Did you know that smoking is one of the most preventable causes of death in our society? Each year, smoking kills more people than AIDS, alcohol, drug abuse, car crashes, murders, suicides and fires-combined! That’s unbelievable! Smoking damages your health in many ways, for example it can cause cancer, serious ailments (such as heart attacks and strokes), respiratory problems, asthma attacks, cold fingers, and dull sense of smell and taste. Smoking can increase your chances of having a premature death. Do you want those problems happening to you? I don’t think so… so don’t smoke! It will only ruin your life! Approximately 3.5 million people worldwide each year die because of smoking; hopefully you won’t be one of those people.
Most people already know about the cost of smoking as it relates to health. By now, nearly every adult in the U.S. who smokes has heard that smoking often leads to such things as cancer, emphysema, reduced lung function, etc., etc. Hopefully, most people who smoke are also aware that it makes your clothes stink, your house stink, your car stink, so on and so on.
The average cost of a pack of cigarettes is $4.50 to $5.00, plus taxes. A smoker who smokes a pack a day will, on average, spend about spends $49 dollars a week, $208 dollars a month, and $2,548 a year.
This is based on a $5 pack price with $2 for taxes. Prices and taxes vary by state and country.
$36,500 a year, on average.
Cancer sticks may be hurting more than your lungs. If cancer isn’t enough to make you stop smoking, maybe this is. Men who smoke cigarettes suffer a more rapid decline in brain functioning than men who don’t smoke, says the latest research published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
Researchers analyzed data on 5,099 men and 2,137 women who underwent a series of clinical exams, cognitive tests, and questionnaires. The findings: The men who smoked showed cognitive decline as severe as non-smokers who were 10 years older than them.
This means a 50-year-old male smoker will show similar cognitive decline to a 60-year-old male who has never smoked before, explains Severine Sabia, lead study author and research associate at University College London. These early dementia-like brain difficulties start showing up in men as early as 45 years old.
But why exactly is smoking bad for the brain? It may have to do with the negative effects smoking has on the vascular and respiratory pathways, Sabia explains.
Ten reasons why smoking is simply not cool
If you don’t smoke, congratulations. Smoking is about as cool as sticking your hand into a food processor. Here are ten reasons why you should never start, or if you have, why you should stop.
The Marlboro man died of lung cancer. That cool guy you used to see in the ads, Wayne McLaren, died in 1997 after a long battle against lung cancer. Needless to say, he was a heavy smoker.
If you break a leg, you’ll be laid low. If you smoke, bone fractures can take 70 percent longer to heal than they do in non-smokers. If you’re keen on sport, this should be a consideration.
Smoking causes impotence. Now there’s a reason why you shouldn’t start. Smoking reduces peripheral vascular flow and the blood flow necessary to attain an erection may become blocked. This seems to be a very high price to pay for a cigarette.
Getting cold feet? Smokers often have cold feet and hands as a result of poor circulation. Components of cigarette smoke block the transfer of life-giving oxygen throughout the body.
It doesn’t make you look cool. All it does do is to make you look like a 13-year-old who is prepared to sacrifice his health to look like a 15-year-old. And that behind the bicycle shed. There are better ways to make yourself look older or to make yourself feel like you’re living on the edge.
Ever heard an old person with a smoker’s cough? That deep rattle, that hacking, wheezing strain to rid the lungs of yesterday’s muck. How attractive is that? Is that what you want to sound like one day?
Non-smokers get the best restaurant seats. The smoking section is usually small, smells hideous and is often tucked in behind the counter and the ladies’ toilet.
Smoking is expensive. Somebody who smokes a packet of cigarettes a day, could buy a plane ticket to London every December for what they spend on getting their lungs dirty.
YOU LOOK WEAK - To others, they think you can't accomplish anything, that you can't reach your goals. Perhaps you're somebody who stopped for a long period of time and then started back up again. Your friends probably think you're addicted for life.
