the hospital or undergo a series of medication to remedy the problem. But if you don’t take the initiative to nip stress at the bud, then you will sure to experience the same thing all over again.

Stress And Your Behavior

A person under the grip of stress tends to act rash and outside their normal behavior. Depending on the level of stress a person is subjected to, they might have trouble sleeping or might affect their sleeping time altogether. You might no longer want to sleep in the evening since you tend to think more of your problems when you lie down in bed during the quiet of the night. Unconsciously, our bodies would slowly get sleepy during the day and remain active at night.

Stress can also affect the emotional state of the person. They will either go into depression and self-pity; or give in to their rage by venting it out on everyone they see. There were even cases that stress can drive a person berserk or permanently affect their state of mind if not properly addressed.

Stress Management 101 – Coping With Your Problems

The mind is where stress starts so it is up to you to take the necessary steps to teach your mind how to cope with your problems when they crop up. Determining the source of your stress is the first step to getting rid of it.

It is essential that a person undergoes stress management to help them relax even when they are swamped with problems. You can delve into your favorite hobby to divert your mind to help it relax. Watching movies and listening to your favorite songs is also a good idea on getting your stress level under control.

Comments Off on Helping teenagers to get better sleep

By admin, February 13, 2023 9:24 pm

With so many gadgets to play with and use and with so many parties to attend who would want to sleep? With so many distractions today, people-especially the younger ones or the teenagers-are having a hard time to get better sleep. This should not be a problem but it goes to show how poor the quality of young people is today. Many of them do not perform well in school because they rarely get sleep due to all these distractions.

If you are one of those parents who are having problems that their teeners are not getting the right amount of sleep that they should have, here are some tips that you can share to them.

1. Ask them to cut out on too many caffeine intakes. If you are doing the grocery, then you should be the one who have taken out of the list the foods and drinks that contain caffeine such as coffee, chocolates, sodas and teas. But since you cannot monitor their routines outside your home, it is a must to remind them to cut out on these foods and drinks. You can do this by telling them the bad effects of caffeine not only in sleeping but in their overall health as well.

2. Tell them not to resort to alcohol as a “sleeping aid”. Many adults resort to alcohol to sleep fast. Since their bodies are much older, they can tolerate the effects of alcohol but this should not be the case among the younger ones. If you are a parent, try to tell your child that although alcohol may help him or her to fall asleep, it may cause disturbances that may lead to lesser quality of sleep. Aside from not really helping them to get better sleep, it may also affect their overall health and physical appearance since alcohol may cause early aging.

3. Teach them how to relax before their bedtime. Although this is much easier to do when they are toddler, parents should still try to teach their youngsters how to relax a bit when they are about to go to sleep. You can do this by spending time with the teener and talk about how he or she should handle the everyday stress either in school or in growing up. If the child is able to talk about these things before bedtime, he or she will have a peaceful sleep without thinking of so many things. You can also ask her or him to do relaxing activities such as reading a book or practicing yoga if you are not around to talk to.

4. Ask them to have regular exercise. If regular exercise helps older people to get better sleep at night, what more to the younger ones? Explain to your child the importance of having just the right amount of exercise in getting better sleep and achieving optimum health. To make it more effective, join your teener in doing regular exercises such as light jogging or brisk walking. If he or she sees that you are “walking your talk” there is greater chances for him or her to obey you.

5. Give enough hours for television or for Internet. For a teener to get better sleep, there should be less hours for him or her to spend watching TV programs or browsing the Internet. Since these two are major distractions, it is a must that parents restrict them with too much time on these activities so can sleep better at night.

Comments Off on How can chiropractors help people with spinal cord injuries?

By admin, February 10, 2023 3:03 pm

People who have spinal cord injuries (SCI) need chiropractors. This is would because these experts would help them boost their musculoskeletal system and their nervous system as well as help mange the pain caused by the condition.

Nowadays, there is an increasing number of people who are experiencing spinal cord injuries because of modern lifestyle. Many people have become reckless that results to more incidences of car accidents, gunshots, as well as heavy falling that cause great impact on the nerves. Due to unhealthy lifestyle, many people are also developing diseases such as ataxia or polio that also causes trauma to the nerves connected to the spinal cord.

