Tobacco is responsible for 1 in 10 adults dying worldwide, which equates to 5 million deaths per year. Deaths are mainly due to collapse of the cardiovascular system, resulting in heart attacks and respiratory tract infections.
disease, and cancer. Coronary heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. Still want to smoke a cigarette? Then read on…
Many doctors and physicians will not perform surgery on someone who is a smoker, as they believe the risk of the surgery outweighs the chances of any potential benefit. Researchers at the University of Toronto Medical School have found that smoking impedes the body’s ability to heal bone and grow new bone.
The latest startling figures show that pregnant women who smoke as little as 1 to 10 cigarettes a day have a 29 % chance of giving birth to a child with finger or toe defects. That number increases to 78 % for those who smoke 20 cigarettes or more a day.
Another major reason to stop smoking is financial. You will be pleasantly surprised to find so much more of your hard earned cash safely in your own pocket than in the pockets of the large companies and money lenders (and the government) who all benefit from your smoking habit. The taxes on tobacco are on the increase again! That will mean even more of your money going “up in smoke,” if you excuse the pun.
Even the large insurance companies are now starting to reject the policies of smokers. Heaven forbid the idea that an insurance company takes on some risk to earn their millions! Often you will see that
little box appear on forms such as insurance forms, medical forms, rental agreements, loan agreements, employment papers and so on asking “If you smoke, please tick the box”. Once you tick that box you are
categorised and often rejected. Wouldn’t it be such an achievement to be able to tick the box which says: “Non-Smoker”?
Public places such as bars, clubs, restaurants, and many other social and sporting facilities have adopted non-smoking policies. Being a smoker means being segregated from your friends and having to leave them to go outside for another cigarette. Do you really enjoy that feeling of being the odd one out? ‘Odd one out—as a smoker, you certainly are that, and far more people in the world are non-smokers compared to smokers. It is universally agreed that smoking is not safe, not only for the smoker but for those around him as well.
Stopping smoking is the greatest gift you can give to your loved ones, as their health is being endangered by your habit. Even if you are taking yourself outside to smoke, your premature death will leave grieving relatives, and that is a frightening prospect for all of us, but often it is not as frightening as going without cigarettes. It doesn’t need to be a frightening prospect to stop smoking, and it isn’t once you understand the control system that tobacco places on your subconscious.
Perhaps you are not aware that being a smoker has been statistically proven to affect your chances of finding romance. Yes, Cupid’s arrows may well not find you when you smoke! Most people want their soul mates to smell fresh and clean with an aroma of “eau de parfum” instead of “eau de tobacco”. One of the first things you will notice when you give up smoking is that you regain your sense of smell, which has been dulled by smoking. Suddenly everything seems to smell so much sweeter, including yourself. Food tastes totally different, and you quickly realize how your brain’s senses and receptors have been dulled and fooled by tobacco, the most commonly used neurotoxin in the world.
Contrary to popular belief, when you stop smoking it does not automatically mean you will gain weight. You will feel so much healthier that exercise becomes a treat instead of a chore. Take up something new
and exciting, preferably outdoors. You will be truly amazed at your new found energy levels as your body kicks that addictive habit.
Finally, here is a short testimonial written by a life-long smoker:
“It wasn’t meant to happen to me. I used to think that all the warnings about the dangers of smoking did not apply to me. Scare mongering tactics, I actually would get annoyed at the health warnings on my
packet of cigarettes. I had the right to smoke if I wanted to. How foolish I was.
Try breathing through a straw for 15 minutes, and you will get an idea of what breathing is like for me. How hard it is to breathe when your lungs are so badly damaged as a direct result of too many years of smoking the dreaded cigarettes.
It never gets any easier, I struggle day after day. If I were an animal I would have been released from this suffering. As it is I have no quality of life. The health warning on that packet of cigarettes should
have read, You will suffer for life.” M. Hills
