Friday, November 16, 2007

Stop Smoking: Immediate and Long Term Benefits

Immediate and Long Term Health Benefits by stopping smoking

According to a "poster" in the form of a cylinder representing a cigarette I saw yesterday at the Faculty of Dentistry, University Malaya, these are the immediate and long term health benefits that you get when you stop smoking:

Within 20 minutes when you stop smoking

  • Blood pressure drops to normal

  • Pulse rate drops to normal

  • Body temperature of hands and feet increases to normal

8 hours after you stop smoking

  • CO (carbon monoxide, a toxic gas) level in blood drops to normal

  • O2 (oxygen) level in blood increases to normal

24 hours after you stop smoking

  • Chances of heart attack begins to decrease

48 hours after you stop smoking

  • Nerve endings start to regrow

  • Ability to smell and taste is enhanced (increased)

Half to 3 months after you stop smoking

  • Blood circulation improves

  • Walking becomes easier

  • Lung function increases up to 30%

One to nine months after you stop smoking

  • Coughing, sinus congestion and shortness of breath all decreases

  • Cilia regrow in lungs, increasing ability to "clean" lings

  • Body overall energy increases

One year after you stop smoking

  • Risk of coronary heart diseases is half that of a smoker

Five years after you stop smoking

  • Lung cancer death rate decreases by almost half

  • Stroke risk id reduced to that of a non-smoker

Five to Fifteen years after you stop smoking

  • (will fill this in later)

Ten years after you stop smoking

  • Lung cancer death rates is similar to that of a non-smoker

  • Pre-cancerous cells are replaced by healthy cells

  • Risk of other cancers decreases

Fifteen years after you stop smoking

  • Risk of coronary heart diseases is similar to that of a non-smoker
Aren't these sufficient reasons for you to stop smoking immediately? I hope you are convinced of the great health benefits you get by getting rid of your smoking habit. Note that I have made the word habit bold. Why? Habits are nasty stuff. Once you acquire a habit, it is pretty hard to stop. And smoking is addictive. But if you have the will power to stop, you can. Even if your will power is weak, but you wish to stop, help is available. There are medications like NICORETTE which is a nicotine gum. Other brand names include Commit, Habitrol, Nicotrol, Nicoderm, and Prostep.

Nicotine gum helps you stop smoking in various ways. One is of course it keep your mouth busy so your mouth have no opportunity to hold a cigarette. And the nicotine that gets absorbed helps to stop your craving to smoke. There are pros and cons of using nicotine gum and also a proper way to use it. You can get more information from Proper ways to use nicotine gum plus information of its pros and cons.

You can purchase Nicorette as well as other alternatives from Online Canadian Pharmacy Escrow Service. It says Canadian, but they deliver world wide. I believe if you are a US resident, you can order your Nicorette from Canada at half the price you can get in the US.

You should not use Nicorette beyond 12 weeks as it can be addictive if abused. I am not a medical doctor or pharmacist, so this post is for your information only. You should consult your doctor and you are also encouraged to do your own research. A good place to do that will be the website for "Physician Desk Reference". You can type or copy-paste "Physician Desk Reference" into the search box above, make sure the radio button (.) WEB is ticked, and click "Search". Their site should be the first on the SERP (Search Engine Result Page).

It is meant for medical professionals and students, but I see this on their website: "Access to PDR.net and Thomson Clinical Xpert is free to U.S.-based MDs, DOs, Dentists, Optometrists, NPs and PAs in full-time patient practice, and to U.S. medical students, residents and other select prescribing allied health professionals". Note that I have made the word residents to draw your attention to it, as to me, it means if you reside in the US, you get free access. However, I am not a US resident, so I cannot verify that for you. If you happen to be a US resident, I hope you will try to get access and leave your feedback by leaving a comment in this post.

END OF POST. THERE IS NO MORE

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

There are many aids like gums, patches and pills on the market that will help people to stop smoking. A lot of people are helped by these products, but they do not work for everyone. If you’re a smoker who has tried to quit time and time again, but have not been helped by other methods, chantix may be a welcome alternative. http://www.chantixhome.com/

Anonymous said...

Smoking can hook you because cigarettes contain nicotine which is highly addictive. But being hooked is not an excuse why you cannot quit smoking. Smoking has been proven by several researches to be great threat to one's health that is why there is no reason why one who is already hooked to it should not quit smoking. http://www.besthealthmed.com/quit_smoking.html

Jo said...

Indeed I'm convinced, I tried quitting 6 months ago then went back smoking last month. Will definitely quit this time around.

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