GIVING UP SMOKING » Smoking Fact

Benefits of Giving Up Smoking

StopSmokingCoach — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 19:01:50 +0000

There are many benefits to giving up smoking. The human body is incredibly resilient and it can heal from many years of damages caused by such activities as smoking cigarettes. There are many information sources out there on and offline about the health benefits on giving up smoking. These sources include government run websites, personal blogs, and corporations that sell quit smoking aids. Unfortunately, while most of them are fine source of learning the health benefits to giving up smoking, they fail to describe the benefits that an average Joe can truly relate to. So without the complicated graphs and medical mumbo jumbo, let’s discuss about the practical benefits to giving up smoking.

The first thing you notice about most smokers is their inability to enjoy an active life. I can attest to this as a former smoker myself. It is a common knowledge that smoking cigarettes diminish the lung capacity.

First and foremost, you can say goodbye to just about every sports activity you’ve enjoyed over the years once you start smoking. An active lifestyle creates an energetic person and is not the other way around. If you haven’t been smoking for long, you may think this does not apply to you, but you truly feel the effect of smoking after a full year or two of smoking cigarettes.

Your social life, the relationships with your friends, family, and colleagues, they all change overtime due to your smoking habit. At first you smoke because it makes you feel good, then because you need to, and finally, you smoke because you are completely addicted to cigarettes. The places you can be, the things you can do, and the people you meet get limited because of your addiction.

One aspect of your life that gets hit hard when you start smoking is the romance in your life. If you had a girlfriend, boyfriend, or spouse before you started smoking, then you know firsthand smoking is a big issue with them.

If you are hoping to date someone new and you’ve picked up a smoking habit as well, you’d be surprised to learn that some surveys show that over 90 percent of non-smoking singles won’t even entertain the idea of dating a smoker. You’ve just reduced your dating pool to about 20 percent of the population.

There’s also the benefit of possibly saving a large sum of money. There was the largest hike for taxes on cigarettes in 2009 and the last time I checked, there was a plan to increase the tax by another $1.49 which would be a record hike. This means that in areas that cigarettes are the most expensive, such as New York, you would be paying as much as $10 per pack. But even if you live in an area that for a long time retained a low cigarette price, you would still be paying in the upwards of $6 per pack.

The latest figure I’ve seen suggest that an average smoker smokes one pack a day. This means that an average smoker can save nearly $4000 a year. Can you use an extra 4 grand? I know most of us could and just imagine how much interest your money would have accrued in a period of 10 years had you put your money in a C/D account.

Lastly, do you dread the feeling of being left with just enough cigarettes to survive the evening until your bed time? I know the feeling of wanting that insurance, that extra pack that assures you that you will not run out of cigarettes until you sleep, and that you will have a pack waiting for you as you wake up in the morning. So won’t you run out at 1am in the morning to the nearest 24hr convenient shop for your fix? Whether you would like to admit it or not, you’ve become a junkie.

The benefits of giving up smoking are in the dramatic improvements in the quality of life. Your smoking habit touches so many aspects of your life, that once you quit, you’ll notice the positive changes take place in parts of your life that you never imagined would have been affected by your habit. Stop smoking today and I promise you the benefits to kicking the habit will not let you down.

Second Hand Smoke

StopSmokingCoach — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 02:32:34 +0000

According to American Cancer Society, second hand smoke is responsible for an estimated 35000 death each year from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers. Second hand smoke can be just as hazardous as mainstream smoke. That means each year, 35000 non-smokers are murdered by smokers and there’s no justice served for the death of any one of them.

The act of smoking a cigarette does not start and end by the inhaling and the exhaling. Half of the smokes are dispersed in the air, within the space occupied by the smoker. Passive smoking does not discriminate. Children, elderly, Black, White, Asian, Brown, it does not care. If you are in the proximity of the smoke, you will inhale almost everything the smoker is inhaling. Second hand smoke deliver over 50 different carcinogens, the cancer causing agent.

Children who are subjected to second hand smoke are likely to develop asthma, have weak immune system, and become smokers themselves. A large percentage of children who develop respiratory ailments have parents that smoke. Children of smokers who spent eight hours a day in a room where someone sometimes smoked were eight times more likely to die. Parents really don’t have a way to smoke and not affect their children in a negative manner. If you think you are keeping your children safe by smoking outside or smoking indoors only when they are not around. Think again and read this article on “Third Hand Smoke”.

