Šalje: QuitSmokingTips [bwprice@quitsmokingsupport.com] Poslano: 24. rujan 2000 15:51 Prima: List Member Predmet: QuitSmokingTips: Volume 2 Number 34 QuitSmokingTips - http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com Sunday September 24, 2000 The purpose of this newsletter is to provide you with advice and encouragement to help you to quit smoking. Support is an important ingredient in the quitting process and can never be overlooked. If you feel the material in this newsletter may benefit anyone you know, please pass it on! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sponsor Advertisement: Make sure you visit http://www.quitsmoking.com Excellent Information and Products to Help Smokers Quit! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sponsor Advertisement: TRYING TO QUIT SMOKING? Using the Nicotrol Inhaler? * Harris Interactive invites you to participate in a research study designed to learn more about your experiences using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler. * Participation involves completing up to six short surveys over the next seven months, either by phone or internet. * Qualified participants will receive payment for each interview completed, totaling up to $60. * You must be over the age of 18 and using the NicotrolŽ Inhaler to enroll in this study. * For more Information Call: 1-877-889-8593 OR, go to: http://survey.harrispollonline.com/11662f.htm ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Quitting smoking can make a big difference to your health and the health of your family. While some benefits will take time, others are experienced almost right away. Physical Benefits Social Benefits Specific Benefits to Women Specific Benefits to Seniors Overall Life Expectancy Even people who have already developed smoking-related illnesses can benefit from quitting. Among smokers who have already had a heart attack, quitting smoking reduces the chances that they will have a second heart attack by 50%, compared to those who continue to smoke! The message is clear. The sooner you quit, the more you and everyone around you will benefit. Physical benefits of quitting smoking. 20 minutes after your last cigarette: Your blood pressure drops to normal. Your pulse rate drops to normal. Your hand and foot temperature rises to normal. 8 hours after your last cigarette: Your blood carbon monoxide levels drop to normal. Your blood oxygen level increases to normal. 1 day after your last cigarette: Your chances of heart attack and stroke start decreasing. 2 days after your last cigarette: Your senses of taste and smell begin to heighten. Certain nerve endings begin to re-grow. Nicotine by-products are removed from your body. 3 days after your last cigarette: Your bronchial tubes start to relax, making breathing easier. Your lung capacity begins to improve. 2 to 12 weeks after your last cigarette: Your walking and aerobic exercises become easier. 1 month after your last cigarette: Your circulation improves. You experience more energy. 1 to 3 months after your last cigarette: Your lung function increases up to 30 percent. Your bronchial cilia begin to re-grow, increased ability to clean lungs, reduce infection, clear pollutants. Your overall body energy increases. 1 to 12 months after your last cigarette: Your coughing, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease. 2 to 4 months after your last cigarette: Your risk of developing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease reduces by 5%. 1 year after your last cigarette: Your risk of developing Coronary Heart Disease reduces by 50%. 2 years after your last cigarette: You reduce the risk of recurrence of ulcers and improve short-term healing. Your risk of death from heart disease declines 24%. 3 years after your last cigarette: Your risk of heart attack and stroke approaches that of someone who has never smoked. 5 years after your last cigarette: Your risk of developing mouth, esophageal, throat and bladder cancer reduces by 50%. Your chance of dying from lung cancer decreases by half for one-pack-a-day smokers. 5 to 15 years after your last cigarette: Your risk of stroke reduces to that of someone who never smoked. 10 years after your last cigarette: Any pre cancerous cells are replaced by healthy, normal cells. You have a 50% to 70% reduction in the risk of developing lung cancer. Your risk of pancreatic cancer is reduced. 10 to 14 years after your last cigarette: Your risk of developing Heart Disease drops to that of someone who never smoked. 15 years after your last cigarette: Your risk of developing lung cancer is the same as non-smokers. For Congestive Heart Disease, your risk reduces to the same as someone who never smoked. Your life expectancy is as long as that of a non-smoker! Social benefits of quitting smoking: You will feel in control instead of your cigarettes controlling you. You feel an enhanced sense of self-esteem. Your family will be healthier now and in the future. Your healthy appearance will improve. You won't have to leave any non-smoking gatherings just to have a cigarette. Your bank account will improve. Compared to smokers, people who quit smoking are more likely to exercise regularly and exercise will help quitters to stay off cigarettes and avoid or minimize weight gain. Specific benefits to women who quit smoking: If women didn't smoke during pregnancy, fetal and infant deaths would be reduced by approximately 10%. Women who quit smoking before pregnancy or during the first 3 to 4 months of pregnancy have the same low risk of having a low birth weight baby as women who have never smoked. Women who quit smoking in the later stages of pregnancy, up to the 30th week of gestation, have infants with higher birth weight compared to women who continue to smoke. 