Stop Smoking - Why You Shouldn't Put It Off Any Longer

This is what you're putting into your body every time you inhale ... nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, ammonia, cyanide, arsenic and DDT.

If you enjoy a good murder mystery, some of these ingredients probably sound familiar. For instance, cyanide and arsenic have long been the poisons of choice for unhappy housewives dying to get rid of their husbands. DDT is an insecticide that was banned from agricultural use in the United States in 1972 because of environmental concerns. Carbon monoxide is a toxic gas that can shut down your central nervous system and heart. Formaldehyde is often used to embalm bodies because it has the ability to keep the tissue firm. Concentrated exposure can cause headaches, burning in the throat, and difficulty breathing. Ever caught a whiff of ammonia? Enough said.

While a single cigarette contains only minute traces of these ingredients (and other ingredients such as molasses, patchouli oil, sugar, artificial licorice flavor, menthol, artificial milk chocolate, chocolate flavor, vanilla extract, and cedarwood oil) over time they take their toll.

But you already know that.

It may have happened gradually, but if you've been smoking for any length of time, you've already experienced some of the consequences of these ingredients. Your breathing isn't as clear as it used to be. It seems as if your lungs are always working a little harder than should be necessary. You run out of breath easily. Food has lost its taste. Everything smells stale. Little cuts and scrapes take longer to heal. Simple colds turn into bronchitis. You experience dizziness. You don't feel healthy and you don't look healthy. The lines in your face have deepened. The color of your teeth has yellowed.

The signs are all there.

Your body is doing the best it can to warn you about your smoking. In fact, the first time you ever inhaled the smoke from a cigarette, your body warned you. It tried to cough it up, didn't it? But you didn't listen.

Are you listening now?

We all know the negative effects of smoking, and we all know that smoking can be addictive. However, not many of us have given much thought to the addictive nature of cigarettes. So, let's take a closer look:

Addiction To Nicotine: Nicotine is most addictive substance found in cigarettes. Once you start smoking you quickly teach your body to look forward to regular doses of nicotine. And just as happens with hard drugs, after awhile your body begins to require more and more nicotine to satisfy its need. This is why you so quickly find yourself smoking more and more cigarettes. So, while nicotine isn't as harmful as some of the other ingredients, it is the ingredient that keeps you coming back for more.

Psychological Addiction: the physical act of smoking quickly becomes a cornerstone of your life and your habits. As result, you'll often find yourself smoking not because of your need for nicotine, but because it's become part of your regular rituals and habits. For example, many people automatically turn to a cigarette when they have a cup of coffee, or after a meal. These are habitual acts that tend to have little to do with need. If you manage to take a close look at your daily routine, you'll be stunned to discover how often you smoke simply because you always smoke in those situations.

Okay, I admit that statistics are rarely effective at motivating someone to do something. However, if you're going to stop smoking, you need every weapon in the arsenal. So here are some cold hard facts about smoking ...

Worldwide, five million people die every year from tabacco-related illness.

By the year 2030, the annual rate of tabacco-related deaths is expected to rise to eight million.

In the United States, approximately 438,000 deaths every year (about 20% of all deaths) are attributable to cigarette smoking.

This one's for those who less concerned about their own health, but very concerned about the health of their loved ones ... it's estimaged that 38,000 deaths every year are the result of exposure to secondhand smoke.

On average, if you're a smoker, you'll die 13 or 14 years earlier than if you were a non-smoker.

In the United States, nearly 21% of all adults (we're talking about 45 million people) are current cigarette smokers. The number is slightly higher for high school students ... 23%.

Cigarette smoking is highest among American Indians/Alaska Natives (32.4%), followed by African Americans (23.0%), whites (21.9%), Hispanics (15.2%), and Asians (10.4%).

The past decade or so we've seen growing evidence that exposure to second-hand smoke can be nearly as dangerous to one's health as first-hand smoke, especially for children. In fact, recent studies had shown that the younger a person is when exposed to smoke the greater the potential damage to his or her respiratory system. Since the lungs of young children and infants, in particular, are at a critical stage in their development, even small amounts of smoke can be harmful.

Bronchitis and pneumonia occur more frequently in children who've been exposed to second-hand smoke. Childhood asthma is easily aggravated by second-hand smoke, and some research suggests many cases may be the direct result of being exposed to smoke. Because inhaled smoke can damage the Eustachian tube, which causes that part of the ear to swell and eventually become infected, the children of smokers are at a greater risk of developing ear infections.

Even if you don't smoke in the same areas where your children play and live, the smoke will linger within a house, as evidenced by the smell that permeates everything.

Is this the life you want for your children?