Reasons to Quit Smoking & Tobacco Use

Here are a few reasons that will encourage you to quit smoking.

According to research, tobacco causes 8 million deaths annually and there is no doubt that smokers are more likely to develop severe diseases as compared to non-smokers. This is enough reason to want to quit tobacco. Quitting smoking can be challenging but we are here with more reasons that will encourage you to quit.

After just 20 minutes of quitting, our heart rate drops and within next 12 hours, the carbon monoxide in the body drops to normal. Within weeks, the blood circulation and lung function improves and you can get rid of coughing and shortness of breath. Overall. your risk of suffering a stroke is reduced to that of a non-smoker. Within coming years, the risk of dying due to lung cancer or heart disease reduces drastically.

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

1. According to Cleveland Clinic, smoking affects the performance of men in the bedroom. Study suggests that smoking is linked to a man's ability to get an erection. Moreover, the men who smoke more than a pack a day are 60% more likely to suffer from erectile dysfunction as compared to men who never smoked.

2. According to American Heart Association, quitting smoking reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease, reduces inflammation and hypercoagulability, results in rapid improvement in high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL) levels. Quitting also helps reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm, and sudden cardiac death, heart failure, venous thromboembolism, and peripheral arterial disease (PAD).

3. According to CDC, smokers are four times more likely to become blind due to age-related macular degeneration than people who never smoked. Age-related macular degeneration is a progressive condition that causes loss of central vision.

4. Smokers are more susceptible to developing rheumatoid arthritis . In fact, genetically vulnerable smokers are nearly 16 times more likely to develop the disease than nonsmokers.

5. Quitting reduces the risk of developing COPD, slows the progression of COPD and reduces the loss of lung function over time. It also reduces respiratory symptoms like cough, sputum production, wheezing thus reducing the risk of respiratory infections like bronchitis and pneumonia.

6. People who have been smoking for more than 20 years smoke for more than 20 years are 70% more likely to have acid reflux disease than nonsmokers and the research was done considering the lifestyle factors including diet, exercise, alcohol consumption, and tobacco use.