I’m a believer in that no decent person wishes to do harm onto others without probable-cause. I also believe that is the lack of knowledge and the psyche being weakened by nicotine addiction, that force smokers to be insensible to the harm they do in the form of second hand smoke. Unfortunately none of those reasoning make any difference as to the outcome of being subjected to second smoke. Being subjected to second hand smoke from a nice person is just as bad as second hand smoke from anyone. As human beings, we are born with certain rights and one of them I believe should be the freedom to experience different things with our body as we’d like. We shouldn’t need anyone’s permission to experiment with our body, but then you should also accept the responsibility of not harming others as in the process of practicing those rights.

Let me make this very clear to you, Second Hand Smoking Kill innocent people. Imagine yourself being involved in a plot to mass-murder random innocent people and ask yourself if you can continue with your smoking habit. Continue with “How To Quit Smoking”.

The Famous Who Died From Smoking

StopSmokingCoach — Sun, 31 May 2009 19:41:01 +0000

This list is comprised of only a fraction of the famous that died from smoking related diseases.

Armstrong, Louis – The legendary musician died at the age of 74 from a massive heart attack. Ironically, he was a spokesman for Camel.

Bogart, Humphrey – The actor died from cancer of the esophagus. He was 57 at the time of his death.

Boon, Richard – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 64.

Brynner, Yul – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 65.

Candy, John – Died from heart attack at the age of 43.

Carson, Johnny – Died from emphysema and he also had heart conditions. He was 79 years old.

Carver, Raymond – The author died from lung cancer, he was only 50 years old.

Cassidy, Jack – The actor died in a fire from smoking in bed. He was 50 years old.

Col, Nat King – The singer died after his lung cancer surgery at the age of 45.

Cooper, Cary – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 60.

Davis Jr. Sammy – This member of the Rat Pack died from throat cancer at the age of 64.

Disney, Walt – Died from lung cancer at the age of 60, there were complications following an operation to remove a tumor.

Fitzgerald, F. Scott – The writer (The Great Gatsby) died from heart attack at the age of 44.

Fleming, Ian – The writer (James Bond) died from heart attack at the age of 56.

Gable, Clark – The actor died from heart attack at the age of 59.

Harrison, George – Died from lung cancer at the age of 58.

Haynes, Lloyd – Died from lung cancer at the age of 52.

Holliday, Judy – The actress died from breast cancer at the age of 43. She was survived by her young son, Jonathan Oppenheim, and by her ex-husband, clarinetist and conductor David Oppenheim

Jennings, Peter – The anchorman died from lung cancer at the age of 67.

Kendrick, Eddie – The singer died from lung cancer at the age of 52.

Landon, Michael – The actor smoked 4packs a day and died at the age 54 from the cancer of the pancreas and liver.

Maris, Roger – The homerun record holder died from lung cancer at the age of 51.

Maxwell, Marilyn – The actress died from heart attack at the age of 49.

McLure, Doug – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 56.

Murrow, Edward R. – The legendary anchorman died from lung cancer at the age of 57.

Oliver, Susan – The actress died from lung cancer at the age of 53.

Orbison, Roy – The singer died from heart attack at the age of 52.

O’Neal, Patrick – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 66.

Owens, Jesse – The track star died from lung cancer at the age of 66.

Palmer, Robert – The British rock star died from Lung cancer at the age of 54.

Powell, Dick – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 59.

Puccini, Giacomo – The opera composer died from throat cancer at the age of 65.

Ramsey, Ann – The actress died from throat cancer at the age of 59.

Remick, Lee – The actress died from the lung and liver cancer at the age of 55.

Ruth, Babe – The slugger died from Naso-pharyngeal Cancer at the age of 53.

Shaw, Robert – The actor died from heart attack at the age of 51.

Taylor, Robert – The actor died from lung cancer at the of 57.

Varney, Jim – The actor died from lung cancer at the age of 50.

No one is immune from the deadliness of cigarettes, so please act today before it’s too late.

Continue with “Your First Step In Giving Up Smoking”.

Cigarette Price Hike and its Effectiveness

StopSmokingCoach — Sun, 24 May 2009 18:47:50 +0000

Recent studies show that the price increase of cigarette did little in reducing the number of smokers in the United States. When there is an increase in cigarette price, you will see a spike in the number of people trying to quit. A good example of that would be callers to Quitline increasing by as much as tenfold in the beginning cycle of the price increase. The problem is that only small number smokers who supposedly want to quit follow through. The initial shock fades over time and smokers will once again find their own reasons to keep smoking. Overcome by the fear of giving up smoking, it becomes easy to justify paying an extra 50cents or a dollar per pack.

