Why stop smoking?

Health: Smoking may be the deadliest daily decision you make.

It is estimated the cigarette industry needs to attract 1,180 new smokers each day to replace those who die from smoking. Forty three percent of those deaths are from cardiovascular disease: heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Someone who smokes heavily (greater than one pack per day) at age 25 can expect to live a full 25 years less than a non-smoker.

According to the Surgeon General, cigarettes contain more than 4,000 chemicals and 63 known cancer-causing chemicals. Cigars are not any safer - they have more than 4,000 chemicals, including 200 known poisons and 43 cancer-causing chemicals. Snuff and chewing tobacco are just as deadly and addictive.

Smoking also has harmful effects on an unborn baby:

• Carbon monoxide in smoke reduces the oxygen level in the child's blood.
• Nicotine restricts the blood flow from the mother through the umbilical cord to the fetus.
• Smoking slows the growth of an unborn baby and increases the risk of premature birth and infant death.

Second-hand smoke has been found to cause upper respiratory and ear infections in children. Exposure to smoke early in life might also lead to increased susceptibility to lung disease as an adult. Studies also show a full-time, non-smoking food service worker who works in second hand smoke has exposure equal to a pack-a-day smoker.

Finances: A 1½ pack per day smoker would save $1,642 per year; this money could instead be used on a nice vacation.

For more information, or to find out about MedCentral's smoking cessation classes, contact Registered Respiratory Therapist Kathy Johnson at kjohnson@medcentral.org; or 419-526-8455.

What are the benefits of quitting?

Last updated January 21, 2005