health effects of cigarette smoking and tips to help you quit smoking

I've read chie's blog (bhem's friend) post about cigarettes...i'm not a cigarette addict...but I smoke occasionally…ahm so, I decided to make a blog entry about cigarettes, the health effects of cigarettes, and most importantly, tips to help you quit cigarette smoking…

Over 40,000 careful studies have proven that smoking causes disease and death. Every medical and health agency agrees. Every year, more deaths are caused by smoking-related diseases compared to AIDS, drug abuse, car accidents and murder combined.

Take a look at the facts about cigarette smoking and your lungs.

Cigarette Smoking: The Facts

· Cancer is the second leading cause of death and was among the first diseases causually linked to smoking.

· Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% of lung cancer deaths in women. The risk of dying from lung cancer is more than 23 times higher among men who smoke cigarettes, and about 13 times higher among women who smoke cigarettes compared with never smokers.

· Smoking causes cancers of the bladder, oral cavity, pharynx, larynx (voice box), esophagus, cervix, kidney, lung, pancreas, and stomach, and causes acute myeloid leukemia.

Women and Smoking: The Facts

• Lung cancer has now surpassed breast cancer as the leading cause of cancer deaths among women.
• Current female smokers aged 35 and older are more than 10 times as likely to die from emphysema or chronic bronchitis than nonsmoking females.
• Americans are starting to smoke at a younger age, especially young girls.
• Pregnant smokers have higher rates of miscarriage, stillbirths and babies who are born too soon. More of their babies die soon after birth from crib death than newborns of nonsmoking mothers.
• As more women start to smoke, their death rates from smoking-related lung diseases are fast approaching male smoking rates.

Men and Smoking: The Facts

• Cigarette smoking is the #1 cause of cancer death in men.
• Current male smokers over age 35 are almost 10 times more likely to die of lung disease and 22 times more likely to die from lung cancer than nonsmoking males.

Tips to Help You Stop Smoking

· Make a list of your reasons for quitting and say them often.

· Set a quit date and tell everyone you are going to quit.

· Keep a supply of healthy snacks handy.

· Increase your exercise. Walk more.

· Make specific plans for what you'll do when the urge hits. For example, take a deep breath, get up and walk around, call a friend for help, keep your hands busy. Remember the urge passes in just a few minutes whether you smoke or not.

· Remove all cigarettes, ashtrays, matches and lighters from your home, workplace and car.