The Effects of Smoking, and why you should quit NOW!

It has long been documented that smoking is bad for your health, although many smokers don’t like to admit it or choose to ignore the fact completely and cruise through their life getting less and less fit, with the risks of cancer increasingly steadily for every year that they smoke, a recent report that I read claims that smoking on average cuts a whole 10 years off your life while reducing your performance in the gym and around the track, making your skin age faster, and making you smell. Every year in the UK over 114,000 deaths were attributed to smoking a related cause; that is a lot of deaths!

A few reasons why you should quit now!

It Kills and Damages You:
Each cigarette contains over 4000 chemicals, and when bunt produces many noxious toxins including the 3 major damaging toxins that are Carbon monoxide, Tar and the addictive nicotine. These obviously have several consequences. What is not often known is that the main cause of death as a result of smoking is cardiovascular disease; this is due to the fact that smoking accelerates the hardening process of cholesterol in arteries narrowing arteries or even blocking them, as a consequence blood clots are far more likely to occur. Lung cancer occurs due to the harmful chemicals entering your lungs in the form of smoke, ninety percent of all people who develop lung cancer are due to smoking, one in 5 people who are heavy smokers will die of lung cancer, and do you really want to be one of these people, a statistic? There are several other ways that smoking will help lead you to an early death including mouth cancer, throat cancer, coronary thrombosis and many more, another side affect you, or your partner may want to bear in mind that it can lead to impotence!

It Harms and Kills Others:
Passive (second hand) smoking has been shown to kill and damage, take Roy Castle for example, who didn't smoke, but died of lung cancer as a result of playing the trumpet in smoke filled pubs and other venues, a tragedy indeed. Do you really want to be responsible for the death of a close friend or a family member, I doubt it! Smoking while pregnant is hugely dangerous for the unborn baby, if all mothers to be quit smoking during pregnancy it is estimated that roughly 4000 babies that die would survive each year. Smoking also makes you and your property smell of cigarettes, and when first impressions count, this is far from ideal!

Reasons why you should quit:

Smoking takes an average of 10 years off your life, do you want this?
Smoking makes your skin age faster, making you look old before your years.
Smoking costs a huge amount of money, in the UK if you smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, then quitting would save you roughly £1500 a year, that’s a lot of money.
Smoking destroys your sense of taste and smell, stop smoking and enjoy the smells and flavours of the world.
Smoking is bad for your fitness, destroying alveoli in the lungs; this in turn lowers your VO2 max as your body can no longer absorb oxygen into the blood as quickly as a non smoker.
Smoking makes your breath smell, stains your teeth and makes your clothes and belongings smell.
Smoking increases your chances of becoming impotent.
Smoking negatively affects hormone levels!
In the next article, I will give you methods and advice on how to quit. After reading the above it should be pretty clear to you that quitting is the best option for you, and those around you, and even may give you the will power to quit.

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