Quitting smoking can truly seem like a battle at times. Everyone knows there is health risks associated with tobacco, but still the psychological allure and the physical addiction make it a difficult habit to stub out.
However, maybe these risks need further examination as it’s easy to lull ourselves into a false sense of security and believe that the effects of smoking only strike other people.
How Smoking Affects Our Health
Smoking has been linked to at least fourteen types of cancer. Cancers of the mouth, throat, voice box, pancreas, oesophagus, stomach, liver and kidneys are all much more prevalent amongst smokers and 90% of lung cancers are caused directly by cigarettes.
It’s not only cancer however that is a possible outcome. Smoking affects the heart and circulatory system and so the risk of heart attack, stroke and coronary heart disease is also much higher amongst smokers. In men, due to the effects of smoking on circulation, smoking can also lead to a higher incidence of impotence.
How Smoking Affects Others
When we smoke, we are damaging our own health and maybe that’s a risk we are willing to take, but we are also negatively impacting the health of those around us, including our partners, children and friends. Passive smoking is linked to many of the same illnesses outlined above and in children its impact includes a higher incidence of asthma, bronchial infections and even cot death.
Around the world 5 million smokers die every year from cigarettes. A further 600,000 people die from passive smoking and 165,000 of these are children.
How Smoking Affects Our Social Life
Combined with smoking’s impact on sex drive and performance, which can naturally affect your love life, smoking also has wider implications for your social life. First, many people don’t like the smell of cigarettes and it’s unlikely that any non-smokers will allow you to light up in their homes. Second, because smoking is now banned in enclosed public places and in the workplace you can find yourself relegated to spending your social life with other smokers, and often in the rain.
Smoking is also expensive, with the NHS estimating that the average person saves £250 per month after quitting. That’s an expense that can curtail any social life.
Is There a Solution?
Once you work your way through smoking’s list of negatives you might lean more towards kicking the habit for good. There are many routes you can take to stop smoking but one of the most recent innovations seems to have a very positive impact on people’s ability to quit. A switch to e-cigarettes cuts out many of the health risks associated with tobacco. Vaping is also a lot cheaper than buying cigarettes and can be done in many places where smoking is banned. Vaping also has a better taste and fragrance associated with it. With a wide range of vaping products available, this guide to eliquids is worthwhile for novices in the industry.
Probably the main advantage of vaping however is that it still includes nicotine in the process but this can gradually be cut back so you experience fewer withdrawal symptoms. In your quest to quit, any advantage in the battle can be the difference between success and failure and reducing your reliance on nicotine gradually is a major way to ensure you come out on top.
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