How to quit smoking

How to quit smoking

Cigarettes and cigarette smoke contain over 4,000 chemicals, including 43 known to cause cancer. Many of these chemicals are added in the processes of tobacco farming and cigarette production. The tobacco burns while a cigarette is smoked, exposing the smoker to these deadly chemicals, tars and gases

To quit smoking, the smoker must put a plan to work on it. This plan has three phases: deciding to quit, preparing to quit, and following through.

Deciding to quit: each smoker has his or her own reasons; here are three good ones:

The family needs his financial and emotional support. If he dies prematurely from a smoking-related illness, who will do all the things he does for his family?

Kids exposed to secondhand smoke at home are more prone to colds, ear infections and allergies than children of nonsmoking parents. By age 7, they may be shorter than their friends, lag behind in reading ability and have behavior problems. Worse still, they will likely become smokers themselves.

Himself it’s never too late to quit smoking. Right away, he’ll look better (no more yellow teeth and fingers), feel better (good-bye hacking cough, hello vitality) and enjoy life better (flowers smell sweeter, food tastes better).

He knows why he wants to quit. Now he must choose a date and put a big red circle on the calendar. Every night before going to bed he’ll state his reasons for quitting out loud 10 times.

Preparing to quit: He’s ready now to look into smoking cessation options. He may want to discuss this with his pharmacist or other health care professional. In choosing the method that's appropriate, consider these factors

• How long he has been smoking.

• How many cigarettes he smokes a day.

• What triggers his urge to smoke?

• Whether he smokes on a regular schedule or randomly.