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Ask what the benefits might be

Ask what the benefits might be

While it is true that every cigarette you smoke is doing you damage, the opposite is also true that every cigarette you don’t smoke is doing you good. In asking yourself about tobacco use, consider the benefits of quitting and the future harm you risk if you don’t.

The benefits in quitting:

  • 20 minutes after quitting your heart rate and blood pressure drops;
  • 12 hours later, almost all nicotine has been metabolised;
  • A day later, carbon monoxide in the blood has reduced allowing improved oxygen carrying capacity;
  • After a week, your sense of smell and taste improves;
  • After 6 weeks, you have decreased risk of wound infection following surgery;
  • Three months sees your lung capacity improve and cilia grow to help clean the lungs; and
  • After a year, your risk of life threatening coronary heart disease is halved in comparison to those who continue to smoke.

As well as the short-term effects, there are many other long term benefits to be gained from quitting, such as:

  • Financial savings which you could reward yourself with, such as that overdue holiday or just put it away for a rainy day;
  • Longer term disease risk reducing effects;
  • Better health and quality of life as we get older; and
  • What are the risks if I choose not to quit?

Choosing to smoke is a person decision, however smokers should be aware of the risks associated with their continued smoking practices. The Cancer Council Western Australia has stated that more than 1,200 West Australian’s die prematurely each year through causes associated with tobacco and smoking. As well as this preventable human cost, the financial impact on the Western Australian community is more than $2 billion per annum.

Additional to the self-incurred health risks, others who inhale the passive or second hand smoke surrounding a smoker are also exposed to the same harmful complex mixture of toxic gases and particulate matter that pose the same increased risk of smoke induced disease. While smokers themselves are at the far greater risk, data from studies in the US and UK, show that for every 10 active smoker deaths there is a further death attributed to passive smoke exposure. Passive smoke is even thought to account for up to 3% of total deaths recorded annually within the Unites States, and the third most preventable health risk following active smoking and alcohol abuse.

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