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Tobacco is Whacko
The decision to start smoking cigarettes can be costly in more ways than one. Besides putting a major dent in your wallet, it could have you paying the ultimate price: your life.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of disease, disability and death in the United States. Approximately 443,000 people die prematurely every year from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. In addition, 8.6 million have a serious illness caused by smoking.
Tobacco has proven to be extremely addictive, which makes smoking a hard habit to break. But with the right motivation and access to resources that can help you kick the habit, there's no time like the present to put the cigarettes down for good.
The minute you kick the habit, your health begins to improve and continues to improve over time. According to the American Cancer Society:
• 20 minutes after a smoker quits, blood pressure begins to drop to a level close to that before the last cigarette;
• 8 hours after a smoker quits, the carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal;
• 24 hours after a smoker quits, chances of a heart attack decreases;
• 2-3 weeks after a smoker quits, circulation improves and lung function increases up to 30%;
• 1-9 months after a smoker quits, coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease;
• 1 year after a smoker quits, extreme risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's;
• 5 years after a smoker quits, stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker's 5-15 years after quitting;
• 10 years after a smoker quits, the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker's and risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidneys, and pancreas decreases and;
• 15 years after a smoker quits the risk for coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's.
While those statistics may be a strong motivator to quit smoking, support from friends and family along with participation in smoking cessation classes can also be very helpful.
There are a lot of free resources that can help you accomplish your goal of becoming smoke-free including the Georgia Tobacco Quit Line: 1-877-270-STOP (7867). The Quit Line is a toll-free resource where callers get connected to a trained counselor who can help them develop a personal plan to stop smoking. In addition, websites such as smokefree.gov and smokefreeyou.org are dedicated to helping people quit smoking.
The Coastal Health District also offers the Freshstart Smoking Cessation classes free of charge on-site at local businesses. For more information, call 912-644-5209.
The decision to quit smoking is personal and often difficult to make but there's no reason to go it alone. For more information on how to quit and stay quit, visit the American Cancer Society website at www.cancer.org.
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