Why you want to quit smoking now
One of the latest television ads asks you: “If you are not planning to quit smoking, what are you planning? In New Jersey and other states, restaurants, shopping areas, work places, and other public venues are now smoke-free. So in the summer you have to go out into the heat to light up, and in the winter you have to go out into the cold. Add to that the fact that the price of a pack of cigarettes keeps going up as they add on the taxes, and it is enough to make you want to quit. Or is it?
How about this: According to the 2004 US Surgeon General’s Report, The Health Consequences of Smoking, quitting smoking can greatly reduce your risk for coronary heart disease and other forms of cardiovascular disease, including atherosclerosis (fatty buildup in arteries), thrombosis (blood clots), coronary artery spasm, and cardiac arrhythmia (heart rhythm problems). Quitting smoking also can help manage several other disorders, especially arteriosclerotic peripheral vascular disease (fatty buildups in peripheral arteries) and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
The report also points out that tobacco smoking is still the No. 1 cause of preventable disease and death in this country. About 23% of adult men and 19% of adult women smoke, which is much less than it was in 1965 when 42% of adults smoked. Changes in smoking habits during the late 1960s, the 1970s and the 1980s have very likely contributed to the drop in cardiovascular deaths that occurred at the same time in the United States.
If you have been smoking for a while, why would you want to quit now? Here is why:
* After 1 year off cigarettes, the excess risk of coronary heart disease caused by smoking is reduced by half. After 15 years of abstinence, the risk is similar to that for people who have never smoked.
* In 5 to 15 years, the risk of stroke for ex-smokers returns to the level of those who have never smoked.
* Male smokers who quit between ages 35 to 39 add an average of 5 years to their lives. Female quitters in this age group add 3 years. Men and women who quit at ages 65 to 69 increase their life expectancy by 1 year.
The fact is that more than 4 of 5 smokers do want to quit, according to the American Heart Association report. And each year, around 1.3 million smokers do quit. With good smoking cessation programs, 20% to 40% of program participants are able to quit smoking and stay off cigarettes for at least 1 year. According to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality’s Treating Tobacco Use and Dependence, new, effective clinical treatments for tobacco dependence have been identified in the past decade. Combining interventions such as physician advice and follow-up with nicotine gum and behavior modification may increase success rates. Smoking cessation programs seem especially helpful for people who smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day.
The first step is always the hardest, but once you make up your mind to quit smoking, the help is there for you. Time to get started.
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