YOU SMELL LIKE AN ASHTRAY - Yes you do. Smokers don't smell themselves, so they don't understand how much they smell. But others do. They can smell everything. They can smell you when you come inside from having gone outside. Perhaps you're one of those who lights up inside their house or apartment. Then you REALLY smell! They might not even want to come over because of it. It's something to think about.
YOU'RE CONSTANTLY GOING OUTSIDE - You're missing out on life. Perhaps you are out with friends. You're probably going outside once every 30 minutes or more. They probably expect you to go outside. But you might be missing out on great conversation. You never know. You never know because you are too busy going outside alone.
YOU PAY MORE IN HEALTH INSURANCE - If you smoke, expect to pay more for health insurance. Insurance companies don't want to pay for all your medical bills. Therefore, they charge you more per month. To the health industry, it's definitely NOT cool to use tobacco. You're a liability. You could cost them money and they know that. That's why you're charged more.
YOUR TEETH TURN YELLOW - After years and years of inhaling, your teeth will begin to have a yellowish tone to them. It's something that toothpaste will not be able to get off entirely. You'll be stuck with it. The only way to remove it is to go to the dentist and have your teeth cleaned. Eventually, after stopping, your teeth will whiten slightly, and they won't be as gross as before. The dentist will always call you out if he recognizes a mouth that inhales tobacco.
What does he see? He sees how black the BACK of your teeth are. When you exhale, it hits the back of your teeth, turning them darker than the front. But you can't tell because you can't see it.
IT DESTROYS YOUR LIFE - In every way possible. It takes OVER your life. Your life will revolve around it 24/7. They will mean more to you than a lot of things. They'll either be your best friend or your worst enemy, but they will definitely control you. After a while, you will be known notoriously as a smoker. It will keep you from reaching your goals. It will allow you to do negative things in excess. It will make you lazy. You won't be as active as you could be.
There are over 4,000 different addictives in cigarettes and that is not counting the tobacco...
List of cigarette addictives:
DDT - An insecticide that was eventually banned
Acetone - This is usually found in nail polish remover
Butane - You can find this in your lighter fluid
Cyanide - By now we should all know that cyanide is a very deadly poison
Ammonia - Used to clean your home and the smell is awful and overpowering to the senses
Benzene - This product can be found in synthetic rubber and also used to make dye products
Arsenic - Another deadly poison that is often used to kill rats
Formaldehyde - An embalming fluid and teens often use it to get high
Naphthalene - Mothball ingredient
Nicotine - Nicotine was a poison that was once and may still be used to kill roaches
A few other key ingredients include Carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxides...
From the list of over 4,000 substances found in cigarettes only 599 of them were approved in the making of cigarettes...
By: Marsha J.
The average smoker burns through 13 to 16 cigarettes a day, or four to six packs a week. That adds up. The average smoker forks over at least $1,500 a year, while here in New York City, it's closer to $3,300.
Why you should quit?
- Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in the United States.
- Smoking causes more than one in five deaths in America.
- 90 percent of lung cancer in men is directly related to smoking and 80 percent of lung cancer in women is caused by cigarettes.
- About 23 percent of adult men and about 18 percent of adult women smoke.
- The highest percentage of people who smoke are between the ages of 25 and 44.
- According to the American Heart Association, most adult smokers started smoking when they were preteens or teenagers. Unfortunately, many young people don’t fully understand the dangers of smoking.
- About 60 percent of American children ages 4-11 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
- On average, smokers die 13 to 14 years earlier than nonsmokers.
- Since 1965, more than 45 percent of adults who have ever smoked have quit.
- You can be one of the millions of people who successfully quit every year.
The health effects of smoking have results we can measure. Forty percent of men who are heavy smokers will die before they reach retirement age, as compared to only 18 percent of nonsmokers. Women who smoke face an increased risk of cervical cancer, and pregnant women who smoke take a chance with the health of their unborn babies.
Scientists have calculated that each cigarette cuts on average 11 minutes off the life of a male smoker.
The calculation, published in the British Medical Journal, is based on the difference in life expectancy between male smokers and non-smokers and an estimate of the total number of cigarettes a regular male smoker might consume in a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment