Hazards of Smoking and tips to quit smoking

Smoking leads to several health hazards. Chief among them is making the smoker more prone to heart and lung diseases. Cancer is another dreaded disease that can be associated with many smokers who have fallen prey to it. Smoking can cause some serious lung diseases like bronchitis, emphysema or even lung cancer. Smokers are said to be ten more times susceptible to lung cancer than non smokers. If persisted over many years the possibility increases significantly.
Smoking also results in abnormal blood pressure and pulse rate of the person. The use of nicotine results in the inhalation of carbon monoxide into the blood stream which can be very detrimental to health. It robs your body parts of oxygen which forces the heart to pump harder. The air passages also over due course of time begin to swell up and end up obstructing the passage of air in to the lungs.
Smoking also results in discoloration of gums and teeth. Teeth develop a yellow tinge with sustained smoking. Even the gums suffer from discoloration and get weakened in the process. Fingernails of the person also get discolored as a result of smoking. The skin becomes dry and wrinkles faster than that of non smokers. Erectile dysfunction also is fairly common side effect of smoking.
According to studies it has been observed that if one manages to quit smoking by the age of 30 a large amount damage that has occurred to person health can be repaired by the body’s own natural healing process. It is said that the chances of dying to smoking related diseases is reduced by as much as 90 percent. Even for people who quit the habit around the age of 50, they can reduce the risk of dying through smoking related illnesses by a substantial 50 percent. Moreover the moment you quit smoking you feel a significant improvement in health in matter of just few days.
Smoking during pregnancy puts the health of the mom and the child at risk. The side effects may possibly include spontaneous abortion, premature birth, underweight child birth or even prenatal mortality to either the mother or the baby. This is referred to as fetal tobacco syndrome.
Tips to help quit smoking
Discipline yourself and make a conscious effort to quit smoking. Stay motivated and make sure you finally kick the habit. Many smokers go through several failures before finally being able to quit for good. Hence don’t lose hope yourself and never give up.
Identify smoking patterns so that you don’t succumb to them when your withdrawal process starts. Distract yourself with work and other interesting hobbies to keep your mind of cigarettes.
You can ask for the support of near and loved ones to help you in this time of need. Their support will motivate you to quit smoking completely.
Reward yourself every day in the beginning of your withdrawal process for staying away from tobacco. This will prompt you to continue your streak for a whole lot while longer.