March 20--LAS CRUCES -- Smoking tobacco is one of the deadliest habits you can have. It causes cancer, heart disease, stroke and many kinds of lung disease. Cigarette smoking causes 443,000 deaths every year -- that's one out of every five deaths.
Yet, almost 44 million Americans smoke -- and every day, 3,800 children smoke their first cigarette. Around 70 percent of adults want to quit smoking, but only 52 percent of smokers attempt to quit, according to statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It's a heavy price to pay for a bad habit, and Americans purchase more than 303 billion cigarettes, 122 million pounds of smokless tobacco and more than 13 billion cigars, according to 2010 statistics.
Stop smoking and join others
--Kick Butts Day is March 20, kickbuttsday.org
--Free The Patio, freethepatio.org and "Free The Patio" on Facebook
--Smokefree.gov, @SmokefreeGov
Tips to quit smoking
--Know why you want to quit. If you have more reasons than "it's bad for me," more power to you.
--Don't go cold turkey. First of all, it's hard and your body is addicted to nicotine -- you will start craving it and feeling awful without it.
--Try nicotine-replacement therapy. You're still getting a little bit of the nicotine you're craving, but you're not inhaling it.
After a while, you can start using less and less until you don't need it anymore.
--Ask about
prescription pills. Your doctor might have something for you that reduces cravings.
--Don't go it alone. Tell everyone around you that you're quitting. They could be encouraging and supportive. Maybe find a support group.
--Manage stress. Stress is one of the top reasons why people say they smoke.
--Avoid alcohol and other triggers.
--Clean up. Get rid of that cigarette smoke smell and all the ashtrays in the house.
--Keep trying. If you relapse and start up, try again.
--Get moving. Exercising is an excellent way to reduce nicotine cravings.
--Reward yourself. With all the money you're saving by not buying cigarettes, go out to the movies or have a fancy dinner. -- Source: WebMD, webmd.com
What smoking does to your body
--Mouth cancer (smokers are six times more likely to get cancer of the mouth than nonsmokers). Gum disease. Tooth decay. Bad breath.
--Hydrogen cyanide and other chemicals in cigarette smoke attack the lining of the bronchi and weaken the mucus secretion in the lungs. Smokers are 10 times more likely to get lung cancer than nonsmokers.
--Heart disease. Nicotine raises the blood pressure. Other chemicals cause cholesterol deposits in artery walls, increasing the risk of heart attacks.
--Several of the body's organs are also affected by smoke and its chemicals. There's increased acid secretion in the stomach causing heart burn and ulcers, increased risk of pancreatic cancer, bladder cancer and damage to the kidneys.
-- Source: QuitSmoking.com
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