2 years after your last cigarette, your risk of cervical cancer reduces. Non-smokers reach menopause 1 to 2 years later than smokers. Specific benefits to seniors who quit smoking: Smoking in later life has also been associated with higher rates of physical disability, poorer self-perceived health status, higher levels of depressive symptoms, and lower levels of physical function, bone mineral density, pulmonary function, and muscle strength. Seniors quitting smoking is an important factor in bringing about improvement in general health and well-being. Life expectancy: If you quit before age 35, your life expectancy is the same as non-smokers. If you quit between the age of 35 and 65, add 5 years to your life expectancy as compared to someone who continues to smoke. If you quit between the age of 65 and 74, add 1 year to your life expectancy as compared to someone who continues to smoke. References: Canadian Cancer Society US Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation: A report of the Surgeon General. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control, Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health. DHHS Publication No (CDC) 90-8416, 1990. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ So You?ve Decided to Quit Smoking! This is one of the most important decisions that you could ever make. Your decision to stop smoking is a very valuable one, and it could (and probably will) greatly impact your life in a very positive way. Although there are some bumps on the road to recovery, directly dealing with just how addicted each individual is to nicotine. For some, this road is virtually straight and short, and for others it can be like riding on a dirt road with giant sized rocks in a two wheel drive vehicle. But, persaversance is the key to doing anything, and just like any other obstacle you will pass in your life, this one will take practice, and some getting used to. However, the road to recovery can be achieved, and it's more of a mental game than anything. If you are committed to quitting, you can accomplish this goal. There are some very serious changes that are going to happen in your life after you quit smoking. Probably the most commonly known one is increased appetite, and weight gain. Your appetite will increase because you are getting more oxygen to your system, and you will gain weight because of this increased appetite. Don't worry though, if you keep a handle on your consumption (knowing that your appetite is going to increase) things will turn out just fine. There are many reasons to quit smoking, the best thing that you can do for yourself is to make a list of your specific reasons for quitting, and keep it with you at all times while you are abstaining from cigarettes. Refer to it often. One of the biggest motivational factors for many quitters is the fear of failure. You can use this fear to your advantage. Tell everyone you know that you are quitting, and let them know the date. Then when you quit, remind them that you've quit smoking. The more people you tell, the harder it will be to start again, because you will almost immediately notice the envy that goes on in other smoker's minds when they see another attempting such a difficult feat. The road to recovery can be long, but it's a very positive one. This could very well be the best thing you *ever* do for yourself. Give yourself the gift of freedom from addiciton. They say that nicotine addiciton is one measured almost the same as the addiction to herion. Keep that in the back of your mind. There are so many reasons to quit, that you just need to pick the most important reasons for yourself, and keep referring to them. There are some very common withdrawl symptoms that you may experience after quitting such as: dizziness, vomiting, upset stomach, loss of energy, inability to concentrate/focus, and many others. Rest assured that these symptoms get better with time, and time is the only thing that can make these any easier. Starting to smoke again will only make you feel worse, and make it harder (and the symptoms stronger) when you quit again. Hang in there, the fight is well worth the battle, but quitting an addiction is about 80% mental, and 20% physical. You have to be completely committed to changing your lifestyle to quit smoking. Hang in there, be prepared for tempting situations, and ready yourself. You CAN do this. Author: Troy Thompson ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Take care and have a great week! Blair support@quitsmokingsupport.com QuitSmokingSupport.com http://www.quitsmokingsupport.com ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to quitsmokingtips-unsubscribe@listbot.com --------------------------------------------------- Advertisement: New Customers at Vitamins.com get a FREE bottle of St. John's Wort and take $10 off your first order of $10.01 or more! Just enter the discount code SAINTJ at checkout to get your free gift. Shop Now! http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/HealthCentral