For many people trying to kick the noxious habit of smoking,
the Great American Smokeout is a great chance to do it. Every year, the
American Cancer Society dedicates the third Thursday of November to those ready
to give up cigarettes for just a day in their lives in the hope that this might
help them stop permanently. The organization wants smokers to ask themselves
what it would take them to quit, and to try it out for a day to see how kicking
the habit feels like.
Medically, there are great benefits a smoker would have even
from the very first day of quitting. More exactly, doctors believe that a
smoker’s blood pressure and pulse rate drop to normal within 20 minutes of his
last cigarette. Breathing becomes easier within 3 days. Circulation improves,
walking becomes easier, and lung function increases up to 30 percent within 2-3
months. Also, risk of coronary disease will be cut in half within a year.
Ninety percent of all cases of lung cancer in the
Apart from lung cancer, smokers are also susceptible of
developing cancers of the stomach, mouth and pharynx, esophagus, pancreas,
bladder and kidney and also early cardiovascular disease. About half of all
long-term smokers, particularly those who began smoking as teens, die
prematurely, many in middle age. According to the latest statistics of the US
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 80 to 90 percent of tobacco users
started using tobacco products before the age of 18. The CDC’s Youth and
Tobacco Use estimates that each day about 1,140 people younger than 18 years of
age become regular smokers and approximately 4,000 young people between the
ages of 12 and 17 initiate cigarette smoking.
Another of the Great American Smokeout’s goals is to protect
smokers’ loved ones from second hand smoke exposure by not allowing smoking in
the home. Among the 438,000 people tobacco kills a year, 38,000 are non-smokers
who just inhale tobacco smoke from the others. If the governments fail to adopt
more aggressive measures to combat the smoking addiction, in the next century
tobacco will kill one billion people worldwide.
The figures are worrisome and should encourage many smokers
to quit and many friends of smokers to be there and help them quit the habit
for good. Besides facing serious health problems, a smoker spends $1,500 a year
on cigarettes.
Given the serious consequences of smoking, I guess each smoker has thought at least once in his life to quit. But quitting is not an easy thing and the risk of relapse is even higher. You need good reasons for quitting and you need to think about all of the benefits to your health, finances and family. These reasons should be a start in your battle with cigarettes.
Then, here are some tips that can help you win this battle. Ride
out the desire to smoke, as there is no such thing as just one cigarettes or
even one puff. Then you should avoid alcohol as the two often go hand and hand
and drinking increases your odds of smoking again. Stay away from smokers and
places where smoking is allowed, at least just for a while. Keep you hands
busy. It is said that a smoker has this urge to play with his cigarette while
smoking. If you keep your hands busy, it will be easy for you to forget about the
habit. Also if you feel you are about to light up, then tell yourself to wait
at least 10 minutes. Often the wait will soften the urge to smoke.
Of course, this effort should be correlated with joining a
stop-smoking program and anti-smoking drugs, which can significantly reduce the
urge for smoking. Finally yet importantly, you should reward yourself. Put the
money you would spend on cigarettes in a jar and buy yourself a weekly treat or
save up for a major purchase.
Now I guess you have all the reasons in the world to quit smoking. The Great American Smokeout is your chance to start living a healthy life. Try it! You have nothing to lose. With a little faith and will you can put an end to smoking. It is not easy, but life saving!