Think! Why do you smoke?

– Nicotine is the only know psychoactive ingredient in tobacco smoke.
– Addicted smokers smoke for one principal reason—to get their accustomed doses of nicotine.
– When you stop smoking you will likely experience unpleasant side effects.
– Research shows that nicotine provides a variety of desirable psychological effects.
– Most smokers accept the fact that smoking is harmful, but think of this risk as something like a game of roulette:
– Each time they smoke, they may or may not have a heart attack, lung cancer or develop some other illness and if they are lucky, they may even avoid the hazardous effects of smoking.

BUT ACTUALLY WHAT SMOKING DOES TO YOUR BODY

• Lung cancer risk increases 50-100% for each cigarette you smoke per day.
• Heart disease risk increases 100% for each pack of cigarettes you smoke per day.
• Switching to filter tip cigarettes decreases your risk of lung cancer about 20% but NOT heart disease.
• Smokers spend 27% more time in the hospital and more than twice as much time in Intensive Care Units than nonsmokers
• Each cigarette costs a smoker 14 minutes of life.
• Smokers are at twice the risk of dying before age 65 than nonsmokers.
• Smokers have increased rates of acute and chronic illnesses than nonsmokers.
• Lung cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, mouth cancer, throat cancer, bladder cancer, esophageal cancer, pancreas cancer, kidney disease, heart disease, peptic ulcer disease, allergies, decreased immune system, Alzheimer’s disease, decreased sperm count, erectile dysfunction, increase miscarriage and still born births Just some of the illness associated with smoking!

GOOD NEWS

The great majority of negative health effects can be reduced or eliminated by quitting!!

PLAN

• Make a plan.
• Adopt a healthier lifestyle, which includes eating right, exercising, managing stress and getting support from family and friends.
• Taking these pro-active steps is a valuable first step towards quitting.

A healthier lifestyle is a no lose proposition! These steps will definitely have an effect on other areas of your life.

DEVELOP A QUIT PLAN

•  What type of program is best for you? A self-help plan or a group support program?
• What method of quitting is best for you? Cold turkey or slowly weaning off nicotine and cigarettes?
• Do you want to use medications to boost your efforts?
• Experts have found that the most popular method of quitting is cold turkey.
• However just throwing your cigarettes away on a whim rarely works for more than a day or two.
• Planning a quit date and then quitting—all or nothing, usually works.

A QUIT DAY

• Ask your self what is the toughest cigarette to go without?
• 1^st of the day, with coffee, after dinner, during break etc….
• Make the decision to NEVER smoke during these times!
• Make a true commitment and stick to it!
  Be consistent
• Do not ever smoke during these times!
• Once you gain control over this, worst time to give up a cigarette you have accomplished a lot!
• Set a quit date to completely stop—you can do it!

QUIT

• Anticipate temptations.
• Develop a plan to avoid these temptations, find things to do to help keep your mind off smoking.
• The moment you quit smoking, your body begins to repair the damage.
• Within ½ hour of your last cigarette, your blood pressure and heart rate begin to move back to normal.
• Within 12 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal and oxygen increases.

BENEFITS OF QUITTING

• 12 hours: the carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal.
• 2-12 weeks: blood circulation and lung function begin to improve.
• 1 year: the increased risk of having a heart attack is reduced by half.
• 5 years: risk of a stroke is reduced to the same risk as a person who never smoked.
• 10 years: the risk of lung cancer is reduced.
• 15 years: the risk of heart disease is that of a nonsmoker.

OTHER BENEFITS

• Food tastes better.
• You have more energy.
• Your breath, clothes and hair won’t smell like smoke.
• You are saving money.
• You are now more in control of your life and actions now that you are no longer addicted to cigarettes.

YOU CAN DO IT