Smoking is a very hard addiction to quit; every smoker knows this. Over 50% of people who suffer heart attacks are smokers. Teen smokers who volunteer for programs to help them quit are more hooked on tobacco than other teens who smoke. The teens believe quitting is a good idea, but they aren’t fully confident they’ll be able to kick the tobacco habit.
However, it’s not that easy and most smokers never manage to achieve their goal. Almost all smokers know the health risks of smoking, but they keep puffing. Many continue for decades, their health declining with each passing . Yet according to the Canadian Tobacco Use Monitoring Survey, about 5.3 million Canadians aged 15 and over were current smokers in 2003. Those who smoked during the 24 hours before outpatient surgery with general anesthetics were 20 times more likely to have periods of inadequate oxygen supply to the heart than non-smokers, ex-smokers or even smokers who quit 24 hours beforehand.
Quitting Is the Best Thing That You Can Do
For the vast majority of smokers, quitting smoking is the single best thing they can do to improve the length and quality of their lives. People who quit smoking immediately begin to reduce their chances of developing heart disease, cancer, breathing problems or infections.
Stopping smoking can increase a smoker's life expectancy by up to 10 years. Smoking is the greatest contributor to premature death and ill health. When a sibling, friend, or close co-worker quits smoking, the chances that a participant would remain a smoker get decreased by 25%, 36%, and 34%, respectively.
Quit It If You Can
Research shows smokers move through a series of stages when quitting. It is important that smokers who decide to quit realize they can, provided they have the motivation to quit and the belief that they can. If you want to quit, you should. There are lots of benefits to quitting - benefits you can look forward to enjoying, no matter how long you've been a smoker. Keep them in mind as you get ready to give up.