Why Stop Smoking?
You’ve heard it before. You may eat healthy and exercise regularly, but this means little if you are going to continue to smoke.
The last thing smokers need is another ‘lecture’ on why smoking is bad for them. Most smokers are usually aware of some of the risks but if you are serious about quitting smoking it is worth knowing and understanding the risks you are taking if you continue to smoke.
So, Why Should I Quit Smoking?
Most people know that smoking can be a cause of lung cancer, but it can also cause many other cancers and illnesses.
Every year, around 438,000 people die in the US from tobacco use and half of all Americans who continue to smoke will die from smoking related illness.
Of these deaths some are from smoking-related cancers, some from cardiovascular disease and others die slowly from emphysema and other chronic lung diseases.
These days we are more aware of the dangers of smoking, and the percentage of smokers in many countries are falling over recent years. Even with this drop in the number of smokers, it's estimated that cigarettes were responsible for more than 1.2 million deaths in the year 2000 in the European region of the World Health Organization alone.
The illnesses caused by smoking extend beyond the well-reported links with cancer, heart disease and respiratory illnesses. Smoking can cause impotence, ulcers and fertility problems, and it doesn't just harm smokers; the dangers of passive smoking have become better known over recent years.
Passive smoking causes lung cancer and is linked to cot death, asthma and glue ear in children. However, the decline in numbers of smokers has leveled off and the percentage of people smoking in the last 10 years seems to have remained at around 25%.
How do the Cigarettes you Smoke Affect your Health?
Each cigarette contains more than 4000 chemical compounds and at least 400 toxic substances.
A lit cigarette is almost like a chemical factory, releasing poisonous fumes into your lungs and the air around you. Only the tobacco companies know exactly what goes into each cigarette and not all of this information is available.
This means that research is still ongoing to find out exactly what goes into each cigarette. More than 4000 different substances have been identified in cigarette smoke so far and about half of these substances are found in the tobacco itself. The rest of these substances are produced as the tobacco burns.
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