One Big Health Nut

You already know smoking is bad for your health. And you probably have already considered quitting smoking a multitude of times. But you find that you don’t have the will power to quit. Maybe the reason you haven’t quit yet is that you don’t know the extent of the damage smoking does to your body. Of course you know that smoking increases your risk of lung cancer and of heart disease. But are you aware of how much smoking increases your risk of these diseases and others?

Smoking causes lung cancer. This is not a news flash. But did you know that smoking causes 90% of the lung cancer deaths in women and 80% of lung cancer deaths in men. Your risk of death from lung cancer if you are male is 23 times higher than non-smoking males. Women’s risk of lung cancer is increased by 13 times for smoking women. That is a substantial increase in risk. The leading cause of death in the United States today is coronary heart disease. Smoking increases the risk of developing coronary diseases by up to 4 times that of non-smokers. Smokers’ risk of stroke is double a non-smokers risk. Developing peripheral vascular disease, a narrowing of the blood vessels is increased by 10 times in smokers. Chronic lung disease is also caused by cigarette smoke. The percentage of deaths attributed to this disease by cigarette smoke is 90%. Your risk of developing the disease is ten times that of a non-smoker.

Smoking is bad for your health. The majority of people that smoke already realize the truth of that statement. But smoking is actually bad for your life. Your chances of dying from chronic diseases are substantially increased. Your quality of life is significantly altered. And your life span in general is considerably shortened. Quitting smoking will decrease the risk of developing these chronic conditions. The earlier you quit, the longer body has to repair itself. If you have found it difficult to quit in the past, perhaps understanding how significantly you impact your body will give you renewed inspiration.