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Be Tobacco-Free
It's never too late to quit using tobacco, even if you've been doing it for 20 or 30 years. Quitting smoking or chewing tobacco is the most important thing you can do to improve your own health and the health of those around you. Quitting is not easy. If you have already tried to quit, you know how difficult it is. But don't give up--with the right attitude and enough help, you will eventually succeed.
Tobacco use increases your risk for many health problems, including cancer, heart disease, and stroke. Your tobacco use also puts others at risk. Children who are exposed to cigarette smoke in the home have more ear infections and are prone to other health problems such as asthma. Perhaps the greatest risk to your children is that they will learn from you. Children whose parents use tobacco are more likely to use tobacco themselves.
When you stop using tobacco, it doesn't take long for your body to start to heal and for your risk of developing other health problems to decrease.
When you quit smoking, your risk of heart attack is cut in half within 1 year after quitting. Five years after quitting, your risk is about the same as that of a person who never smoked.
While the lung damage that smoking causes is not reversible, quitting smoking prevents more lung damage from occurring. Shortness of breath and cough will decrease.
When you give up tobacco products, damage to your lips, tongue, mouth, and throat is reduced. Your risk for mouth and throat cancer decreases.
If you have asthma, you will have fewer and less severe attacks after you quit smoking.
After quitting smoking, a man may have fewer problems getting and maintaining erections.
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Cigars and Smokeless Tobacco |
Cigars have become popular in recent years. Many people who smoke cigars feel it is safe because they do not inhale the cigar smoke. However, holding cigars and cigar smoke in your mouth increases your risk for cancers of the mouth, tongue, throat, and larynx.
Smokeless tobacco, or snuff, can be chewed, inhaled, or held in your cheek. There is a direct link between using these products and developing mouth and throat cancer.
They contain nitrosamines, which cause cancer.
They contain nicotine, which raises your heart rate and blood pressure.
They may produce leukoplakias (wrinkled, thick, white patches) on the inside of the mouth. Leukoplakias can develop into mouth cancer.
No one can tell you when or how to quit smoking or chewing tobacco.
Only you know why you use tobacco and what will be most difficult as you
try to stop. The important thing is that you try. Believe that you will
succeed, if not the first time, then the second time, or twenty-second
time.
Preparation
List your reasons for quitting: for your own health and your family's health, to save money, to prevent wrinkles, or whatever. Read through your list daily for 1 month, and your chances of success will increase.
Figure out why you smoke. Do you use tobacco to pep yourself up? To relax? Do you like the ritual of smoking or chewing? Do you use tobacco out of habit, often without knowing why you are doing it? If specific situations trigger your desire to smoke or chew tobacco, changing your routine may help you stop.
Decide how and when you will quit. About half of ex-tobacco users quit "cold turkey." The other half cut down more slowly.
Find a healthful alternative that can replace what smoking or chewing does for you. For example, if you like to have something to do with your hands, pick up something else: a coin, worry beads, pen, or pencil. If you like to have something in your mouth, substitute sugarless gum or minted toothpicks.
Plan a healthful reward for yourself for when you have stopped using tobacco. Take the money you save by not buying tobacco and spend it on yourself.
Plan things to do for when you get the urge to smoke or chew. Urges don't last that long: take a walk, brush your teeth, have a mint, drink a glass of water, or chew gum.
Choose a reliable tobacco cessation program. Good programs have at least a 20 percent success rate after 1 year. Great programs have a 50 percent success rate. A higher success rate may be too good to be true.
Set a quit date and stick to it. Choose a time that will be busy but not stressful.
Remove ashtrays and all other reminders of using tobacco. Choose nonsmoking sections in restaurants. Avoid alcohol. Do things that reduce the likelihood of using tobacco, like taking a walk or going to a movie.
Ask for help and support. Choose a trusted friend, preferably another former tobacco user, to give you a helping hand over the rough spots.
Know what to expect. The worst will be over in just a few days, but physical withdrawal symptoms may last 1 to 3 weeks. After that, it is all psychological. See Mental Health Problems and Mind-Body Wellness for relaxation tips.
Keep low-calorie snacks handy for when the urge to munch hits. Your appetite may perk up, but most people gain fewer than 10 pounds when they quit using tobacco. The health benefits of quitting outweigh a few extra kilograms. The information in Nutrition can help you plan healthy meals and snacks.
Get out and exercise. It will distract you, help keep off unwanted kilograms, and release tension. See Fitness
Don't be discouraged by slip-ups. It often takes several tries to quit using tobacco for good. If you do slip up and smoke or chew, forgive yourself and learn from the experience. You will not fail as long as you keep trying.
Good luck!