Hopefully you will be able to make an intelligent decision by the time that you finish reviewing these reasons to quit smoking cigarettes forever. Make the right decision and you will live a happier and healthier life in a smoke-free environment. Make the wrong decision and you may have to face a slow and agonizing premature death one day! * Smoking is definitely reducing your spendable income. Depending on where you live, a single pack of cigarettes can cost over $6.00 and if you smoke only 1 pack a day that will be approximately $180 a month, or $2,200 a year. A 40 year smoking habit will cost you about $88,000 and that does not include what inflation will do to the price of cigarettes or any of the expenses that you will incur for the medical treatment of smoking-related illnesses.
* Smokers have to live with a terrible breath odor called halitosis (persistent bad breath) and there’s no mint in the world that can cover up the smell of a pack-a-day habit.
* You don’t just smell like cigarettes while you’re smoking, you reek of them all day long. The scent of stale cigarettes saturates your hair and your clothes and follows you wherever you go, including your vehicle, your workplace, and your home.
* When addicted to nicotine, you no longer have complete control over your feelings and your actions.
* Medical studies have proven that smoking is definitely a major cause of depression.
* Smoking causes sticky, black tar to build up in your lungs, which greatly reduce the exchange of oxygen, carbon dioxide and various nutrients between the tissues of the lungs and the bloodstream.
* Smokers have a more difficult time breathing and are more likely to develop painful chronic coughing due to the increase of phlegm production in the lungs.
* Smokers are definitely at a higher risk of developing cancer of the mouth, nose, throat and lungs.
* Smokers are more prone to develop high blood pressure, high LDL (bad) cholesterol, stroke and heart disease.
* A smoker’s risk of dying from a heart attack is two to four times greater than a non-smoker.
* Individuals who smoke cigarettes have a higher risk of death from coronary heart disease than those that smoke cigars and pipes (providing they don't inhale the smoke).
* A recent study found that non-smokers who were exposed to secondhand smoke were 25% more likely to have coronary heart disease.
* Approximately 1 out of every 5 deaths in the United States can be contributed to tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco).
* It is a proven fact that tobacco products kill more Americans than AIDS, drugs, homicides, fires and auto accidents combined.
* It is estimated that 1 out of every 3 smokers (33%) will eventually die from a tobacco-related disease.
* Approximately 8,600,000 people in the United States will have at least one serious illness caused by smoking.
* Smoking has now been definitely linked to peptic ulcer disease and also to pneumonia.
* Over 50,000 people in the United States die each year from secondhand smoke.
* Exposure to secondhand smoke causes disease and premature death to children and adults who do not smoke.
* Medical studies show that smokers get more colds, flu, bronchitis and pneumonia than non-smokers. These medical expenses definitely add to your cost of smoking.
* Smokers have 10 times more wrinkles, at an earlier age, than non-smokers.
* Smoking restricts blood vessels and it can prevent oxygen and nutrients from reaching the skin, which is why the skin of many smokers often appear pale and unhealthy. For the most part, smokers also have yellowing teeth, fingers and fingernails.
* Smokers are 5 times more likely to suffer for years from chronic pulmonary diseases like emphysema and bronchitis than non-smokers.
* Chronic lung disease accounts for over 70% of smoking related health problems among individuals that smoke.
* Recent medical studies have shown that male smokers are at a higher risk for erectile dysfunction. Now add the expense for medication to correct this problem to your cost of smoking.
* Medical studies have found that female smokers may have a harder time getting pregnant than non-smokers. Couples that smoke are spending millions of dollars every year trying to conceive.
* Any woman that smokes during her pregnancy is more likely to experience an ectopic pregnancy, which occurs when a fertilized egg begins to develop in the fallopian tube instead of in the uterus. Ectopic pregnancies can be fatal for both the mother and the baby.
* Women who smoke during pregnancy are also more likely to deliver prematurely or miscarry. Other risks to the baby’s health include lower birth weight and birth defects.
* Smoking during pregnancy accounts for an estimated 20-30% of low-birth weight babies, up to 14% of premature deliveries and about 10% of all infant deaths.
* Healthy, full-term babies of smokers have been found to be born with narrowed airways and curtailed lung function.
* Neonatal health care costs in the United States has been estimated to be in excess of $365,000,000 a year. These medical expenses have been attributed to mothers that smoked during pregnancy.
* Women who smoke and take oral contraceptives dramatically increase their risk of heart disease and stroke.
* Children, for the most part, like to imitate their parents. If you smoke in front of your children, they’re likely to copy your smoking habits when they're teenagers, or even before.
* In the year 2004, 22% of high school students and over 8% of middle school students were current smokers.
* Children that are raised by smokers have been found to be generally less active and develop poor nutrition skills.
* Parents that smoke affect their children's health, which includes asthma, increased frequency of colds and ear infections, and sudden infant death syndrome.
* Not only is smoking a bad influence on those around you, it’s killing them too. You can’t contain cigarette smoke, which means that innocent people constantly breathe in your second-hand smoke.
* Children and adults who are exposed to second-hand smoke are at a higher risk of developing lung cancer and heart disease, as well as other respiratory problems.
* Children who are exposed to second-hand smoke are particularly at risk for developing asthma.
* Smoking definitely reduces athletic performance. Athletes who smoke usually can't compete with non-smokers because the physical effects of smoking (rapid heartbeat, decreased circulation and shortness of breath) impair sports performance.
* Smokers have a greater risk of injury and a slower healing time than non-smokers. Common sports injuries, such as damage to tendons and ligaments will heal more slowly in smokers because smoking affects the body's ability to produce collagen.
* All forms of tobacco including cigarettes, cigars, pipes, and smokeless tobacco are hazardous to your health. It doesn't help to substitute products that seem to be better for you like filtered or low-tar cigarettes.
* Cigars contain the same addictive, toxic and carcinogenic compounds that are found in cigarettes. Cigar smokers often spend up to one hour smoking a single cigar which may contain as much tobacco as an entire pack of cigarettes.
* Smokeless tobacco (chewing, loose leaf, plug, twist or snuff) contains 28 known cancer-causing agents which increases the risk of developing oral cancer in comparison to cigarette smoking.
The longer that you continue to smoke, the more damage that you'll do to your health, which may include a premature death! Now that you have read this long list of reasons, can there any doubt in your mind that you should quit smoking just as soon as possible? For your welfare and the welfare of your family, please make the right decision.
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Contributor's Note
I know how hard it is to quit smoking. It took me 35 years to finally quit! If I would have read this information while I was smoking, I would have made a more conscientious effort to quit smoking a lot sooner. Remember, the damage that you have already done to your lungs cannot be repaired. I can personally attest to that fact. Quit before it's too late! Please visit my website to check out my incredible quit smoking program. I guarantee that my program will enable you to quit smoking within a month. No brag... just fact!
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