19 reasons to quit smoking today
Ready to put out your last cigarette? Find out how you can become more healthy, attractive and energetic.
Quit smoking and you'll soon be on the fast track to regaining your health and lowering your risk for a variety of diseases and cancers. Here are 19 benefits you'll receive if you make the commitment to quit smoking today. Some you'll notice in a manner of minutes, others kick in months or years later. Go ahead, set your cigarettes aside now until you finish reading, then see what you've learned!
- Improve your sense of smell.
Nicotine and toxins in tobacco kill nerve endings around the mouth and nose, reducing your ability to taste and smell. But, according to the American Lung Association (www.lungusa.org), just two days after quitting, those nerve endings grow again, restoring your senses to full capacity so those roses smell better and that apple pie tastes sweeter.
- Re-oxygenate your organs.
Carbon monoxide-a component of cigarette smoke-has killed and harmed more people than any other poison in recent history. Within two days of your last smoke, your organs are no longer starved for oxygen.
- Reverse stress placed on your heart.
Your blood pressure will return to normal within just a month after quitting. Lower blood pressure combined with a healthy diet and exercise can help reverse the stress placed on your heart.
- Cut your cancer risk in half.
According to the American Cancer Society, your risk of developing lung cancer can be cut in half 10 years after smoking your last cigarette. You can also reduce the risk of other cancers-mouth, larynx, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas.
The younger you are when you quit, the quicker your body will start repairing the damage. After all, the lungs begin to start repairing themselves within a year.
- Profit from a strong heart.
The risk of coronary heart disease drops dramatically, while mortality drops in half in the first year. Within 15 years, former smokers are at no more risk of developing heart disease than someone who had never smoked.
- Get compliments on your smile again.
Over time, tar and nicotine build up on smokers' teeth, making them appear dingy and yellow. The effect stops as soon as you quit using tobacco. You also eliminate damage to your lips and gums from cigarette heat. Quitting will give you confidence about your smile, and people will notice the difference.
- Reduce your risk of impotence.
Two months after quitting, blood flow to the arms, legs and sexual organs returns to normal, helping reduce the likelihood of sexual dysfunction.
- Improve your odds of a healthy pregnancy.
Women who stop smoking prior to becoming pregnant or within their first trimester share the same risk of having low-birth weight babies as women who have never smoked. Additionally, smoking can decrease fertility levels in men and women.
- Save money and enjoy luxuries!
An average smoker smokes a pack a day at about $4 per pack. That's about $1,456 a year! What can you buy for that? How about a first-class plane ticket, a nine-day cruise to Hawaii, a 35-inch HDTV television or a complete home theater system.
You would also help the environment since an estimated $27.2 billion a year goes to fighting forest fires worldwide that resulted from the careless use of cigarettes, according to researchers at the University of California-Davis.
- Replace precancerous cells with healthy cells.
Cancerous cells look for any opportunity to grow, since a smoker's immune system is weakened. Those cells can and will multiply. If you quit smoking, your immune system will return to normal and precancerous cells will be destroyed and replenished by healthy cells.
- Smell like a rose.
Just days after you quit, the smell of tobacco no longer clings to your skin or hair or lingers on your breath, making you more pleasant to be around. Your car will start to smell better too.
- Hold off a stroke.
"Five to 15 years after quitting, a smoker reduces his or her risk of stroke to the same level as those who never smoked," Salit says. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in the United States. It is caused when blood supply to the brain is being interrupted; this is sometimes due to hardening of the arteries from smoking, which can be reversed over time by quitting.
- Reset your biological clock.
Women who smoke may experience menopause two to three years sooner than those who never smoked. But the American Lung Association says women can push menopause back to its natural activation time by quitting.
- Strengthen your bones.
According to the former Surgeon General David Satcher, postmenopausal women who smoke increase their rate of bone density loss by up to 7 percent, accounting for one in eight hip fractures.
- Increase your chances of avoiding a heart attack.
The National Cancer Institute says the risk of smoking-related cardiovascular disease is slashed in half within a year to non-smoker levels.
- Re-energize your life.
In just two to three weeks, your overall circulation improves and your exercise stamina returns to that of a non-smoker. Exercise won't be as hard as it has been in the past. With more energy, you'll enjoy being active.
- Enjoy more social activities.
You'll spend more time with people since you don't have to duck out to light up every so often. No more smoking in the rain or getting locked out of buildings when you forget to prop open the door. And...you won't miss a single precious moment of your child's performance in the school play.
- You'll be a role model to your kids.
Compared to children whose parents smoke, children of non-smokers suffer fewer ear and respiratory infections and are absent fewer days from school. Kids with asthma have fewer attacks. Plus, you'll be a role model to your kids by encouraging them not to start smoking.
- Quitters always win.
People who quit smoking live longer than those who smoke. Even better, if you quit before age 50, you are half as likely to die as those who continue to smoke.
Did you leave your cigarettes alone? Good. Your pulse rate has already lowered, your blood pressure has decreased, and the circulation in your hands and feet has improved. While a few minutes might be easy, you'll need help to ensure a successful break from cigarettes. To make the next step, find out more about smoking-cessation programs in your community.
By N. Scott Trimble
|
