The Benefits of Quitting Smoking
What if we told you that there is a way that you could change a health behavior and reap benefits by greatly reducing your risk of several diseases including cancer, heart disease, stroke and lung disease? It would be an easy decision, right? Who doesn't want to live a longer, healthier life?
Unfortunately, some behaviors are hard to change, even when we know they are bad for us. It's a well-known fact that smoking is the leading cause of preventable death worldwide, causing more than five million deaths per year. Yet each day more than an estimated 45.3 million adults continue to smoke in the United States alone. This doesn't even account for the more than 3,800 people a day in the United States under the age of 18 who will have their first cigarette, despite the fact that they know it's bad for them. Breaking any habit can be difficult, but the decision to quit might just be the most important one you'll ever make.
According to the National Cancer Institute, of the more than 7,000 chemicals in tobacco smoke, at least 250 are known to be harmful, including hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide and ammonia. Even secondhand exposure to tobacco smoke is unhealthy. It may increase the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer and nasopharyngeal cancer in adults and the risk of leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors in children.
While quitting smoking at any age is beneficial, the earlier you can kick the habit the better. Studies also show that, regardless of age, smokers who quit are less likely to die from smoking related diseases than those who continue to smoke. In addition, quitting also has immediate health benefits. After just a few weeks of not smoking, your circulation will improve and your blood pressure and heart rate will begin to return to normal. Within even a few hours of quitting, the level of carbon monoxide, a gas that reduces the blood's ability to carry oxygen, begins to decline. Not to mention that quitting smoking improves one's sense of smell and taste.
The benefits of quitting are irrefutable, but that doesn't change the fact that nicotine is addictive and quitting smoking is hard to do. In fact most heavy smokers often require more than one attempt before they are able to say goodbye to tobacco for good. But there are a number of effective approaches that can help you in your decision to quit. Start by finding creative ways to resist the urge to smoke, and make sure to enlist family, a friend or support group to help you through. You can always talk to your doctor or another health care provider about methods for quitting and which may work best for you. For more information, science-driven tools and resources for smokers looking to quit, visit the National Cancer Institute's Smokefree.gov. If you are a non-smoker concerned about the health of a loved one who smokes, let them know about your concern and be there to support them if they make the decision to quit.
If you don't want to quit smoking cigarettes for yourself, do it for your friends, your family and your future. The hardest things in life are the ones most worth doing.
In terms of your health, knowledge is power and ignorance is definitely not bliss. Learning about both prevention and early warning signs of cancer makes you more likely to catch them before they turn deadly. One third of cancers are curable if caught in their early stages. Educating yourself, and making small lifestyle changes, you can help protect yourself from late stage cancer.