Since many people are prone to spinal cord injuries, chiropractors are needed to help them by providing spine alignment and other natural therapies can help the person’s body to function well by normalizing the nerve flow and regulates the digestion, the heart rate, and the blood pressure. In chiropractic health, it is believed that there is something wrong with the nervous system-specifically in the person’s spine-that causes certain problems as well as other related illnesses. To be able to help the person function properly, the chiropractor must be able to do some re-alignments in the spine to treat as well as prevent health problems that may be related to a person’s vertebrae.

Why become one?

Chiropractic related services are among the most preferred treatment options of people who resort to alternative healthcare because the techniques used here do not involve medicines. This surge in demand for the services also paved the way for the demand in chiropractors in almost all parts of the world. The following are just some of the reasons why you could choose being a chiropractor as a profession:

– income or salary-wise, it can promise higher bracket. On an average, chiropractors may earn as high as $80, 000 to $90, 000. But this may vary if he or she works for the public or private sector. Usually, those who work for public sectors earn lesser but they are entitled to more benefits unlike those who are in the private sector who might be greater earning but basic or minimal benefits. The salary may also depend on the years of experience the chiropractor has and the credentials of the person who applies for a job.

– it’s can be a rewarding job. For those who are different professions are looking for a jobs that does not only rewarding because of the salary but also because of the nature of work, being a chiropractor is ideal for you. Since chiropractic work involves helping people who are in need, it can be a fulfilling and rewarding experience if you were able to help a person get well.

– it has a challenging nature of work. The work of chiropractors in using different techniques such as massages and others is challenging enough because the possibility of the person to get well depends on the chiropractor’s skills.

– it can encourage self-growth. Being a chiropractor requires one to gain enough knowledge and develop skills needed for the nature of the work. Since one is required to complete a certain course from a chiropractic school, finish an internship and pass the state and national licensure exams, being a chiropractor would definitely help a person’s career grow and be mature in terms of outlook in life.

Aside from the advantages that have been mentioned, being a chiropractor is also one way of showing people that you love-specially those who have spinal cord injuries-because you are able to prove to them that you are willing to devote your career and life to them.

Comments Off on Basic tips to prevent spinal cord injuries

By admin, February 7, 2023 7:37 am

Studies show that there are about 500,000 people in the United States, alone, are suffering from Spinal Cord Injuries or SCI. The people who are usually involved are those within the age bracket of 16 to 30 years old. Experts say that in this age bracket, there is 82 percent of males who are greatly affected and women take the rest.

In both genders, it is said that the most common causes include vehicular accidents, heavy falls and wounds brought by gunshots. Among men, the leading causes of spinal cord injuries include driving and sports related accidents while in women, the leading causes are in the form of heavy falls as well as medical or surgical complications.

If spinal cord injuries are not diagnosed and treated the earliest possible time, there’s a great chance for it to develop into “transverse myelitis”. This is among the rarest neurological disorders there are which is usually caused by an inflamed spinal cord. In the US alone, 400 to 1,500 people are affected annually. Experts say that this disorder should be carefully monitored and treated because if not, it can paralyze a person for life.

Prevention is the key

Experts say that in any condition or illness, prevention is the best and the cheapest key. To be able to avoid this, the first thing that one needs to know is the familiarizing him or herself about the leading causes of SCI and how to prevent these at all times. Studies show that the leading causes of spinal cord injuries are vehicular accidents, heavy falls, and sports related activities. Here are some of the tips in each respective cause that can help you prevent acquiring the disorder:

1. Vehicular accidents. Studies show that auto or car accidents is the major cause of SCI and greatly affects people-especially male-below 65 years of age. To avoid car accidents, drivers should always:

– wear a safety belt as well as all the passengers inside to minimize the impact of pressure in case there’s an accident;

– adhere to child safety practices especially is there are infants or young children inside the car;

– ask children 12 and below to be in the back seat with their seatbelts fastened properly;

– follow road rule and obey the appropriate speed limits all the time;

– be clear-headed-without the influence of drugs or alcohol-when driving so as not to cause accidents to his or herself as well as to others.

