GLOSSARY


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Addiction Term used to describe a mental state of not being able to stop consuming or doing something, even when it is causing harm. Also see dependency.
Alkaloid Naturally occurring organic compound that can exist in plants. Examples are nicotine and cytisine.
Alleviates Makes something better for a while.
Anorexia nervosa An eating disorder characterised by excessive worry about weight and food which can lead to dangerous weight loss.
Anti-depressant Medicine taken to make people suffering from depression feel better.
Artificial intelligence (AI) Uses advanced robot technology to compute answers to questions.
Biofeedback Information on biological functions like your heart rate.
Bipolar disorder A mental illness that involves extreme mood swings.
Brain scan A device that can take images of activity in the brain.
Brain stimulation A treatment that uses a magnetic field to change patterns in the brain.
Bulimia An eating disorder characterised by eating too much and then vomiting on purpose.
Buproprion Brand name Zyban. A stop-smoking medication. Acts as an anti-depressant.
Cardiovascular disease Diseases affecting the heart or blood vessels
CD Compact Disc containing audio recordings.
Central nervous system depressant Something that slows down your brain and other parts of your main nervous system.
Champix The brand name for Varenicline. Also known as Chantix in some places. A stop smoking medication. Acts by blocking the effect of nicotine in the brain.
Cognitive behavioural therapy A type of talk therapy. It focuses on finding actions people can take to help them stop and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviours.
Cold laser A low-energy laser beam used in laser therapy.
Cold turkey Giving up smoking by just stopping, with no help from stop smoking services or products.
Combustible A combustible product heats the tobacco in oxygen to a hot enough temperature to burn (for example, cigarettes, pipes). This produces smoke and tar.
Complemented each other (in questionnaire) Did the games, the reading and the assessment, when used all together, help you to understand the material?
Consequences Things that happen as a result of you doing something.
Contraindications Conditions or characteristics that make it inadvisable to take a medicine.
Cravings Strong desires or urge to smoke.
Cytisine The active part of herbal medicines like Tabex that have been found to help stop smoking.
Dehydration Short of water.
Denics Short for denicotinised cigarettes. Cigarettes with nicotine removed or lowered to such a low level that smoking no longer gives people the 'hit' or effect they were hoping to get.
Dependence When the body gets used to having a certain level of a brain chemical due to something a person consumes or does, such as smoking or gambling. If someone becomes 'physically' dependent on something, they will usually experience withdrawal symptoms when they suddenly go without it.
Dependence potential How likely it is for a substance to make you dependent.
Diabetes A disease that means the body cannot regulate sugar in the blood.
Direct to lung (DTL) Vapour from a vaping device is breathed straight into the lungs, without being held in the mouth first.
Discreet pod or pen device A pen-shaped or pod-shaped device that can be held in such a way that other people don't necessarily notice it.
Double-blind trial A kind of study that compares a new treatment for a group against another group that gets a pretend (dummy) treatment. If it is double-blinded, neither the researchers nor the study participants know whether they are getting the active or dummy treatment. Often they won't find out which group a participant was in until the end of the trial.
e-cigarette An electronic cigarette-shaped device that warms a liquid and lets you breathe in the vapour.
e-liquid The liquid that is warmed up and breathed in from an e-cigarette.
Employment status (questionnaire) Whether you are in paid work, and how many hours you work.
Enhanced Made stronger or better.
Follow through Keep going with your original intention to stop smoking.
Freebase nicotine Nicotine that has been treated to make it more basic (alkaline). Used in e-cigarette liquid.
Gamification Using games to help with learning.
Gender non-binary Gender identity that is not male or female.
Hallucinogen Any substance (for example psylocibin) that makes you see or hear things that aren't real.
Harm reduction Harm reduction acknowledges smoking is unhealthy and quitting is the best strategy, but it aims to reduce the harm from smoking, even if that means letting some tobacco or nicotine remain available.
Hit The buzz, or up feeling people get when they smoke.
Homeopathic remedies Remedies based on the principal of extreme dilution, watering down.
Hypersensitivity Very sensitive.
Hypnotherapy The use of hypnotism to help people change thoughts or behaviours.
Implications for me and the other person involved (questionnaire) How did what I was doing affect me? How did it affect the other person?
Indigenous Peoples People who identify as Indigenous and who still live in the same geographical area they have always lived in, or were living in, before another group moved in or took over.
Intervention A programme aimed at helping people to change something, such as to stop smoking.
Laser therapy A treatment that uses cold lasers.
LSD The full name for lysergic acid diethylamide. A mood-changing and reality-changing drug.
M?ori Indigenous people of New Zealand
Magic bullet Something that will always work with no effort and no side effects.
Metabolism The speed at which the body generates energy. Often used when talking about how fast the body breaks down food or how fast the body uses up drugs that are introduced, such as, nicotine.
Mindfulness A technique. The person focuses their attention on what they are doing and thinking about.
Mod device Short for modular. A more complex and usually adjustable vaping device.
Module The course is divided into smaller parts called modules.
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs) Chemicals that improve mood by slowing down the activity of a certain enzyme.
Mouth to Lung (MTL) Holding vapour from a vaping device in the mouth first, then breathing it into the lungs.
Nicotine patch An absorbent pad containing nicotine. This is contained within a casing that is stuck to the skin to help people stop smoking.
