subject: Reasons to Stop Smoking quit smoking [print this page] Reasons to Stop Smoking quit smoking Reasons to Stop Smoking quit smoking
There are many reasons why people want to stop smoking. They include:
Better health
Reduced risk of cancer, heart disease and bronchial problems
Having more energy
Breathing easier
Smelling better
To save money
It's unsociable to smoke
You probably already know this. But did you know:
Smoking kills more than 114,000 people in the UK every year.
Most smokers die from one of the three main diseases associated with cigarette smoking: lung cancer, chronic obstructive lung disease (bronchitis and emphysema) and coronary heart disease.
Tobacco smoke contains many chemical compounds including carbon monoxide, arsenic, formaldehyde, cyanide, benzene, toluene and acrolein.
One in two long-term smokers will die prematurely as a result of smoking a quarter of these in middle age.
Deaths caused by smoking are five times higher than the 22,833 deaths arising from: road traffic accidents (3,439), other accidents (8,579), poisoning and overdose (881), alcoholic liver disease (5,121), murder and manslaughter (513), suicide (4,066), and HIV infection (234) in the UK during 2002.
A smoker's life span is shortened by about five minutes for each cigarette smoked. On average, those killed by smoking have lost 10-15 years of life
The Benefits of Stopping Smoking
After just 20 minutes your blood pressure and pulse return to normal
After eight hours levels of nicotine and carbon monoxide in your system will be halved
After one day your carbon monoxide level will be at non-smokers' levels
After 2 days there is no nicotine left in the body
After three days your breathing becomes easier as the bronchial tubes begin to relax
In the long term, stopping smoking reduces the risk of lung and other cancers, heart attack, stroke and chronic lung disease. After 5 to 15 years the level of risk returns to that of a non-smoker
