Smoking and Your Health

Why should I quit smoking?

There are many reasons why it is necessary for a person to cease their smoking habit. Although cancer is the most well known reason for a smoker to stop, there are many other health hazards involved in using tobacco. Ten common reasons why tobacco can seriously hurt you are:

Smoking cuts the amount of oxygen reaching your body's tissues. The decrease in oxygen can lead to a heart attack, stroke, miscarriage, or stillbirth.
Smoking increases your cholesterol levels and the levels of some other fats in your blood, raising your risk of a heart attack or other cardiovascular diseases.
Smoking damages and constricts the blood vessels. This damage can worsen foot ulcers and lead to blood vessel disease, peripheral vascular disease, and leg/foot infections. Of people with diabetes who need amputations, 95 percent are smokers.
Smokers with diabetes are more likely to get neuropathy (nerve damage) and kidney disease.
Smokers get colds and respiratory infections easier.
Smoking doubles your risk of getting limited joint mobility.
Smoking can cause cancer of the mouth, throat, lung, and bladder.
People with diabetes who smoke are three times as likely to die of cardiovascular disease as are other people with diabetes.
Smoking increases your blood pressure.
Smoking raises your blood glucose level, making it harder to control your diabetes.

What makes it difficult for me to quit smoking?

There are basically two reasons people keep smoking even though they know how bad it can be for their health. The first reason is because nicotine, a chemical associated with tobacco, is highly addictive. A person who tries to quit will often suffer withdrawal symptoms from the nicotine. These symptoms often include irritability, sweating, headaches, diarrhea, constipation, restlessness, fatigue, and dizziness. The physical symptoms of nicotine addiction is usually the worst on the second day after quitting and usually lasts less than a week.

The second reason for people to continue their habit comes after the first week is over. Although the physical addiction (where your body wants the nicotine) runs a fairly quick course, the psychological need for the habit is many times overwhelming. Smoking is a part of their daily ritual. It is the thing they wake up to, comforts them when they are upset, rewards them for a job well done. Smoking has pleasurable physical effects. It relaxes people and can perk them up.

These two groups of factors make it difficult for a smoker to successfully quit. When the average smoker quits they usually feel bad for a while and the benefits of their choice take longer to become apparent.

How do I prepare myself to quit?

The first step to quitting successfully is to study your smoking habits. Try to notice what things, daily routines, events, etc. give your an excuse or occasion to smoke. This is important because you may be able to eliminate some of these tempting circumstances when you actually stop your habit.

It is also a good idea to see your physician. There are medical options available to help the serious quitter successfully kick their habit. These options include nicotine gums, patches, and relatively new medicines such as Zyban which can help curb the physical symptoms of withdrawal.

Plan rewards for yourself for each day, week, month you successfully avoid smoking. These help to counter the psychological needs for smoking. To further combat the psychological drive to busy one's hands, constantly keep something for your fingers to do. Some people carry pens, small stones, coins, or whatever occupies their mind.

Make sure you have a support group of some kind. Whether you officially join a smoking cessation group or whether you just tell all of your friends and family in order for them to give you emotional and psychological cheerleading.

Finally, set a quitting date. Choose a time when you expect your life to be fairly calm. That way, stress won't temp you to smoke quite so bad. Especially if you have bad withdrawal symptoms, they will not interfere with your life as much. Most importantly, time the day you quit around your job. If you work from Monday to Friday then try to quit on Friday afternoon. This has several advantages. First you are in a less stressful time (the weekend). Secondly, the worst of the physical withdrawal is going to take place while you are not at work. By Monday, the worst will have passed and your job can help busy your mind to fend off some of the psychological withdrawal problems.

What if I mess up?

Don't let it disturb you. You made a valuable first step, and you gained valuable information by making the mistake. Take note of the situation that caused you to give in. Then start the process over again. Avoid similar situations to reduce your chances of starting again. Most importantly, keep trying. The benefits to quitting greatly outweigh the time and temporary discomfort common to kicking the habit. You must remember, all it takes is one cigarette to get you back to an addictive level of nicotine. Therefore each time you give in, you must refocus and start fresh. You can't cheat ever so often and expect to be able to quit completely. As always, keep in close contact with your physician. If you are a diabetic, it may be possible to modify your treatment due to improvement in your health. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol levels, your condition may improve so much that your doctor may wish to change/lessen your treatment program. Take note that it is common to gain an average of five to seven pounds after you quit smoking. This may be distressing for many individuals but again the benefits greatly outweigh temporary discomfort.