Your doctor has made you well aware of the facts regarding cigarette smoking and your health, and you have finally made the decision to quit. Quitting any habit is not easy and can become overwhelming if you lose sight of the reasons compelling you to quit. Understanding the benefits of smoking cessation to you, as well as those around you, may provide the insight you need to motivate you to make the change.
Your Health
Smoking causes numerous adverse effects to your health. These include a higher risk for certain health conditions, including lung and other types of cancer, cardiovascular disease and respiratory impairment and diseases. Despite being aware of these risks, the idea of quitting smoking may still seem overwhelming.
Perhaps understanding the benefits of smoking cessation over time will help you decide to quit the habit. For example, the National Cancer Institute suggests that if you stop smoking by age 30, you may cut --- by 90 percent --- your risk of cancer and other health risks associated with a lifetime of smoking. If you quit smoking by age 50, you may reduce your risk of developing these complications by 50 percent as compared to those who smoke after age 50. The Institute also claims that even if you smoke until you are 59 years old, those who quit by the time they are 60 have a higher life expectancy than those who do not.
Your Appearance
Learning the negative effects of smoking on appearance may be a motivating factor for smoking cessation. According to the Action on Smoking and Health, smoke-exposed skin may develop a dull "greyish wasted appearance." Darkened skin around the eyes is also a potential effect. Smoking also causes premature aging and wrinkling. In fact, smokers in their 40s are likely to have as many wrinkles as nonsmokers in their 60s.
Smoking causes you to be at two to three times greater risk of developing the skin condition psoriasis, which is a chronic and uncomfortable skin condition associated with disfigurement. This is especially true if you are a woman. The Action on Smoking and Health estimates that smoking is directly related to 25 percent of psoriasis cases.
Other effects of smoking on your appearance include yellowing of your teeth, fingernails and fingers. Quitting smoking will alleviate nicotine's yellowing effect. Smoking cessation will also alleviate or eliminate the halitosis, or chronic bad breath, experienced by many people who smoke. Your house, clothes and car will no longer smell of musty cigarette smoke. And if you are underweight, quitting smoking may increase your appetite, as well as the taste of the foods you normally enjoy.
The Health of Those Around You
Secondhand smoke is a very real health hazard and concern. Exposure to your secondhand smoke puts your friends, family and loved ones at increased risk for several health conditions, including heart disease. In fact, the National Cancer Institute approximates that 46,000 heart-disease deaths per year are attributable to secondhand smoke.
If you have children, their risks of secondhand-smoke exposure are profound. Children exposed to secondhand smoke experience more colds and other respiratory-related illnesses, such as bronchitis and pneumonia. Cigarette smoke exacerbates pre-existing medical conditions like asthma in children. If you have an infant in your home, exposure to your cigarette smoking increases the likelihood of that child dying from sudden infant death syndrome, or SIDS.
Your Wallet
Smoking can be an expensive habit, and the accumulated cost of cigarettes over time is great. According to the American Lung Association, the average cost of a pack of cigarettes in Wyoming is $4.77. If you smoke two packs a day, your yearly cigarette investment calculates to over $3,482. If you live in Connecticut, your yearly cost for a two-pack habit is approximately $5,438. Wherever you live, the cost associated with smoking is great. Perhaps brainstorming on what you and your family could do with that extra money may provide motivation for quitting.
