New Year’s Resolutions
At the start of every New Year many of us resolve to improve our health. If there was only one thing you could do to improve your health what would that be? Lose weight, eat less chocolate, stop drinking coffee, quit smoking, exercise more – all of these lifestyle modifications would improve your health, but if you smoke cigarettes, quitting smoking is the biggest winner in the health improvement contest. Quitting smoking can enhance the length and quality of your life and those of your family.
"Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in this country."
According the 2004 report from the Secretary of Health and Human Services, Tommy G. Thompson, "Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death in this country." Cigarette smoking is by far the leading cause of lung cancer, increases the risk of coronary heart disease, increases blood pressure, decreases exercise tolerance, increases the tendency for blood to clot causing strokes, and affects the function of immune system.
Quitting smoking is one of the most difficult habits to change, but there are things you can do to make quitting easier.
Five Keys for Quitting
The Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers five keys to quitting smoking. CDC studies have shown that these five steps, used together, will help you quit for life.
1. Get ready.
2. Get support and encouragement.
3. Learn new skills and behaviors.
4. Get medication and use it correctly.
5. Be prepared for relapse or difficult situations
1. Get Ready
2. Get Support and Encouragement
3. Learn New Skills and Behaviors
4. Get Medication and Use It Correctly
5. Be Prepared for Relapse or Difficult Situations
Your body will thank you within minutes after your last cigarette.
20 minutes after quitting: Your blood pressure drops to a level close to that before the last cigarette. The temperature of your hands and feet increases to normal. (US Surgeon General's Report,1988, pp. 39, 202)
8 hours after quitting: The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal. (US Surgeon General's Report,1988, p. 202)
24 hours after quitting: Your chance of a heart attack decreases. (US Surgeon General's Report,1988, p. 202)
2 weeks to 3 months after quitting: Your circulation improves and your lung function increases up to 30%. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp.193,194,196,285,323)
1 to 9 months after quitting: Coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue, and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce infection. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp. 304, 307, 319, 322)
1 year after quitting: The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)
5 years after quitting: Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a nonsmoker 5-15 years after quitting. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p.79)
10 years after quitting: The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas decrease. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p.110, 147, 152, 155, 159,172)
15 years after quitting: The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a nonsmoker's. (US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p.79)
