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Quit Smoking
Articles
Why
Quit Smoking?
Because
you can quit smoking! Yes, no one said that quitting smoking would be
easy, but having millions of people around the world successfully quit
smoking, it just means that quitting smoking can be done! When you
know what you're up against and what to do, it will have the best
chance of successfully quitting smoking. Furthermore, quitting smoking
does not only make you feel better, you will notice drastic
improvements in many areas of your life, such as:
Your
Health
Health concerns is
usually the reason why people want to quit smoking. Many people
knows that smoking causes lung cancer, but just a handful of them
realizes that it also increases the risks for
-
other kinds of
cancers,
-
lung diseases
such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis,
-
heart
attacks,
-
peripheral
vascular disease,
-
stroke
-
premature
wrinkling of the skin,
-
bad breath, bad
smelling clothes and hair and yellow fingernails.
-
problems during
pregnancy such as miscarriages or lower birth-weight babies
-
higher risk of
heart attacks, stroke or clot-formation for women who uses oral
contraceptives
It doesn't matter
how long you've smoked, as long as you quit smoking, you will
definitely benefit from it. In fact, people who stop smoking before
age 35 avoid 90% of the health risks attributable to tobacco. Even
those who quit later will still significantly reduce the risks of
smoking-related diseases.
Ex-smokers enjoy a
higher quality of life with better immunity against cold and flu
viruses, better self-reported health status and reduced rates of
bronchitis and pneumonia.
Cost
The prospect of
better health is a major reason for quitting, but so is the cost to
smoke. Smoking is very expensive. The economic costs of smoking are
estimated to be about $3,391 for an average smoker per year.
Try figure out how
much you spend on smoking: multiply how much money you spend on
tobacco each day by 365. Now multiply that by the number of years
you have been using tobacco. That's how much you have already spent
on smoking.
Or try multiplying
the amount you spend per year by 10. That's what you are going to
spend if you keep smoking for 10 more years. So think, what you
would rather do with that much money.
And this doesn’t
include the higher costs for health and life insurance and medical
costs due to tobacco-related conditions. Now, is it really worth
paying so much just to smoke?
Social
Acceptance
Smoking is less
socially acceptable now than it was in the past. In fact, employers
nowadays prefer to hire nonsmokers. Some workplaces even restrict
smoking. The reason for this is probably because past studies reveal
that smoking employees cost businesses more because they are
"out sick" more frequently. Smoking in a building also
increases the maintenance costs of keeping cleanliness and odors at
an acceptable level.
Landlords, too,
may choose not to rent to smokers since maintenance costs and
insurance rates may rise when smokers occupy buildings. Friends may
ask you not to smoke in their houses or cars. Public buildings,
concerts, and even sporting events are largely smoke-free. And more
and more communities are restricting smoking in all public places,
including restaurants and bars. In fact, finding a place to smoke
nowadays can be quite a hassle.
Smokers may find
opportunities in love and marriage limited to only other smokers,
who make up only about 1/4th of the population.
Yes, it can be
frustrating but that's only because smoking is an inconvenient
habit. It is really much easier to quit smoking than try to change
or adapt the circumstances, things and people around you to accept
smoking.
Health
of Others
Smoking not only
harms your health but the health of those around you. Exposure to
secondhand smoke increases the risks of pulmonary diseases and is
responsible for the thousands of deaths each year from lung cancer
and heart disease in healthy nonsmokers. Read more about secondhand
smoke here.
Setting
an Example
If you have
children or you take care of children, this is the best reason for
you to quit smoking: To set a good example for them. When asked,
nearly all smokers say they don't want their children to smoke, but
children whose parents smoke are more likely to start smoking
themselves. Don't let them grow up thinking that smoking is okay. Be
a good role model for your children by quitting smoking now.
Help
Is Available
There are more quit
smoking tools now than ever before to help you to quit smoking
successfully. And you don't have to do it alone. Get support from your
family and friends, or commit yourself to a program like the Quit
Today! Program, because once you make that commitment you can only
move forward towards your quit smoking goals.
Forget about
contemplating whether or not, or when to quit smoking. There is never
a perfect day to quit smoking, but the best time is always NOW. Because what really is
important, is that you must quickly stop the damage that smoking does
to you each day.
Thousands of
ex-smokers are enjoying their newly improved life without smoking each
day. You too don't have to be a slave to cigarettes. Just say 'NO' to
smoking today and you'll discover more than just improved health, more wealth, better social acceptance and
greater respect from others; you'll discover real happiness. Always remember that:
You
can quit smoking for life!
**References
American Cancer Society
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