2. Falling inside the house. For people who are 65 and above and for women in general, falling-especially inside the house-is the number one cause of spinal cord injuries. To avoid this at home or in the office, make sure that the:

– walkways are clear and free of any debris such as electrical cords that can cause tripping;

– floors are clean especially to greases, water spills and other liquids so nobody would slip;

– rugs are non-skid to lessen the possibilities of slipping;

– handrails are properly installed in stairways as well as in areas that may be wet such as in bathrooms;

– areas where people usually stay at such as living areas are well lighted;

Through the years, there have been so many developments and advances when it comes to diagnosis, treatments, and rehabilitation of people with SCI. These advances which include surgery, rehabilitation therapies, drug treatments, stem cells, nerve cell transplantation, and nerve regeneration, help SCI patients to be able to survive and manage all the pain and inconvenience brought by the condition. But, up until this time, no cure for SCI has been discovered. With this case at hand, people are advised to do everything they can to prevent having spinal cord injuries.

Comments Off on Step-by-Step Process when You Have Encountered a Personal Injury

By admin, February 4, 2023 1:00 am

There are some things that you must always be ready for in case you encounter a personal injury through an accident or any means. You cannot be too sure as to the extent of the damage of your injuries. Even if you just want to forget about what happened, you might be forced to pursue your rights and ask for legal claims because of the various effects that the incident might cause in the days to come.

To give you an insight about what should you remember when you have been involved in these cases, you may want to divulge into some research. You can easily know more about the topic by browsing through various websites that tackle the subject. You will find personal blogs of those who have experienced such incidents and legal battles. You can also look at the sites of those who offer their professional services when it comes to this topic. It will also help you a lot if you will join online forums and participate in the discussions or read the posts that are related to the subject.

If you are the kind of person who wants to read printed materials to understand matters better, you must take time to go at your local library and search for related books. You can also choose to buy the books if you want. Just make sure that you look through the pages first to know if the materials were written for regular people like you who are looking for ways to understand legal matters better.

Steps to Accomplish

If one day, you find yourself caught in an accident and you sustained injuries from such, you cannot just stand there and wait for help to come along. You must make sure that you do the following in order for you to find it easy to pursue a case if ever you have found out that you are eligible to do so.

1. You must first make sure that you are okay. If you are not, you should ask someone to do the rest of the steps for you while you have yourself treated for all the kinds of pains and injuries that you have gotten from the scene.

2. If you do not have a digital camera with you, you can simply use the camera on your cell phone to record evidences from the incident. Make sure that you capture all the details that you can later use to support your claims once you have decided to get your claims. If you cannot do this because of your injuries, you should ask someone else to accomplish the task for you.

3. Aside from photos, you should also take note of all the details that might be asked from you once the investigation starts. You should know basic details like the date of the event, time, location and things like what you were doing at the time when the accident happened. You must make sure that you jot these down on paper because you can never be too sure if you will still be able to remember these things very clear later on.

4. You must get in touched with a personal injury attorney as soon as possible. You must tell them everything that you remember from the incident. Hand over to them all the evidences that you have gathered from the scene. Tell them all that can help the case to proceed. They are your allies and together, you can make things work our perfectly.

Comments Off on Why You Need A Business Plan Before Setting Up a Personal Injury Law Practice?

By admin, January 31, 2023 5:54 pm

While it is true that starting a personal injury law practice is difficult because it requires you hard work and a lot of expenses, such situation can be minimized through a business plan. Linda Pinson, author of the book Anatomy Of A Business Plan cites the following reasons why you need a business plan in setting up an office:

1. To serve as guide – A business plan is your blueprint in confronting the realities related with starting your personal injury law office. It also gives you a clear idea of your goals and objectives, potentials, strengths, weaknesses and opportunities. It will guide you with the tools to analyze and implement changes that will make your personal injury law practice profitable.

2. As documentation for financing – Capital is very essential in starting up a personal injury law office, through business plan details you will able to forecast how much you will invest to further the practice’ goals and increase it’s profits.

