Stop Smoking Sooner Rather Than Later

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Despite years and years of anti-smoking messages, every day someone takes their first drag on a cigarette. At the same time a seemingly equal number of people are vowing to “kick the habit” and stop smoking. While making the stop smoking promise is easy, it is much harder to break this addictive cycle.

Adverse Effects of Smoking

While smokers become oblivious to the smell of cigarettes due to long-term exposure, non-smokers can smell the smoke on clothes, hair, and breath. The smoke will stain fingertips and teeth. Small wrinkles around the lips form from the frequent pursing expression used to get the smoke out of the cigarette.

Macular degeneration is much more common among smokers than non-smokers, resulting in blindness. A smoker’s lifespan is shortened by approximately 13-14 years. Women face an increased risk (if they are older than 35 and use birth control pills) of having a stroke, heart attack, or deep vein thrombosis, all potentially life-ending crises.

Withdrawal Symptoms

When you begin stop smoking treatments you can expect to have withdrawal symptoms since smoking causes a physical addition to nicotine. Some of the symptoms you can expect are irritability, craving a cigarette, mental confusion, insomnia, restlessness, and anxiety. These symptoms may last from two days to six months.

Short-Term Benefits of Giving Up Cigarettes

Your blood pressure decreases along with your pulse rate within the first twenty minutes of quitting smoking. Carbon monoxide levels, which are pushed higher with each cigarette, drop and oxygen levels increase within seven hours of quitting. This means your circulation improves significantly. Statistically your chance of having a heart attack are cut in half within 24 hours with the help of stop smoking aides. You will have more energy and your senses of taste and smell will improve.

Moderate Benefits of Giving Up Cigarettes

After six months you will still have improved blood circulation and your feet may feel warm again and wounds may heal more quickly. Your risk of heart and lung ailments will be cut in half compared to your smoking self.

Long-Term Benefits of Giving Up Cigarettes

After ten years of no smoking your risk of lung cancer, throat cancer, mouth cancer, esophageal cancer, cervical cancer, and pancreatic cancer, asthma attacks and heart attacks has been slashed in half. There are many stop smoking aides. One more recent development has been stop smoking laser treatment. This involves identifying the acupuncture pressure points and applying the laser to these points. There are nicotine gums and nicotine pills. Each person will have different successes or failures with varying treatments.

Financial benefits are great as well. You can increase your income per year by abstaining from one pack of cigarettes per day. Try to save that money and buy a new car or take a vacation to celebrate the new, healthier you! Whether you quit by yourself, cold turkey, or use stop smoking aides, patience is vital. It will take time to get the nicotine out of your system for for the cravings to subside.

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