ECE WANNA BE: Aim for Smoke Free World!

Facts about Smoking:

· About 100,000 people in the UK die each year due to smoking.

· If you are a long-term smoker, on average, your life expectancy is about 10 years less than a non-smoker.

· The younger you are when you start smoking, the more likely you are to smoke for longer and to die early from smoking.

Funny, right? Don’t we still want to stop smoking?

· If we stop smoking, before having cancer or some other serious disease, you avoid most of the increased risk of death due to smoking.

· The benefits begin straightaway. You reduce your risk of getting serious disease no matter what age you give up. However, the sooner you stop, the greater the reduction in your risk.

· If you stop smoking before the age of about 35, your life expectancy is only slightly less than that of people who have never smoked.

· If you stop smoking before the age of 50, you decrease the risk of dying from smoking-related diseases by 50%.

These cigarettes contain nicotin. Nicotin is the addictive stimulant that gives you the craving to smoke. Also, if you are a regular smoker, when the blood level of nicotine falls, you usually develop withdrawal symptoms, such as:

· Craving.

· Anxiety.

· Restlessness.

· Headaches.

· Irritability.

· Hunger.

· Difficulty with concentration.

· Just feeling awful.

In order to be relieved in these, people tend to smoke again.

Cigarettes also contain carbon monoxide. This chemical affects the oxygen-carrying capacity of the blood. This may be dangerous for pregnant women. Their babies won’t get enough oxygen for their growth. That’s why there are babies who were born abnormally.

What diseases could we get from smoking?

· Lung Cancer- also known as lung carcinoma, is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. If left untreated, this growth can spread beyond the lung by process of metastasis into nearby tissue or other parts of the body.About 30,000 people in the UK die from lung cancer each year, and m ore than 8 in 10 cases are directly related to smoking.

· Heart disease- This is the biggest killer illness in the UK. About 120,000 people in the UK die each year from heart disease. About 1 in 6 of these is due to smoking.

· Rheumatoid arthritis- Smoking is known to be a risk factor for developing rheumatoid arthritis. One research study estimated that smoking is responsible for about 1 in 5 cases of rheumatoid arthritis.

· Sexual problems- Smokers are more likely than non-smokers to have erection problems (impotence) or have difficulty in maintaining an erection in middle life. This is thought to be due to smoking-related damage of the blood vessels to the penis.

Smoking affects children too.

· When there are people smoking where they stay,

· they have a high risk of having asthma, ear and nose infections.

· they would have a possibility of becoming smokers when they grow old

· they will not be well enough when it comes to reading skills and reasoning skills.

· a great possibility for them to have cancer.

Start your stop smoking plan with START

S = Set a quit date.

Choose a date within the next two weeks, so you have enough time to prepare without losing your motivation to quit. If you mainly smoke at work, quit on the weekend, so you have a few days to adjust to the change.

T = Tell family, friends, and co-workers that you plan to quit.

Let your friends and family in on your plan to quit smoking and tell them you need their support and encouragement to stop. Look for a quit buddy who wants to stop smoking as well. You can help each other get through the rough times.

A = Anticipate and plan for the challenges you'll face while quitting.

Most people who begin smoking again do so within the first three months. You can help yourself make it through by preparing ahead for common challenges, such as nicotine withdrawal and cigarette cravings.

R = Remove cigarettes and other tobacco products from your home, car, and work.

Throw away all of your cigarettes (no emergency pack!), lighters, ashtrays, and matches. Wash your clothes and freshen up anything that smells like smoke. Shampoo your car, clean your drapes and carpet, and steam your furniture.

T = Talk to your doctor about getting help to quit.

Your doctor can prescribe medication to help with withdrawal and suggest other alternatives. If you can't see a doctor, you can get many products over the counter at your local pharmacy or grocery store, including the nicotine patch, nicotine lozenges, and nicotine gum.

I hope this information could somehow help the smoking ones to quit it. Remember, life is a gift of God to us. We must take care of it.