The scary (not cool) things about smoking

Hopefully, this list of facts, figures and motivational statements will aid you in your battle against the evil ‘cancer sticks.’

• If you smoke more than 25 cigarettes a day are likely to die from cancer and almost twice as likely to die from heart disease.
• Each cigarette on average takes 11 minutes off your life.
• Over fifty diseases are caused by smoking. Twenty of them are fatal.
• Seven out of ten smokers want to give up. So you have to ask why they ever started.
• Nicotine stimulates the central nervous system, which increases the heart rate and blood pressure.
• If you carry on smoking you have a fifty percent chance of dying from it.
• Smoking is the number one avoidable cause of premature death in the USA.
• Smoking reduces elastin levels in the skin, as well as increasing free radical levels. These factors increase premature facial aging.
• You could save $1,600 per year if you gave up your pack a day habit.
• Nicotine is an insecticide.
• $400 is what the average smoker gives to the US government in tax each year.
• The risk from smoking pipes is as great as smoking cigarettes.
• Cigarettes contain tar which clings to the insides of your lungs and throat, which is known to cause cancer.
• As each year passes, your addiction will become greater and will increase the difficulty of quitting.
• Any children growing up in a house where tobacco is regularly used are more likely to get asthma, pneumonia, ear infections, bronchitis, glue ear and become tobacco users themselves.
• The benefits of quitting start as soon as you stop smoking.
• Stomach ulcers are inflamed by smoking.
• In the US, on average three hundred people die every day, simply because they were smokers.
• Anyone can benefit from quitting smoking. Even if they are over 70 years of age.
• Cigarette smoking increases the risk of having a heart attack by two or three times.
• Every year 17,000 children under the age of five are admitted to hospital due to the effects of passive smoking.
• Smoking causes at least 80% of all deaths from lung cancer.
• Less than 10% of lung cancer patients survive five years.
• 83% of smokers say they would not smoke if they had their life again.
• Teenage smokers experience more asthma and respiratory problems than non-smokers.

Chemicals that can be found in tobacco smoke:

• Benzene – A poisonous gas found in petrol fumes. Known to cause leukemia.
• Butane – Lighter fuel.
• Ethanol – Straight alcohol, used to raise the octane level in petroleum
• Methanol – Used in rocket fuel, some brake fluid and methylated spirits.
• Ammonia – Used in many cleaning products.
• Acetone – Used in paint stripper, nail polish remover, and to reduce knocking in diesel engines.
• Cadmium – Used in car batteries. Known to cause cancer.
• Arsenic – Poison used as an insecticide.
• Toluene – Industrial solvent.
• Formaldehyde – An irritant used to embalm flesh.
• Naphthalene – The main ingredient in mothballs.

54% of people want smoking restrictions in pubs.

85% favor smoking restrictions at work and in restaurants.

Passive smoking doubles the risk of acute respiratory illness in children.

Darren Williger is an over-caffeinated, low carbohydrate eating, non-smoking winemaking enthusiast who writes for SmokersWebsite.com, FitnessPad.com, and LifeSatori.com

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