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With each drag of a cigarette,
a smoker breathes in 69 cancer-causing substances,
raising their risk for heart disease and fatal heart
attack, stroke and aneurysms. In fact, almost
500,000 people die each year from the harmful
effects caused by smoking, while millions more
suffer from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). which encompasses emphysema and
chronic bronchitis, and literally can take your
breath away.
But no matter how many years you’ve been smoking,
the benefits of quitting ate undeniable. ‘You're never too
old to quit," says Dr. James Kiky, director of the Lung
Division at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute
in Bethesda. Md.
Though some lung damage may be permanent,
lung function increases within three months of quitting
smoking, and within nine months incidents of coughing
and shortness of breath decrease. After quitting for one
year, excess risk of coronary heart disease is cut by half.
Quitting, however, is not easy. Only 5 to 10 percent of
attempts to quit are permanently successful. "It's a trial to
quit smoking,” says Patrick Reynolds, executhe director
of The Foundation for a Smokeffee America, and grand
son of the founder of the R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co.
Smokers first have to fight the powerful nicotine
addiction, and then die habit. “Just when the urge to
smoke is dying down," Reynolds says, “you're out one
night and someone lights up and you get this out-of
control urge to smoke.”
The chance for long-term success rises exponentially
when smokers get help, including counseling, behavioral
therapy and medications. Here are some tips to help you
stop smoking for good:
Stay focused. Write down your reasons for quitting
and keep the list with you to help you stay determined.
“You have to be mentally ready,” says Rick Lamb, a respi
ratory therapist at the Missouri Rehabilitation Center in
Mount Vernon, Mo. “That allows other tools to help you
get through it. But you have to have the desire.”
Pick a quit date. “Setting a day gives it a psychologi
cal significance,” says Dr. Mark Rosen, president of the
American College of Chest Physicians. The American
Cancer Society recommends setting a date within the
next month, giving yourself enough time to plan, but not
enough time to change your mind.
Pay attention. Notice the situations that trigger you
to crave a cigarette. As part of the 35-year-old SmokEnd
ers program, smokers affix a chart to their cigarette packs
to track the day and time of each cigarette. “Once people
identify their own smoking profile, they can see what
areas they need to work on,” says Cathy Lambert, nation
al sales manager and a SmokEnders graduate. Learn more
about the program at u u •w.stnokenders.com.
The American Lung Association's Freedom From
Smoking program asks smokers to note their mood at
the time they smoke each cigarette. “It's easier to knock
out the 'boredom' cigarettes,” says Bill Blatt, manager
of Tobacco Control Programs for the American Lung
Association. To diminish the habit of smoking to relieve
stress, the plan teaches quitters to learn to be more asser
tive with other people, and to exercise regularly. Learn
more about the program at unvw.lungusa.org.
To better understand your smoking habit, take the
American Cancer Society’s smoking habits quiz at
wwwMncer.org.
Be prepared. Plan ahead for situations that would
normally trigger die need to light up. “Cravings and
urges to smoke go away,” says Michael Burke, coordinator
of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic in
Rochester, Minn. “If you can find ways to delay and not
respond, it can help."
‘Train yourself to do other things,” says Mim Long,
of Studio City, Calif, who quit her pack-and-a-half daily
habit after 15 years of smoking with the help of the
American Lung Association’s Freedom From Smoking
program. “Plan that, ‘When I feel I need a cigarette, I’m
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