| Change your Life, "Stop Smoking" |  |
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| Change your Life, "Stop Smoking" | |
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Time is Running out Stop Smoking Today |
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It's never too late to quit. No matter how long you've been smoking. Just like people who've never smoked, smokers who quit live an average of 10–12 years longer than those who don't quit. Smoking Nicotine restricts blood vessels and raises blood pressure. Although smokers think smoking relaxes them, it actually makes their hearts work harder to pump blood to all parts of their bodies. Smoking may also cause artery damage, which increases plaque build-up and makes arteries less flexible. The desire to stop smoking Many smokers continue smoking not through free choice but because they are addicted to the nicotine in cigarettes. A report by the Royal College of Physicians found that nicotine complied with the established criteria for defining an addictive substance. The report states: “On present evidence, it is reasonable to conclude that nicotine delivered through tobacco smoke should be regarded as an addictive drug, and tobacco use as the means of nicotine self-administration.” Surveys have consistently shown that at least 70% of adult smokers would like to stop smoking. A 1999 survey found that, of those who expressed a desire to quit, a third were very keen to stop. The same survey found that the more a person smokes the less faith that person has that he or she can stop. The most important element of the cessation process is the smoker's decision to quit, with the aid or method of secondary importance. However, those who use aids such as nicotine replacement therapy double their chances of successfully quitting. Effects Cigarette manufacturers spend millions of dollars every year to convince you and your children that smoking will make you exciting, athletic, important, sophisticated, and sexually attractive. They carefully avoid mentioning the intense addictive qualities of nicotine and the well-documented, serious health risks involved. Poisons Cigarette smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known cancer-causing (carcinogenic) compounds and 400 other toxins. These include nicotine, tar, and carbon monoxide, as well as formaldehyde, ammonia, hydrogen cyanide, arsenic, and DDT. Nicotine is highly addictive. Smoke containing nicotine is inhaled into the lungs, and the nicotine reaches your brain in just six seconds. Nicotine in small doses acts as a stimulant to the brain. In large doses, it's a depressant, inhibiting the flow of signals between nerve cells. In even larger doses, it's a lethal poison, affecting the heart, blood vessels, and hormones. Nicotine in the bloodstream acts to make the smoker feel calm. As a cigarette is smoked, the amount of tar inhaled into the lungs increases, and the last puff contains more than twice as much tar as the first puff. Carbon monoxide makes it harder for red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body. Tar is a mixture of substances that together form a sticky mass in the lungs. Most of the chemicals inhaled in cigarette smoke stay in the lungs. The more you inhale, the better it feels—and the greater the damage to your lungs. From coughing to back pain Smoking has a variety of undesirable effects. When smokers inhale, the chemicals in the smoke irritate the air passages and lungs. "Smoker's cough" is the body's attempt at a protective response, as it produces mucus and provokes coughing. Smoker's cough can trigger back pain, and smoking can speed the deterioration of the disks that cushion the spine. Because their wounds take longer to heal, smokers take extra time to recover from surgery. Smoking can interfere with the action of a wide variety of drugs—and even vitamin C supplements—making them less effective. Benefits of quitting Quitting smoking is the best preventive medicine: Experts estimate that stopping smoking is about 10 times more cost-effective at saving lives than even the best medical screening tests. The benefits are enormous. Your heart, lungs, and blood vessels have an amazing capacity to heal themselves when given the chance. When you stop smoking, your body starts repairing itself almost immediately. And with proper nutrition and activity, you can usually regain normal lung and heart functioning within a few years, regardless of how long you've been smoking. The risk of heart attack, stroke, and cancer starts dropping immediately. |
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