Please quit smoking cigarettes.
According to the CDC, cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. Cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year. Most of the deaths are due to heart disease, lung cancer and chronic obstructive lung disease or COPD. On average, smokers die about 10 years earlier than nonsmokers.
Cigarette smoking leads to many medical diseases. For example, smoking causes to about 20% of all cancers in the United States. According the CDC, smoking can cause cancer almost anywhere in your body as shown below:
Mouth and throat (oral cavity and pharynx)
Esophagus, voice box (larynx)
Lung, bronchus, and trachea
Acute myeloid leukemia
Liver
Kidney and renal pelvis
Stomach
Uterine cervix
Pancreas
Urinary bladder
Colon and rectum
Quitting smoking has significant health benefits at any age, no matter how long or how much you have smoked. For example, Quitting smoking significantly reduces the risks for heart attack, stroke and cancers.
Many smokers become addicted to the nicotine in tobacco. When quitting smoking, people can experience symptoms of nicotine withdrawals such as cravings, anxiety, irritability, depression, restlessness, insomnia, increased appetite and weight gain etc. The withdrawal symptoms typically peak within two to three days of quitting smoking and often go away in two to four weeks although some people may experience nicotine withdrawals for several months.
Because of nicotine dependence, it can be difficult to quit smoking. The following treatment options can help you quit.
Consultation with a quit smoking counselor
The free confidential telephone quitline 1800 quit now
The free online resources like CDC.gov/quit and, smokefree.gov
The free texting programs like SmokefreeTXT
Use a mobile app like quitstart
There are also medications available that can help you quit smoking by controlling nicotine withdrawal symptoms and cravings
Nicotine Replacement Therapy. There are over-the-counter nicotine in the forms of patch, gum, lozenge. The nicotine inhaler and nasal spray require prescription
Other prescription medications include varenicline, bupropion