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| Home > Addiction Archive > Tobacco Addiction Articles > Reversing the Effects of Tobacco on Your Health | ||||||||||||||||
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Tobacco Addiction Articles
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Reversing the Effects of Tobacco on Your Health By: James Snow March 24, 2008 |
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According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention over 45 million Americans (20% of all adults) smoke cigarettes in the United States1. It is a staggering number. What is worse? Smoking accounts for approximately 1 out of every 5 deaths every year. Your doctor may be right after all. This data tells us that smoking really does translate into real health problems and even premature death. So what do you do if you are a smoker? When is it too late to quit? It is never too late to quit. One large study evaluated smokers who had quit previously and found that over time their risk for lung cancer returned almost to that of the non-smoking population23. This improvement is seen as soon as 5 years after quitting and reaches its peak around 15 years of smoking abstinence. What does that mean? It means that at least as it relates to lung cancer you can potentially undue some of the risk for lung cancer caused by smoking if you quit now! What other health problems are smokers at risk for? Here is a short list to name a few. There are plenty more that could be added, but you get the idea: |
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There are many reasons to quit smoking. Living to see another day is one of the best. No one should accept this long list of health problems without a fight. After all, the data suggests you may be able to reduce or even reverse your risk for these health consequences by quitting. And you can quit! Tell someone about your efforts to quit and let them help you. Most goals are better fulfilled when you make yourself accountable to someone else. Get a support group and check in regularly. [1]Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Annual Smoking-Attributable Mortality, Years of Potential Life Lost, and Economic Costs—United States, 1995–1999. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report [serial online]. 2002;51(14):300–303 [cited 2004 May 23]. Available from: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5114a2.htm. 2 The Health Benefits of Smoking Cessation: A Report of the Surgeon General. US Dept of Health and Human Services, Washington 1990. 3 Peto, R, Darby, S, Deo, H, et al. Smoking, smoking cessation, and lung cancer in the UK since 1950: combination of national statistics with two case-control studies. BMJ 2000; 321:323. |
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This article should not be used as or interpreted as medical advice. Full legal disclaimer. |
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