7 Reasons Quitting Makes You a Winner
Smoking by the numbers… As physicians we want the best health for everyone. There are ways to work towards your best possible health including healthy diet and weight, regular exercise and getting regular screenings. Tobacco use has a huge impact on health, something we as radiologists see on a daily basis. Smoking kills. It’s an addiction, one of the hardest habits to break, but quitting IS possible and translates to immediate and long-term health benefits.
Just how bad is tobacco use?
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the US. Here are more shocking numbers about the impact of smoking:
- 20.5% of men and 15.8% of women are current smokers.
- 20% of deaths in the US are due to tobacco-related diseases.
- 10 people die EVERY MINUTE from tobacco-related illnesses.
- What kind of illnesses are related? Tobacco use is related to: cancer (lung, esophagus, oral, bladder and more), heart attacks, strokes, peripheral vascular disease, infertility, gum disease, emphysema, impotence and more!
- Each puff of cigarette smoke contains 7,000 chemicals including 80 known to cause cancer. Did you know smoking brings carbon monoxide, formaldehyde and lead into your lungs with every puff?
- 11% of pregnant women smoke during pregnancy.
- Tobacco use contributes to 20-30% of low-birth weight infants and led to preterm delivery in 14% of newborns.
Sobering numbers and still only a small spectrum of tobacco’s impact. The bright spot is that smoking declined from 2005 to 2012 by nearly 3%. Let’s keep that trend going by stamping out those butts. For more on taking the steps to quitting look here: http://smokefree.gov.
Now, on to a healthier you!
Image credit: “Spitkid” by Opa – Own work. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Originally published 9/8/14 on diagnosticimagingcenterskc.com.
