Fact: Your Body Starts to Repair Itself Immediately After Quitting

iVillage.com: Fact or Fiction: Quitting Smoking

The benefits of quitting can occur within just weeks from your last puff. After two weeks, college students who quit had fewer respiratory problems such as wheezing, shortness of breath and chest pain than students who still smoked, according to a recent study at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Other benefits come with time: Within a year, your risk of heart disease is half that of a smoker. In five years, your stroke risk is the same as a nonsmoker’s. “It’s always worth it to quit,” says Norman Edelman, M.D., chief medical officer for the American Lung Association. “Your health benefits, no matter what your age.”

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Fact: Your Body ...

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Fiction: Quittin...

It’s unclear why some people gain weight when they quit. Metabolic changes might be the culprit, or maybe instead of lighting a cigarette you grab a snack. But most people typically gain less than 10 pounds. “The truth is that even with a modest weight gain, you’re better off smoke-free,” says Charles Cutler, M.D., an internal medicine specialist in private practice in Philadelphia. “You’ll live longer, [have a] better quality of life and you can work on the weight later. Quitting smoking is much tougher. Do the hard part first.”

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Fact: It Usually...

Some smokers require as many as eight to 10 attempts before they stop smoking for good. “You probably fell off the first time you tried to ride a bike,” says Dr. Cutler. “But you got back on and kept trying until you learned how to ride successfully.” In the same way, quitting for good is a process. Over time, you’ll learn what method works for you and what doesn’t. Some people need individual counseling. Some do great with nicotine replacement, while others just go cold turkey. With each quit attempt, you’ll gain experience that will bring you closer to your goal.

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Fiction: Cutting...

“There’s no safe level of smoking,” says Cutler. “This is one thing that has to be all or nothing.” After all, it’s too easy to go from one or two cigarettes a day to three or four and then half a pack. You’ve got to be fully committed and that means changing your environment. Throw out your ashtrays and lighters. No cigarettes in your house, your purse, your car or at work “just in case.” It’s far easier to light up when an urge strikes if you keep a pack around than if you have to go buy a pack.

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Fact: You’ll Sav...

Smoking is expensive. If you quit, you could save enough money in a year to pay for a vacation, says Cutler. Cigarette prices vary by state, but let’s say they're $7 to $10 a pack. Smoke a half-pack a day? That’s $1,278 to $1,825 saved depending on the cost of cigarettes in your state. Smoke a whole pack? That’s $2,555 to $3,650 saved in a year. Go to the Cost of Smoking calculator to find out the exact amount you can save by quitting.

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Fiction: I’m Onl...

Most smokers know secondhand smoke can bother others. But did you know it causes 50,000 smoking-related deaths a year? “There’s no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke,” says Dr. Edelman. Even short-term exposure increases the risk of heart attack. Children in smoking households have more ear infections, colds, and bronchitis than kids in nonsmoking homes and are at a greater risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Even your pets suffer. Dogs may develop chronic coughs; cats may develop cancer. If you can’t quit for yourself, quit for the people (or animals) you love.

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Fact: Smoking Is...

Few places are tobacco-friendly these days. Laws in 35 states prohibit smoking in state or local government buildings. More states have clean indoor air laws that prohibit smoking in bars, restaurants and other public places. And in more than half of the states, you can’t smoke in private workplaces. Landlords have the right not to rent to smokers. Friends may ask you not to smoke in their cars or homes. Concerts and sporting events are smoke-free. If you’re tired of feeling ostracized or going outdoors to stand in the cold, heat, rain or snow, that’s one more reason to make a serious quit attempt.

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Fiction: I’ve Be...

Like other rationalizations, such as “It’s my only vice” or “I’ll quit tomorrow,” this is a self-defeating attitude. It's really a way for you to justify smoking. “You’ve got to set yourself up for success,” says Cutler. “Even if you’ve been smoking for 20 years, the damage can still be undone.” Battling both the physical nicotine addiction and the habits and rituals associated with smoking may be the toughest thing you’ve ever done. But an estimated 50 million adults are former smokers. If they can do it, you can, too

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Fact: You’re Not...

Stop-smoking programs, telephone counseling and classes offered through workplaces, hospitals and wellness centers can offer the peer support you need to kick the habit, says Edelman. Build your support network by telling family and friends about your plan to quit. Hang out with nonsmokers who encourage your efforts. Speak to your doctor about nicotine replacement, which is available in five forms (gum, lozenge, patch, prescription nasal spray or prescription inhaler), or prescription drugs to help you quit (bupropion and varenicline). On any given attempt to try to quit smoking, only 4 to 7 percent of people are able to do it without medications or other help, so don’t be shy about seeking out. Check out resources at the American Lung Association, American Cancer Society, Nicotine Anonymous, Smokefree.gov and the CDC.

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Fiction: Lung Ca...

You know smoking causes lung cancer, but did you know it’s linked to more than a dozen other diseases including cancer of the mouth, nose, sinuses, voice box, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, pancreas, ovary, cervix, stomach, colon and rectum? And that’s not all. Smoking harms almost every organ in the body. You’re twice as likely to die from heart attack. You’re more likely to suffer infertility, have pre-term delivery or a low birth-weight baby. And you’re more likely to develop long-term lung diseases such as emphysema (a destruction of lung tissue due to smoking), which can be found in people as young as 40. And consider this too: Female smokers die 14.5 years earlier than non-smokers.

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