The book Flying Solo by K. William Gibson and Redi F. Trautz says that “every firm – large and small – should think strategically about its goals and objectives.” If you plan to go solo in your personal injury practice, “going through the process of developing a business plan requires a great deal of strategic thinking on your part.” Your business plan should be based on your particular needs and the needs of your practice. An apprenticeship in a personal law firm will give you an overview of the issues, payroll, marketing, case management and billing required in your practice.

An effective business plan is an organic document. You should always have it ready in your computer and change it whenever necessary. As you progress in your practice, you will find that your business plan becomes more refined. If in case you notice that you cannot keep up with your business plan, ask yourself: is the plan unrealistic or you are just not interested in doing what needs to be done?

K. William Gibson specifies the following elements comprising a good business plan:

1. A description of the kinds of services you intend to offer

2. A statement of the location (s) where you plan to offer your services

3. A description of your target market

4. A projection of anticipated revenue and operating expenses

5. A statement of personal resources that you intend to commit financing the personal injury law practice.

6. Statements detailing your personal worth – assets and liabilities.

In addition, you need to seek guidance before drafting your business plan from the following:

1. Certified Public Accountant – You might consider loaning a capital to start your law practice, the involvement of an accountant gives your business plan immediate credibility with potential lenders. Your CPA will make sure that your business plan is in proper form and makes sense. He or she will also tell you exactly what you need to do to comply with the rules and regulations of the Internal Revenue Service and other government entities.

2. Bar Association Practice Management Advisors – Practice advisors are usually former practicing lawyers or law office administrators that had experienced everything you are about to step into.

3. Established Personal Injury Lawyers – Mentoring from experienced personal injury lawyers will be essential in forecasting the potential out-of-pocket costs involved in personal injury cases. An experienced lawyer might even share with you the names of vendors and experts with whom you can work in the future.

Comments Off on Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms- Cognitive, Sensory And Motor Symptoms

By admin, January 28, 2023 10:42 am

Multiple sclerosis is a capricious disease – its symptoms vary on a case to case basis. Thus, each attack or relapse is unique and symptoms can manifest in various ways. It may crop up from cognitive problems while others may feel disabilities resulting from loss or diminished motor functions. To better understand the symptoms of this condition, listed below are the most common general symptoms observed among MS patients.

COGNITIVE SYMPTOMS
Anxiety
Bipolar syndrome, a psychological disorder which is, in general, characterized by a passive-aggressive attitude
Cognitive dysfunction , which may involve difficulty of word recall or of substituting one word for another, problems related to the clarity of memory, and forgetfulness.
Dementia, which is characterized by on-going decline of cognitive functions which affects memory, language, attention as well as problem-solving abilities
Depression, often a psychological response that results from constant irritability, frustration and generally unhealthy emotions
Emotional disability, may be caused by the inability to cope to the emotional problems rooting from other symptoms of multiple sclerosis
Mood swings, a result of sporadic flow of nerve impulses, a person with multiple sclerosis may suffer from erratic mood swings. Patients report of constantly and rapidly changing moods.
Sense of euphoria
Speech impairment and reduced speech comprehension without loss of capacity to speak or Aphasia and Dysphasia

SENSORY SYMPTOMS
Anaesthesia, while this is more commonly associated as the drug used for numbing sensation useful during invasive operations, this, however, is generally classified as the loss of feeling or numbness in some parts of the body of an MS patient.
L’Hermitte’s, otherwise known as Barber Chair Phenomenon, is a condition characterized by an electric sensation that runs through the spinal cord to the limbs. This is typically felt after bending the head backwards or forwards.
Neuropathic pain, or neuralgia is a pain that is caused by the non-activation of pain receptor cells in the body. This is an unusual pain that may root from messed up system of transferring brain signals from one neuron to another.
Paraesthesia, or parasthesia is a skin-related sensation where the skin feels tickled, numbed or pricked with no apparent physical cause. This is more commonly recognized as the sensation of “pins and needles”.
Proprioceptive Dysfunction, it is a sensory processing disorder that leads to constant falling, tripping and other uncontrolled movements. It roots from dysfunctional sensory feedback.
Trigeminal Neuralgia, or prosopalgia is a neuropathic condition that causes painful sensations of the ear, eyes, nose, lips, scalp, teeth, forehead and jaw. In short, it is pain associated with any of the three Trigeminal nerves found on the face.

