Monday, November 24, 2008

Can quitting really help a lifelong smoker?

Quitting smoking is another issue to smokers but do they know that quitting smoking can help them a lifelong?






Diagram 5: Smokers' Challenge
Sources:

http://bum.net/pics/

The sooner smokers quit, the more they can reduce the chances of getting cancer and other diseases. Do you know?

1. 20 minutes after quitting
Your heart rate and blood pressure drop.

(Effect of smoking on arterial stiffness and pulse pressure amplification, Mahmud A, Feely J. 2003. Hypertension:41:183.)

2. 12 hours after quitting
The carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1988, p. 202)

3. 2 weeks to 3 months after quitting
Your circulation improves and your lung function increases.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp.193, 194,196, 285, 323)

4. 1 to 9 months after quitting
Coughing and shortness of breath decrease; cilia (tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs) regain normal function in the lungs, increasing the ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp. 285-287, 304)

5. 1 year after quitting
The excess risk of coronary heart disease is half that of a smoker's.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)

6. 5 years after quitting
Your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5 to 15 years after quitting.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)

7. 10 years after quitting
The lung cancer death rate is about half that of a person who is still smoking. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, cervix, and pancreas decreases.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, pp. vi, 131, 148, 152, 155, 164,166)

8. 15 years after quitting
The risk of coronary heart disease is that of a non-smoker's.

(US Surgeon General's Report, 1990, p. vi)


http://www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_10_2x_Questions_About_Smoking_Tobacco_and_Health.asp



Therefore, do you think that A MINUTE of quitting smoking are important and does reduces the chances of smokers from getting cancer and other diseases?


15 comments:

Brad said...

I do agree with your statement. Smoking in general is not encouraged but there is one issue that I would like to share with you. Have you ever heard about the high risk of heart attack for any body that used to smoke for let’s say 20 years and quitted? I know couple of people, one in my family and one a close friend of mine who lost his father because he just quitted the smoking after almost 30 years and since his blood was addicted to and adopted with the nicotine he couldn’t take the lack of nicotine and the circulation without this poison couldn’t run as sufficient as it used to be and it caused the heart attack and he passed away right 1 month after quitting the smoking. So I do believe that quitting the cigarettes for those who are addicted for more than 20 years must be under the supervision of the specialist.

Ee Lynn said...

I have heard on the radio that a doctor was interview and she said that if a smoker quits smoking and has not been smoking for 15 years and above, their lungs and the rest of their body parts will be as new as a non-smoker has.

I would agree that smokers have a high lung cancer rate especially. On About.com, it is to be said, “Most cases of lung cancer death, close to 90% in men, and 80% in women are caused by cigarette smoking. There are several other forms of cancer attributed to smoking as well, and they include cancer of the oral cavity, pharynx, larynx, esophagus, bladder, stomach, cervix, kidney and pancreas, and acute myeloid leukaemia.”
(http://quitsmoking.about.com/od/tobaccostatistics/a/cancerstats.htm)

There it goes where is a person quits smoking; it will certainly reduce every diseases that a smoker can possibly have.

nella said...

when people just stop smoking, the bad impact like lapse of concentration, desire for sweet food, lack of oxygen will happen but this is just happen for certain times until your body adjust itself with the change condition and it happen because change in the system appears in the form of a dipping blood sugar level.

After your body adapt with new condition which without cigarette, people will feel the positive impact directly or not.

References:
http://www.stop-smoking-updates.com/quitsmoking/quitting-benefits/health-benefits/positive-and-negative-side-effects-of-quitting-smoking.htm

anuar said...

Nice article ayesha , i agree with the statement of your article that Within hours of stopping cigarettes, your body starts to recover from the effects of nicotine and additives. Blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, all of which are elevated because of the nicotine in cigarettes return to healthier levels. Your lung capacity increases and the bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier. Poisonous carbon monoxide in your blood decreases, allowing the blood to carry more oxygen.

Source from:(http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/quit_smoking/index.htm)

eason said...

I do agree with your statement. Quiting from smoking is the next step of having a good life. But it is not easy for a lot of smokers. Furthermore, not necessary that quiting smoke is good for smokers because their body use to the nicotine inside the cigarattes.

Ceasar said...

Surely smoking damages our health. If any one already have one of the diseases listed below, he may be virtually certain that the cigarettes he have smoked contributed, perhaps greatly. Furthermore, can also count on stabilizing or reversing the problems if any one quit.
Lung disease, lung cancer, and emphysema these are RARE DISEASES in the absence of smoking, Heart disease, particularly diseases of the heart arteries. I have always felt that the American Lung and the American Cancer Societies have done a much better job than heart organizations in getting out their message about smoking. Smoking kills more people through its increase in heart attacks than it does with cancer or emphysema! Let's look at some of the cardiovascular risks,30% of deaths due to heart attacks and coronary artery disease are due to smoking. , The risk of a heart attack is increased six times in women and three times in men (this is at one pack per day),People who continue to smoke after a heart attack increase their risk by 25-50% ,The risks of stroke is markedly increased. , Cancers other than lung cancer: Associations are noted with bladder, stomach, pancreas, esophagus, larynx, mouth, cervix. ,Peptic ulcer disease ,The fact that smoking causes problems for the heart arteries is not surprising when you consider that smoking has been demonstrated to.
http://www.heartpoint.com/smoking.html

To avoide all this every one should give up the cigerattes

Srikanth said...

