The health risks of smoking tobacco are widely known, as well as the highly addictive nature of cigarettes. Conversely, you can enjoy numerous benefits from quitting smoking and many tools are available today to help you quit. If you're thinking about quitting tobacco or need help to stop smoking, talk to your healthcare provider for advice and support.
Complications
Smoking tobacco is a dangerous habit, causing numerous diseases, health complications and social issues. Smoking tobacco can even lead to death, causing more than 430,000 fatalities per year and costing more than $50 billion yearly in medical costs, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke can cause medical problems such as lung cancer and lung diseases, heart disease, hypertension, circulation problems, bone loss and gastrointestinal conditions. Smoking can also increase your risk of developing colon polyps and colorectal cancer, warns the University of Maryland Medical Center. Smoking tobacco during pregnancy has been linked to birth defects such as cleft lip, as well as learning disabilities, sudden infant death syndrome or "SIDS" and low birth weight.
Dangers
Cigarettes and tobacco smoke contain thousands of cancer-causing and toxic compounds, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. If you're a parent and smoke tobacco, your children are at a higher risk of having ear infections, asthma and bronchitis. You and your family are also at a greater risk of a house fire. People with mental health problems and who didn't graduate from high school have a higher risk of smoking tobacco, says the University of Maryland Medical Center. Also, children who are neglected or aren't living with their parents are more likely to smoke than children living with attentive parents.
Benefits of Quitting
After you stop smoking tobacco, you'll experience many different health and social benefits. Your circulation, energy, lung function and mood improve after quitting smoking, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Your risk of infections and heart attack will decrease, and you'll begin to lose your smoker's cough. You might also notice that your clothing, hair and furniture don't smell like tobacco smoke anymore, and your sense of taste and smell will begin to return. The Mayo Clinic recommends reminding yourself all the benefits of quitting smoking, such as improving your health and saving money, when you're having a craving for a cigarette.
Timeframe
After you quit smoking tobacco, you'll experience both immediate and long-term benefits, because your body begins to rebound from the damage due to cigarette smoking right after your last cigarette, says the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. In less than a half-hour after the last time you smoke tobacco, your blood pressure will decrease. Within the first day after quitting, your blood levels of carbon monoxide will normalize, your breathing capacity will increase and your heart attack risks will decrease. Within the first two weeks, you'll regain your senses of smell and taste, your energy levels and mood will improve, your skin will begin to look healthier and your blood circulation will improve. In the first nine months of quitting tobacco use, your infection risks and smoker's cough will subside. The long-term benefits of quitting tobacco use will include reducing your heart attack, stroke and heart disease risks to those of a non-smoker, and your risks of lung, throat and mouth cancers will decrease as well.
Tools
Whether you're quitting on your own or seeking help, you can try some tactics to help prevent a relapse. For example, try avoiding people, places and activities that you associate with smoking tobacco, the Mayo Clinic advises. You can also use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing or visualization, physical exercise and hobbies that keep your hands and mind busy. You can join a support group for quitting smoking either online or in person. Numerous smoking-cessation aids are available as well, including gums, patches, lozenges, nasal sprays and inhalers meant to act as nicotine replacements. Several stop-smoking prescription medications such as Chantix are also available, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center. Ask your doctor about the stop-smoking aid that's right for you.