MOTOR SYMPTOMS
Footdrop, a condition where the foot drags uncontrollably when walking
Involuntary muscle cramps and spasms which are attributed to irregular flow of nerve impulses to the muscle tissues
Loss of muscle tone which results to stiffness, movement restriction and pain in the limbs. Also called spasticity
Muscle atrophy which may result from lack of muscle activities or use
Muscle weakness, otherwise called paresis (all types specifically monoparesis, hemiparesis, quadraparesis, and paraparesis), more popularly distinguished as mild or partial paralysis
Posture problems, Restless Leg Syndrome, tics and involuntary muscle jerking which result from the irregularity of nerve impulses
Problems with reflexes
Speech problems such as slurred speech or dysarthria
Total or near total loss of muscle strength

Comments Off on Things to Ponder in Cases of Personal Injury

By admin, January 25, 2023 4:01 am

How would you know if you are eligible to file for compensation claims regarding personal injury that you have sustained from any accident or related events? There are actually two types of this kind of injury. The first type is physical wherein you can broadly record the data of all the details of what you have gotten out of the situation. Aside from pictures taken at the scene, you can also submit medical bills, charts and other stuffs that you were asked to undergo in the hospital after the incident. The other type of this injury is psychological. This is more worse than the first because the effects can be long-term and may cause you stress, anxiety and other emotional baggage that won’t help you in moving forward after the accident.

It is very important that you gather all related evidences while you are still at the scene where the accident happened. If you cannot do this, ask for help from someone you know personally to do the recording of all matters that can be used as evidences later on.

You must not take the matter lightly because even if you think that the pain is light or that you can handle things well after the incident, you can never be too sure as to what can be the effects later on. You may be kind and you simply want to forget about what happened, but this cannot be easily said and done if the accident will cause you too much, like you won’t be able to attend to your regular duties and responsibilities because of your injuries.

The mental effects are harder to treat because the length will vary depending on your state and how you were affected by what happened. The treatment can be short but there are also cases when it takes too long. There will also be a stigma attached to it, like you will be treated differently on your job and on other activities that you were active before the accident happened.

To be sure that you will be able to get what you deserve at these cases, here are some of the things that you must handle at the scene of the accident.

1. You should gather all the evidences that are visible right then and there. Ask someone to do this for you if you can no longer perform such task or you need to be wheeled in immediately on to the nearest hospital. Take photos of all the things that occurred on the scene. If it is a vehicular accident, you must take pictures of all the angles of both vehicles. You should also record your injuries and take photos of what you have gained from the accident.

2. You should also gather all the bills and all the papers for the treatments that you have undertaken after the accident. If this is not your fault, you can later ask the other party to pay you for the expenses that you have shouldered in relation with what happened.

3. You should find a good lawyer that handles compensation claims regarding personal injury. Give them all the evidences that you have gathered so that they can figure out how to handle and help you with your case. You should ask for recommendations for attorneys who do not ask for consultation fees, especially if you cannot afford such additional expenses.

Comments Off on Nicotine Patches to Help You Stop Smoking

By admin, January 21, 2023 8:39 pm

Those who try to simply stop smoking face a big pain: withdrawal symptoms. Their bodies, which have been so used to having nicotine in the bloodstream, craves for the same amount. Without the normal dosage – yes, smoking is like a drug that’s regularly administered – the smoker’s body goes through symptoms familiar to those who quit and took up smoking again: depression, insomnia, irritability, and an undefined sense of something lost.

Website and homebrew remedies details some ways to help the quitting smoker get a hold of himself or herself through the process, so that a relapse will not follow after the decision to stop smoking. One way to help through the process is to use nicotine patches. But one should keep in mind that this, too, like a drug, have conditions for it to work as expected on the quitting smoker. It’s not a one-size fits everyone solutions, it’s not an overnight magical answer.

The patch reduces craving. Contrary to what some who want to smoke thing, the nicotine patches do not completely eliminate the cravings they go through. Smoking carries with it some physical and mental effects on one’s person, and some aspects cannot be handled by nicotine patches.