Most smokers are thought to cut back when there is a price hike in cigarettes. But as a former smoker, it’s hard for me to believe that these smokers will stick to their cut back figures. Unless you are quitting for good, cutting back is temporary measure that is not sustainable. Once nicotine dependency sets in, it becomes a struggle for every minute you go without the necessary amount nicotine in your system. The new smokers control the number of cigarettes they smoke far better than those who have smoked for many years already. In my experience in dealing with smokers, it appeared to me that the longer you’ve been a smoker, the harder it is to quit smoking.

Right now the trending of social norms is that smoking is socially unacceptable. Perhaps instead of price increase in cigarettes, changing how people live should take precedence. Many studies show that public ordinance such as smoking ban in indoor places is far more effective in combating the smoking epidemic. Smokers are losing their space in suburbs and cities across America and the trending will continue without a doubt. I fear that smokers will be pushed and antagonized into quitting smoking in the near future. Whether that’s right or wrong it’s debatable. What is not debatable is the fact that you can choose not being in the middle of this debate. Simply Quit Smoking. Continue with “The Famous Who Died From Smoking”.

Smoking Facts

StopSmokingCoach — Sat, 23 May 2009 00:59:50 +0000

If you are having a hard time committing on giving up smoking, perhaps it’s time you learn the smoking facts. It is a well documented fact that smokers of third world nations are not aware of smoking fact such as cigarette health threat. Only 25 percent of Smokers in China were aware of the harmful effects of smoking, tobacco kills 1.2million Chinese each year. “Knowledge is Power”, so arm yourself with the knowledge of smoking facts. Use it to help motivate you and to push you through the challenging road ahead.

According to the WHO (World Health Organization), we’ll reach the death toll of one billion by the end of the century from tobacco-related causes if we keep the current pace of consumption. Smoking killed 100 million people in the 20th century. That’s more than the death toll for the first and second World War combined. Recent WHO reports are even grimmer stating over 5 million people die each year from illnesses or diseases attributed to tobacco use.

Cigarette smokes contain over 4000 chemical compounds. Out of the 4000, 200 are known to be toxic. Not a single one of them is beneficial to your body.

Over 60 known carcinogens are present in cigarette smoke. Carcinogens are cancer causing agents that mutate genes that control growth of cells. It is statistically irrefutable the fact that smoking causes cancer. With that said, it’s also important to point out that not all smokers develop smoking related cancer.

Over 90 percent of lung cancers are caused by smoking. Smoking also causes cancer of the larynx, the mouth, and the pancreas. Nearly 40000 Americans are diagnosed each year with Pancreatic Cancer. Nearly 40000 die each year from it. In Europe, it’s 60000+ people. Survival rate for Pancreatic Cancer is low due to the lack of apparent symptoms early on. By the time of diagnosis it would have been too late for most. After the diagnosis patients can expect 3 to 6 months to prepare themselves for their inevitable fate. Only 5 percent of Pancreatic Cancer patients show 5 year survival rate.

Smoking can also cause Heart Disease. It is estimated that about 20 percent of heart disease are smoking-related. Smoking increases blood clotting resulting in increased blood pressure and heart rate leading to decreased amount of oxygen delivered to the heart

Nearly 40 percent of smoking-related deaths affect women. It should be enough to encourage women to stop smoking, but if you need more encouragement. Smoking is attributed to premature aging and wrinkles rendering any anti-aging cream useless.

Men don’t fare any better. The gentlemen have decreased sexual activity to look forward to. There’s nothing sexier than an impotent man with a nicely stained set of teeth.

Nervousness is commonly displayed among smokers. Going extended hours without smoking tends to make smokers jittery, but unless you are your own boss, you can’t step out of the office every time you need a fix. Smokers get tense as they slowly run out of cigarettes. Smokers will gladly make a trip to a local shop on a cold night to buy an extra pack of cigarette than be caught without a smoke before sleeping or after waking up. It is a true waste of one’s time and energy.

Smokers often show signs of depression. Smoking in the early stage is enjoyable, you smoke because it relaxes you and make you feel good. As dependency sets in you no longer smoke for pleasure, you smoke to prevent feeling the uneasiness that comes when you don’t have your fix.

The devastating effects of smoking are irrefutable. The smoking facts are out there. The verdict has been in. It is not a matter of if, but a matter of how you will use these facts to steer yourself in the right direction. Continue with “How To Quit Smoking”.

Third Hand Smoke

Augusto Morales — Tue, 19 May 2009 23:16:22 +0000

Third hand smoke is a fairly new term. It’s also a term which unfortunately you are a culprit of. If you have children, then I need not explain to you why it’s such a struggle to juggle work and family. All parents want to witness every moment of their child’s life. Every minute is golden but some moments are so precious we sprawl to freeze them in time as pictures or re-live them as moving images.