Nicotine replacement lozenge A lozenge is like a lolly. Lozenges containing nicotine are sucked in the mouth until they have completely dissolved.
Nicotine salts The form nicotine is in when it is in the tobacco leaf. Some e-liquids use nicotine in salt form.
NRT Nicotine replacement therapy
Oral, orally, oral medications Pills, liquids or other substances that are taken by mouth or held or used in the mouth.
Partner Includes husband/wife, boyfriend/girlfriend, or anyone else that you have an intimate or domestic relationship with.
Placebo effect An effect that works by the power of suggestion. That is, sometimes people think that a treatment will work or is working and they change their behaviour because of it. This can happen when people take part in a trial of a new treatment when they believe they have been given the active treatment, but have actually got the dummy treatment. Researchers have to guard against it in drug trials by making sure neither the researchers nor the participants know what treatment they are getting (double-blind trials).
Pod system A simple and convenient click-and-go type of vaping device. The pod is a ready-made container with the e-liquid already in it. Sometimes pods are refillable.
Popcorn lung A rare disease that can be caused by some chemicals used in popcorn-making factories. It has nothing to do with vaping. People who are against vaping like to say it will cause all sorts of damage. Telling people that vaping will cause popcorn lung is one of their lies.
Positive aspects Good things.
Progesterone A female sex hormone, released at different levels during the female cycle and during pregnancy.
Prohibitionist A person who is morally opposed to people using or doing something they get pleasure from. There are long histories of prohibitionists trying to stop people from drinking alcohol, smoking tobacco, using cannabis and other drugs. Prohibitionists aim to have all tobacco or nicotine products banned. The prohibition strategy can be contrasted with a harm-reduction strategy.
Psilocybin A drug that can alter mental states and cause hallucinations. The active ingredient in 'magic mushrooms'.
Psychedelic drugs Examples are LDS and psilocybin. These can alter perceptions of reality.
Psychoactive drugs Drugs that alter your mood, your ability to think, or your perception of reality.
Psychological triggers Thoughts and feelings that make you want to smoke.
Psychosis A bout of severe mental illness in which someone loses touch with reality.
Quit day The day that a person chooses as the day they will stop smoking.
Randomised to People who are part of a trial are randomly treated with one or another of the treatment options.
Reflect back (questionnaire) Remembering what happened and thinking about what you have learned from this.
Relapse When someone who had given up smoking starts smoking again.
Repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation A magnetic field is passed near the brain repeatedly.
Schizophrenia A type of mental illness.
Seizures Uncontrolled electrical activity in the brain, which can lead to abnormal movements or behaviour.
Setback Something that gets in the way of what you want to achieve.
Smart patch Part of a wearable device. A patch with an electronic system that releases nicotine at times of day when it will be most effective.
Smoking cessation aid Any product or treatment that can help someone stop smoking.
Smoking cessation programme Any activity or treatment designed to help people stop smoking.
Snuff Powdered tobacco inhaled up the nose. The same word is sometimes used to refer to powdered tobacco that is placed in the mouth. Word use varies by country.
Snus A processed form of tobacco placed in a pouch, which is then put in the mouth. It is not for chewing. Snus is a Swedish word. Snus has mainly been used in Sweden to reduce smoking. It is now common in Norway as well.
Social triggers Social situations or occasions that make someone want to smoke. For example, going to a bar or being with friends who smoke.
Soluble Able to be dissolved
Spiritual wellbeing This feeling is different for everyone. It is the kind of happiness and peace we can get from knowing we are following our purpose in life or otherwise feeling 'at ease'. It can refer to religious wellbeing. The meaning will vary by country.
Spirometry test A test that measures how well someone's lungs work.
Stigmatise Look down on someone from a particular group, using negative labelling that leads to them being discriminated against, left out or judged as bad.
Stimulate Cause something to become more active.
Sub-ohm coil A coil with low electrical resistance, so it can heat quickly. Used in e-cigarettes.
Subconscious mind Part of the mind we may not be fully aware of at times but which influences feelings and behaviour.
Subsequent Occurring after something.
Subsidise Pay some of the costs. Discount.
Substitute Take the place of. Completely replace.
Suppressive Makes something slow down.
Synthetic nicotine Nicotine that is made in a laboratory by mixing chemicals. That is, it is not extracted from the tobacco leaf.
Tabex A herbal stop smoking medication. It contains cytisine. From Eastern Europe.
Tar The fine particles created when things are combusted, that is, burnt. Burning tobacco creates tar and small particles of it are in the tobacco smoke that people inhale. It is a major cause of diseases from smoking.
Therapeutic Effective in healing or curing someone.
Toxicity How poisonous something is.
Triggers Something that makes someone want to smoke.
Validate Check whether something is true. In research, this means checking that the information that has been collected is accurate and correct.
Vaping The act of inhaling vapour. This has become the commonly used term for the use of nicotine-containing electronic vaporiser devices.
Varenicline Branded as Champix or Chantix. A stop smoking medication. Acts by blocking the effect of nicotine in the brain.
Virtual change agent Programmes using artificial intelligence to generate pretend people who guide you through a stop smoking programme.
Virtual reality (VR) Uses headsets or similar devices to give an illusion that someone is actually experiencing what they are seeing.
Vocational training (questionnaire) Training designed to teach you what you need to know for a specific job or profession.
Zyban Brand name is Bupropion. A stop smoking medication. Acts as an anti-depressant.
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