There are also reported side effects of using patches. Some of them just as unpleasant as not having patches at all, as reported by those who had already tried them. These discomforts include headaches, constant vomiting, stomach pains, and nausea. In some cases, these are the outcome of overmedication using the patches; in some cases these effects are temporary. But it pays to know the side effects before going completely headstrong into nicotine patches. Some who stop smoking did so with out them.

So how does one approach whether you should or should not use nicotine patches to stop smoking?

Step one. Don’t just rush into buying the patches themselves. Consult with your doctor if you have medical conditions that may get aggravated when you take patches. You don’t want to rake in more medical bills on the off chance you get worse.

Step two. Should your doctor approve, the first application of the patch will tingle a bit, so choose a section of your skin that’s got less hair. Also, vary the areas you stick the patch to. Inspect the areas well, they should not have open wounds and rashes. Should you feel any sudden palpitations of breathing changes, go to your doctor and have yourself checked out.

Step three. Mind the doses. Also, note that you may have to try lower doses after maybe two weeks, as your body will have gotten used to them by then. These things vary from person to person. Hence the need to be monitored by a physician through consultations. You may experience a surge in appetite, so bear with it.

Just remember to consult with your doctor before you try the nicotine patch, and to stay in touch during the process. If anyone could simply stop smoking, nicotine patches and other ‘remedies’ won’t be needed. Sadly, nicotine addiction is a medical condition wherein your body craves a substance. So weaning yourself away from the substance by getting less and less of it is key to your decision to stop smoking. In this case, nicotine patches help a great deal in dealing with the withdrawal symptoms.

Comments Off on Stop Smoking: A Friend’s Reminder

By admin, January 18, 2023 2:16 pm

Smoking may lead to an addiction; one thing that is very difficult to keep away from your system. Quitting smoking is a very hard process; thus, if your friend is on the process of doing so he will need all your support to do it. Be supportive and encourage him to defeat his urge to smoke. Be there with him as he tries to stop smoking.

Proper Encouragement

As a friend, your encouragement is your best contribution to your friend’s rehabilitation. Remember, with the right words said at the right time, you are able to push your friend to reach his goal. But, how can you really give encouragement without sounding too much of a nagger?

Encouragement follows after a person finally decides to quit smoking. Once he has the determination to quit, you step in to give him words of encouragement so that he will not lose his focus. This is the time when you have to let your friend feel that you are with him throughout this process and that you will stay beside him until he finally reaches his goal. Sometimes, words are not necessary anymore – your acts alone may be enough as encouragement.

You also have to remind yourself of the difficulty of the process that your friend is going through. This reminder will let you understand your friend more, and the better you understand his situation, the more helpful you can be. There may be times when your friend may not stop himself from puffing another stick, but you should not use this against him. Instead of criticizing his mistakes, try to remind him of his progress and steer him away from the said errors. You should not dwell on his mistakes, but on how he was able to correct such afterwards.

And though after quitting, addictive substances such as nicotine and tobacco still remain present within the system of someone who has recently stopped smoking. This is what causes relapse. Thus, the process still continues even after a long time, and you should continue to encourage for as long as your friend’s battle with smoking continues.

Process of Quitting

People have their own ways of quitting. Some say that it is better to quit all at once; however, there are still others who believe that it should be done slowly but surely. Slowly quitting would mean that nicotine exposure would be decreased moderately by consuming lesser cigarettes each day.

Really, it does not matter how one chooses to proceed with quitting. Whatever method he chooses, you should always be ready to give him the encouragement he needs. To do so, here are some things that may help you give confidence to your friend who needs to stop smoking:

1. When you talk about progress, stay positive and inspiring by pointing out the instances when he has really surpassed a trial.
2. Talk about his slip ups but refrain from dwelling on the matter.
3. You should support whatever quitting technique he may have chosen.
4. Help him avoid situations which may trigger his desire for smoking again.
5. Continue to be a friend!

You do not need to be licensed counselor to give good encouragement. All you need to be is to be loyal and one who cares for a friend. Just stay with them, back them up and make them feel that they are not alone in their attempt to stop smoking.