Struggling to quit smoking? 15 good reasons to boost your motivation!
There are over 1.1 billion smokers in the world today, with tobacco smoking causing 7.7 million deaths – including 1 in 5 deaths in males worldwide1. There are no hard and fast rules about how or why people decide to quit but some of the common reasons are health, finances, social desirability, relationships, grief, children, pregnancy and infertility, or just simply outgrown the habit.
Motivation to quit can be increased if we know more about the substances we're ingesting and the effects they're having on our mind and body. Here are 15 great reasons to get you started...
1) Way back in the 50’s smoking cigarettes was found to be related to lung cancer. Since then smoking has been implicated in a broad range of negative health outcomes. Around 90% of lung cancer cases are caused by tobacco smoking and it also causes cancer of the upper aerodigestive tract (oral cavity, nasal cavity, nasal sinuses, pharynx, larynx and oesophagus), pancreas, stomach, liver, lower urinary tract (renal pelvis and bladder), kidney, uterine cervix as well as causing myeloid leukaemia.
2) The mechanisms by which tobacco smoke causes cancers are not very clear in the literature. What is known is that cigarette smoke contains at least 55 carcinogens (cancer-causing chemicals). Around 20 of these have been shown to have specific carcinogenic effects on pulmonary (lung) function and are therefore thought to be involved in the aetiology of lung cancer.
3) Cigarette smoke contains carbon monoxide (CO) - the poisonous gas that is present in car exhaust fumes and the killer gas produced by faulty gas appliances. CO binds 200 times more readily to the haemoglobin on red blood cells than oxygen, effectively ousting oxygen and depriving the body of oxygen. So a smoker's heart has to work harder to push blood around the body, without having enough oxygen to do the job properly. This is one of the reasons why smokers get out of breath easily. CO is also strongly linked with the development of coronary heart disease and contributes to the fatty build-up on your artery walls.
4) The benefits of quitting are felt straight away. Once someone stops smoking, their CO levels fall quite quickly. After a day of not smoking their CO level should be the same as that of a non-smoker.
5) By stopping smoking you will improve your circulation. Within hours your hands and feet will start to feel warmer as your blood circulation improves. You will be able to concentrate better and will not get out of breath so easily.
6) Nicotine is the most important acute-acting pharmacological agent in tobacco smoke and the cause of addiction. Its immediate physiological effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, constriction of cutaneous blood vessels, and muscular, hormonal and metabolic effects. It can cause platelet stickiness in the blood and damage to the lining of the blood vessels, which may cause coronary disease. It is implicated in reproductive and gastrointestinal disorders. Nicotine is an extremely toxic substance. 30 to 60 mg could kill a human. Doses in cigarettes are much lower, of course.
7) High levels of nitrogen oxides are found in tobacco smoke. These gases are thought to be responsible for initiating lung damage that leads to emphysema.
8) Hydrogen cyanide, acrolein, ammonia, nitrogen dioxide and formaldehyde are all being ingested each time you smoke. These substances damage the cilia in the lungs. Cilia are the tiny projections on the lining of the lungs that move in waves and move the mucus along. The smoker's cough is caused by a build-up of mucus. Toxic chemicals also build up when they cannot be shifted along in the mucus.
9) Thirty metals have been identified in tobacco smoke. They include nickel, arsenic, cadmium, chromium and lead. Arsenic and chromium, and probably nickel and cadmium, are cancer-causing. Lead is a heavy metal that is difficult to expel from the body.
10) Radioactive compounds are carcinogenic. Tobacco smoke contains polonium-210, potassium-40, radium-226 and -228 and thorium-228.
11) Passive smoking also has negative health effects. Over 17,000 children under the age of 5 years are admitted to hospital each year due to the effects of passive smoking.
12) Infertility is higher, and the length of time it takes to conceive is longer, if you smoke. Smoking has been found to be harmful to a woman’s ovaries, causing an acceleration in the loss of eggs and reproductive function.
13) Smoking is associated with spontaneous abortion (miscarriage), placental problems during pregnancy, stillbirths and neonatal death, and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) or cot death.
14) For men, smoking can permanently damage and narrow blood vessels that carry blood to the penis, causing problems getting or maintaining an erection (impotence). Smoking and excessive drinking also cause reduced sperm count and motility, and increased abnormalities in sperm shape and function.
15) As well as smoking having a widespread effect on the unborn child during pregnancy, perhaps the most well-known effect of smoking during pregnancy is that the babies born to smoking mothers are generally smaller.
Ready and motivated to quit successfully this time? Let's chat: https://calendly.com/karenbartle/hypnosis-to-quit-smoking