Bad news about smoking
• Smoking and second-hand smoke cause over 430,000 preventable deaths each year.
• Cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain more than 4,000 harmful ingredients. Many of these cause cancer.
• Cigarette smoke ruins clothing, furniture, and car seats, as well as family and social relationships.
• Cigarette smoking and second-hand smoke cause:
• shortness of breath
• decreased energy
• bone loss
• damage to blood vessels
• lung cancer and other types of cancers
• high blood pressure
• digestive disorders
• diabetes complications
• chronic lung diseases
• heart disease
• poor circulation
• Cigarettes are costly, at about $4 per pack.
• Smoking-related diseases generate more than $50 billion a year in medical costs.
• Lost wages and lost productivity from smoking-related diseases cost another $50 billion a year.
• Smoking during pregnancy puts babies at risk for low birth weight, premature death, and sudden infant death syndrome, as well as learning disabilities.
• Asthma, bronchitis, and respiratory and ear infections increase in children of smokers.
• More than 6,200 children die each year from infections and burns because of parents who smoke.
• Cigarette smoking is a major cause of firerelated deaths.
• Matches and lighters are a major cause of house fires.
• Each day, more than 5,000 children try smoking, and 3,000 become hooked.
Good New About Quitting Smoking
Immediately after your last cigarette:
• No more burns in your clothes, furniture, and car.
• Your body's healing processes begin.
20 minutes after your last cigarette:
• Your blood pressure lowers.
• Your hands and feet warm up.
8 hours after your last cigarette:
• The carbon monoxide level in your blood returns to normal.
24 hours after your last cigarette:
• Your heart attack risk decreases.
• You are less short of breath.
• You save money ($4 per pack).
3 days after your last cigarette:
• Your family and friends are happier.
• Your senses of taste and smell improve.
• Your skin begins to look and feel better.
• You have increased energy.
About 1 week after your last cigarette:
• Your mood improves.
• You are less irritable.
2 weeks after your last cigarette:
• Your circulation improves.
• Your lung function increases.
1 to 9 months after your last cigarette:
• Smoker's cough decreases.
• Your lungs' cleansing function returns to normal.
• Your risk for infection decreases.
1 year after your last cigarette:
• Your heart attack risk is half that of a smoker.
• You've saved $1,460 or more from not buying cigarettes.
• Freedom! You're not a slave to smoking any longer.
5 to 15 years after quitting:
• Your stroke risk is equal to that of a non-smoker.
10 years after quitting:
• Your lung cancer risk is half that of a smoker.
• Your risk of cancer decreases (including cancer of the mouth, throat, bladder, etc.).
15 years after quitting:
Your risk of heart disease is equal to that of a non-smoker
|
