Why should I stop smoking?
You're never too young or too old to stop smoking. Quitting by age 30 eliminates 90% of tobacco-related cancer risk -- but quitting even at age 60 still cuts this risk significantly, according to a report in the current issue of the British Medical Journal.
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Think of all the money you can save. At a pack of cigarettes a day you can save over $800.00 a year. People who do not smoke often get discounts on car, home, life and liability insurance.
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Once you become smoke-free, your risk of developing lung cancer is 10 to 25 times lower depending upon how many cigarettes you smoked.
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If you do not smoke, you reduce your risk of developing cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx, kidneys, bladder, and pancreas.
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Smoking can increase, decrease or even cancel the effects of medication. Becoming smoke free will decrease the likelihood of drug interactions in your body.
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Food will taste better.
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As your lungs become cleaner, you will breathe more easily and have more energy.
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Smoking causes 18% of family dwelling fires. Not only will you help reduce this hazard, but you will also reduce the risk of holes in your clothes and furniture.
- If you do not smoke, your hair, clothes, home, and car will no longer smell of smoke.
- Reduces risk of heart disease
- Smoking eventually kills about half of those who never quit.
- Smokers who started smoking before the age of 15 have twice the risk of lung cancer of those who started smoking after 20.
- Lung cancer kills nearly 16% of men who never quit.
It's never too late to quit
smoking! Studies show that if a person quits after 20 to 25 years
of smoking, his or her chances of developing cancer are actually quite
low. The body begins to correct damage caused by smoking in remarkable
ways even within minutes of the last cigarette.
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Within 20 minutes of your last
cigarette:
Blood pressure drops to normal.
The pulse drops to its normal rate.
Body temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal
The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.
Oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.
Chances of heart attack decreases.
Nerve endings start regrowing.
Your ability to smell and to taste things is enhanced.
Bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier
Circulation improves.
Walking becomes easier
Lung function increases up to 30 percent.
Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease.
Cilia regrowth in the lungs, increasing your ability to handle mucus, clean
the lungs and
reduce infection.
Your body's overall energy level increases.
The lung cancer death rate for the average smoker (one pack per day) decreases
from 72
per 100,000 to 37 per 100,000
The lung cancer death rate for the average smoker drops to 12 deaths per
100,000 (almost the rate of non-smokers) Pre-cancerous cells are replaced by healthy cells. Risks for other cancers - almost the rate of non-smokers. Risks for cancers such as those of the mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder,
kidney
and pancreas decrease.
Information compliments of Rutgers University
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