Quitting Smoking, Benefits of Quitting Smoking, Quit smoking, How to Quit smoking,

Quitting Smoking

Smoking is so detrimental to every part of the body that it is best to avoid it completely. The many diseases it causes include acute myeloid leukemia, abdominal aortic aneurysm, cervical cancer, periodontitis, cataract, pancreatic cancer, kidney cancer, pneumonia, stomach cancer, and problems associated with the lung, coronary heart chronic lung diseases, bladder, larynx, esophagus, mouth and throat cancers, and cardiovascular diseases, as well as sudden infant death syndrome.

If you have tried to quit smoking, you must have found it very difficult because nicotine is far too addictive to shrug off. You can’t kick the habit in the first attempt but perhaps the second or third.

Why quit smoking? By kicking the smoking habit, you will:

Live longer and better
Have a lower risk of having cancer, a heart attack or stroke.
Enhance your chances of having a healthy baby.
Have far healthier children.
Have more money to spend on other things.

How to quit smoking: Follow these steps and you will kick the smoking habit forever.

Prepare to quit smoking: First, set a date by which you will quit smoking. Then, change your environment so that you don’t know where to procure cigarettes and your smoker friends are not with you. Throw out all cigarettes and ashtrays you might have at home or at work. Next, don’t allow smokers into your home. Once you quit, never go back to it.
Ask for support and encouragement: If your friends and family support and encourage you, you stand a better chance of giving up smoking. Ask them not to smoke near you and go in for individual or group counseling.
Take an interest in other skills and behaviors: Divert your attention away from yourself and the urge to smoke. Go for a walk, learn a new skill, change your routine, drink tea instead of coffee, get out and have fun.
Take medication correctly: To help you stop smoking, take the US FDA-approved five medications. These are: Bupropion SR, Nicotine gum, Nicotine inhaler, Nicotine nasal spray and Nicotine patch.

What to watch out for:

Alcohol: If you drink alcohol, it reduces your chances of kicking the smoking habit.
Make friends with non-smokers: You will be encouraged to smoke if you hang out with smokers.
Weight gain: You may put on weight after quitting smoking, but don’t let this deter you from giving up the habit. Eat healthy and keep active.
Moodiness: Don’t fight depression and moodiness with smoking.

When to give up smoking:

If you’ve been hospitalized, your problems can be minimized if you don’t smoke.
If you’ve just had a heart attack, you can lower your chances of getting a second attack by kicking this habit.
If you suffer from lung, head, or neck cancer, you can reduce your chances of getting another cancer.
If you are the parent of a teenager, don’t smoke when with them, as side-stream smoke also causes severe health problems.

To improve the quality of your life and make yourself stronger, quit smoking. If you are serious about good health, there’s no point delaying the moment-kick the smoking habit today and lead a healthy life.

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