Smoke 1 Cigarette a Day? Can it Still Kill You?
Even a minimal amount of smoking can deal a lot of damage. If you think smoking just one cigarette a day won't do any harm, you're wrong and here's why.
Smoking one cigarette a day is linked to higher degree of risk heat disease and stroke than one might expect, say British researchers.
The bottom line:
"No safe level of smoking exists for cardiovascular disease."
says the team lead by Allan Hacksaw, of UCL Cancer Institute at University College, London.
Quit completely
“Smokers should quit instead of cutting down, using appropriate cessation aids if needed, to significantly reduce their risk,”
says, the study authors. There is no such thing as smoking less or smoking lite.
Young adults often tend to smoke lesser amounts than older adults
“These lighter-smoking young adults frequently do not even consider themselves smokers".
said Patricia Folan, who directs the Center for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health, in Great Neck, New York.
Risk of attracting diseases
It's found that, compared to people who had never smoked, people who regularly smoked only cigarettes had double the risk of death in that time frame, from whatever the cause. And they had quadruple the odds of dying from a tobacco-linked cancer such as cancer of the lung, bladder, esophagus, pancreas, larynx and mouth.
In a new study, researchers monitored data from 141 studies and expected that the risk of getting these diseases or stroke for 1 cigarette per day smoker would be just 5% compared to that of a pack-a-day smoker. But that's wasn't the case. Studies found out, smokers who smoked just one cigarette a day still shared 46% chance of heart disease compared to heavy smokers and 41% chance for strokes. For women who smoked one cigarette a day these numbers were 31% and 34% respectively.
How to quit smoking
In South Africa, 17.6% of all adults population is addicted to smoking cigarettes. Most of it being men.
Out of current tobacco smokers, 29.3% have already been advised to quit smoking by their health practitioners, according to a previous Health24 article.
It is really the time for you to stop smoking and here's what you can do to curb your smoking habit
Social drinking situations highly encourage smoking, so keeping your self away from alcohol is a good start.
There is nothing wrong with the person who's got an addiction it's the addiction that is wrong, seek support from your family and friends, ask them to keep you away from occasions that may tempt you to smoke.
Start working out, this will not only make your physically fit but will also keep your mind away from smoking. Studies show that those who exercise are more likely to successfully quit smoking
If smoking is your way of coping with stress, find alternative ways such as meditating to help you cope.
I hope you found this post helpful. I'd love to hear your comments on how you deal with your smoking and smokers in general and your suggestions on how someone addicted to smoking can stay committed to stay away from it.
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