I do agree with Eason statement. And he was mentioning that it is not easy for them to stop smoking. But in my opinion I like to say that there is nothing difficult if you really want to do. It’s all about the person and his mind; for example when you are interested in anything it won’t be difficult. I mean anything.

Anonymous said...

Smoking gives you ARTIFICIAL benefits, like being merry for some moments. So, when you quit, your system is going back to its 'normal' state, which your body might not be too used to.It's like breaking up with your Bf/ gf of 10 years which ofcourse won't be easy at the start. With time, your system would adjust. If it doesn't, it therefore means it was badly damaged by the cigarette.Quitting is the best deal.

Anonymous said...

I agree that quitting really help a lifelong for smoker,Everybody who stops smoking will notice the difference immediately. Your physical condition improves, you have a fresh breath again and you smell better. The nose starts to work better (you smell more) and food tastes better. After a while, smoker's cough will disappear as well. The thing that you don't notice is even more important: your blood pressure goes down, heart beat goes down to a normal level, the whole body starts to function better again.

The time it takes before the health risks of the ex-smoker are equal to those of someone who has never smoked depends on the amount and time that someone has smoked. After a couple of years, the increased risk of heart and lung diseases is reduced considerably. The first years after quitting show the biggest decrease of these risks. And after 10 to 15 years, the ex-smoker is as healthy again as someone who has never smoked. Within several years, the risk of heart and coronary diseases are equal to that of non-smokers. Also, the risk of lung disease decreases relatively quickly. The risk of lung cancer needs 10 to 15 years to decrease to the risk of someone who never smoked. But also in this case the biggest decrease of the risk happens in the first years after quitting.

There are people who die of a smoker's disease shortly after they quit smoking. This is, of course, not because quitting is unhealthy, but because they already had the disease. A tumour in the lungs, for example, could have been there unnoticed for a long time.
Article source:-http://web4health.info/en/answers/add-smoking-stop

cuialbert said...

yeap,I agree with but there one problem if you a real smoker you can't quit is very easy,the ohter way when you star smoking it's very hard for quit it.
Everybody want to quit it but actually maybe after 2 days,they are smoking again,why they are smoking there many reson i think for the quit smoking the first you need to know the reason.The reason are maybe someone feel it's cool or maybe someone feel boring or have pressure from the work or family there many of reason,the way quit smoking is find the main problem to help quit smoking.

Ma'ruf a.k.a Murphy said...

Nice to read but hard to believe.To Be honest with you human being made to do "bad staff" and really naughty mistakes until they badly regret from what they did and when time comes to realize it will be late.Just name me what is good could be for human in such fake world?? If Allah want anyone he doesnt care either he/she smokes or healthy 100% he will take him. So to conclude i would like to say let them smoke as much they want!!! Smoking GooD for someone and Bad for Everyone..hey by the way why i have to log in in order to give u comment pls make it simple!!

Nooraldaim said...

Smoking cessation means "to quit smoking," or "withdrawal from nicotine." Because smoking is highly addictive, quitting the habit often involves irritability, headache, mood swings, and cravings associated with the sudden cessation or reduction of tobacco use by a nicotine-dependent individual.

Purpose

There are many good reasons to stop smoking; not the least is that smoking cessation may speed post-surgery recovery. Smoking cessation helps a person heal and recover faster, especially in the incision area, or if the surgery involved any bones. Research shows that patients who underwent hip and knee replacements, or surgery on other bone joints, healed better and recovered more quickly if they had quit or cut down their tobacco intake several weeks before the operation. Smoking weakens the bone mineral that keeps the skeleton strong and undermines tissue and vessel health. One study suggested that even quitting tobacco for a few days could improve tissue blood flow and oxygenation, and might have a positive effect on wound healing. If a patient has had a history of heart problems, his chances of having a second heart attack will be lowered. Quitting may also reduce wound complications, and lower the risk of cardiovascular trouble after surgery. If surgery was performed to remove cancerous tumors, quitting will reduce the risk of a second tumor, especially if cancer in the lung, head, or neck has been successfully treated.

Description

Quitting smoking is one of the best things a person can do to increase their life expectancy. On average, male smokers who quit at 35 years old can be expected to live to be 76 years old instead of 69 years if they were still smoking. Women who quit would live to be 80 years old instead of 74 years.

So as we read through the above article we can come to a conclution that the more time spend from you last cigarette the better it is for you

Reference:

http://www.answers.com/smoking%20cessation

Ayesha said...

Murphy,yes I know that If Allah want anyone he can take anytime he wants but do you want to live unhealthy??I'm not saying that I'm scared to die!!!But Smoking is 'Makruh' in Islam because it is addicted.It is just same like drinking alcohol which is 'Haram' that can make you drunk!!!Why muslim can't eat 'Pork'?Because it is unhealthy and give you side-effects,that's why it is 'Haram' in Islam!!It is same concept friend!!

Ameet said...

Wow! My two friends are arguing about smoking and live long and also they include some not related words in their argument like pork and Islam. Anyway Ayesha, you mentioned a lot of things about to quit smoking and I hope after read your article some our friends also quit smoking to live a long and healthy life.

Ayesha said...

Hey Amit, I mentioned about 'pork' and Islam as an example for my explanation and to make our friends understand what is my article is talking about. Anyways,I read your comments in or friends' article and you mentioned about Islam too which it does make some people angry and upsad but I didn't say anything to you about it but you should have think people's feeling before you say anything especially about Islam.Thanks anyways.