More About Smoking
January 19th, 2008 | by askadmin |I have something in common Liz Dawn, one of the UK’s best-loved actresses. We both smoked for 50 years. Unlike me; Liz did not get cancer. Her smoking led to an equally deadly disease. Emphysema.
Also, unlike me; Liz immediately quit smoking. I didn’t quit smoking right away; not even after a 32 day hospital stay, most of which I was attached to an oxygen tank. I lit a cigarette as soon as my foot hit the sidewalk after being discharged from the hospital. I didn’t quit smoking until the Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor that diagnosed my cancer said to me, “If you don’t stop smoking, the cancer will come back.” He continued, “I’m not saying it may come back, I’m saying it WILL come back.” That got my attention. I quit.
Liz’s emphysema was caused predominantly from smoking.
A cancer such as I battled, that started in my tonsils, is also predominantly caused from smoking.
Every cigarette pack purchased has a warning that “smoking is dangerous to your health.” I never believed it. I rationalized by thinking of the old people I knew who were healthy and still smoked. Today I know there are over 4,000 chemical compounds present in the inhaled smoke, many are known carcinogens.
I’ve talked about how smoking causes emphysema and cancer. Do you think they are the primary diseases caused by smoking? Wrong! Heart disease is the number one killer of smokers.
What other parts of the body does smoking dangerously affect? I don’t think I could count them all. Here is a partial list: Bladder, Bones, Hands, Heart, Immune System, Kidneys, Legs and Feet, Liver, Mouth and Throat, Reproduction, Respiration and Lungs, Skin, Stomach, Teeth. Need I go on? There are many more areas and ways that smoking is dangerous to your health.
One of the reasons that smoking causes so many health problems and life threatening diseases is the simple fact smoking interferes with the primary function of our lungs. It is the lungs that bring in the oxygen that every cell in our bodies need. Smoking reduces the effectiveness of breathing which brings oxygen to the blood. It’s bad enough that pollution reduces the amount of oxygen we get through normal breathing. Smoking intensifies this dangerous condition.
It took Stage IV cancer for me to accept the plain simple fact that, just as your cigarette pack says, “Smoking Is Dangerous To Your Health.”
Ok, so you are becoming a believer. You want to quit. How do you do it? There are many options. Cold Turkey may be the best way. Some studies show that cold turkey produces the best results. The Center For Disease and Prevention has a wealth of plans and programs for you to choose from. If you really want to quit you will find a way at the The Center For Disease and Prevention’s website.
I think the first ten words of the very last sentence holds the key;” if you really want to quit you will find a way.”