Just thinking of your children must have brought smiles on your face. So then I would ask you. Why would allow your smoking habit to rob you of the precious time you can spend with your children? I personally have missed too many moments that will never come back. I missed the moment my son spoke his first words because I was having my smoke after a meal. I missed the moment when he first rolled over. And I missed many more. Missing just one of them was one too many.

I’ve too many times made my family wait in the car while I had a smoke. Satisfied that I haven’t subjected my family to second hand smoking, I was too ignorant to realize I carried toxic particulate matter every time I came back to them after smoking. It is called third hand smoke and is backed by medical institutions around the world. If you think that it’s safe to smoke when your family’s not home. Think twice. Long after the smokes have disappeared, smoke contamination lingers all around your house. Children spend an awful lot of time on carpets, often crawling very low on the ground exposing themselves to the toxins even more effectively. Imagine furniture where often toys are stuck under and behind, how much toxin is waiting for your child’s small hand to grab onto that toy. The same is accomplished even if you smoke outside the house at all times. You carry the toxins on your hair and clothes. As you move about you become an effective toxin distributor.

Children are often helpless and they depend on us to protect them. No matter whose child, we are at the very least obligated to never harm them. If you have families and friends, if you have any and however a significant social life, by smoking you will undoubtedly affect children negatively. If you are a single person you might just brush this off. If you are a parent, I hope you couldn’t.

Finally, just imagine how much pain you will cause your children if you die prematurely from smoking-related illness (e.g.). Let’s not be so selfish and stop thinking of the moments that we may miss. Let’s think about the damages we can inflict on our children’s life if we were to be absent from it because of our irresponsible habit. Would they be financially handicapped? Could your spouse make up for your absence? Most importantly though what of the fond memories of you they were supposed to grow up with? Can you still justify your smoking habit? I couldn’t. No, I didn’t. I made sure I would never speak of the term “third hand smoke” with my children’s name ever again. Please do right by your children, only you can stop the damage.

Benefits of quitting smoking

StopSmokingCoach — Tue, 19 May 2009 20:48:21 +0000

If quitting smoking ever crossed your mind, you might have wondered about the benefits to quit smoking. Unfortunately, too often smokers think they’ve done too much damage to ever recover fully. The thought couldn’t be further from the truth and inflicting more damage to your body could never be the solution.

The fact is, you are alive only because your body is busy recovering as soon as you put your cigarette out. If the damage was permanent and your body never recovered, it should not take a genius to figure out that all smokers should be dead not long after picking up smoking habits. Your body keeps you alive even as you pump in so many toxins hour after hour, cigarette after cigarette. Now imagine you completely stop the cycle. You stop smoking and your body can continually heal itself without being overwhelmed by toxins from the smokes you otherwise would have inhaled. It’s quite simple, if you break damaging part of the cycle. Only the recovery part of the cycle remains and that is the biggest benefit of quitting smoking.

Smoking increases blood pressure. But blood pressure rapidly decreases as soon as you put out that cigarette. When you quit smoking, your blood pressure will decrease to your normal state. Naturally this will also lessen the chances of heart attack. You will also reduce the risk of coronary heart disease as oxygen level in blood increases to normal state.

Stay cigarette-free for several years and the risks for developing cancer will decrease. Those include lung cancer, pancreas, throat, larynx, bladder, kidney, and mouth. Eventually your body will make complete recovery.

For many long time smokers, aforementioned benefits of quitting smoking might not be enough to lure them into cigarette-free life. Maybe you need benefits that are more trivial but ones that touch you and those around you in a more personal manner. Well, remember the last few family gatherings? Have you ever been scolded by the children how stinky you were? Adults are generally politically correct and they normally will not point out to how much you reek of cigarette smoke. Children are different story though. If you are stinky, they’ll let you hear about it. If you haven’t noticed, your cousins and or your siblings cringe when you kiss their children. The last thing they want is that sewer you call a mouth making contact with their children’s cheek. Your girl friend or boy friend, they only put up with you because they love you. Truth be told, the smell of organic matter decomposing might be the only thing that smells worse than your breath. Trust me, I know, I was once a smoker as well. Your house, car, clothes, and everything that you touch have that distinctive disgusting smell.

It’s quite easy to list the benefits to quitting smoking and that’s because there is no downside to counter argue. Also, the physiological benefits of quitting smoking are too many and too important to ignore. But ultimately quitting smoking will benefit you in so many small yet meaningful ways, that it’s impossible to list them all. Free yourself from the negative cycle, you can gain so much by giving up just one thing, “cigarettes”.