GOOD REASONS TO QUIT SMOKING YESTERDAY
Smoking rates have gone down rapidly since the baby boomer generation, but lots of people still smoke, especially young people. You’d think the world couldn’t any more informed about the dangers. Everyone knows cigarettes can, and may, kill you. Some people, however, may not realize just how dangerous they really are. A lot of people associated smoking with cancer and cancer alone; hence, they view smoking a risky, but not decisive, action: they may or may not get cancer. The reality of nicotine use is much more grim.
WHAT’S IN A CIGARETTE?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is an ongoing health crisis. Cigarettes and cigars are the leading preventable cause of disease, death, and disability. Nearly half a million people die prematurely from smoking each and every year.
So what’s in a cigarette? It’s hard to say, because we don’t even know for sure. At least 19 cancer-causing chemicals can be found in the nicotine, 4,000 in the tobacco. Thousands more carcinogenic compounds are created through combustion when you light the cigarette, too.
REASONS TO QUIT CASUAL SMOKING
No matter your circumstances, it’s never good to smoke. Contrary to popular belief, nicotine isn’t an effective tool for stress relief or weight loss.
Smoking causes almost 90 percent of all lung cancer cases, and that’s just one health complication of many that smoking may cause. You must also worry about asthma, pulmonary disease, diabetes, gum disease, vision loss, skin irritation, etc. It’s a matter of when, not if, you contract a problem. Even smokers who don’t develop cancer typically die early.
The nature of nicotine addiction is astonishing. It’s arguably the most addictive drug out there. Within 10 seconds of inhaling a cigarette, the brain receives a powerful dose of nicotine, and just hours later, withdrawals begin. Irritability, depression, and insomnia can drive people to relapse less than a day after attempting to quit. Cravings can also creep back up long after quitting.
Nicotine addiction works like any other addiction and will require the same proactive measures to beat. If you’re ready to stop smoking for good, keep researching. Learn your triggers and how to avoid to avoid them. Educate yourself as much as possible about the psychobiological nature of the cravings–of the mental magic that convinces you to smoke “just one cigarette”–and you’ll gradually learn to beat it.
If you’re only considering quitting, you should quit the excuses, because there’s never a good time to be a smoker. Your stressful job, relationship, etc is temporary. Disease might not be.
For additional info on how to quit smoking, explore our blogs.
