Lung Patient

If you are a smoker, the single most important thing you can do to improve your health and wellbeing is to quit smoking. It is definitely not easy, but you can do it, if you decide you want to.

Why is smoking bad for you?

Most people already know that smoking is bad for them. The list of health problems that it causes is quite remarkable for a government-regulated, legal product. Many smokers are focused on the fear of developing lung cancer. While it is true that the risk of death from lung cancer is 12 times greater that if you do not smoke, it turns out that your increased risk of dying from smoking is largely attributed to heart disease, because if you smoke, your risk of dying from heart disease is 6 times greater than the relatively high risk among non smokers.

Another major tragedy from smoking is the rate of chronic lung disease, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease , or COPD). These chronic lung conditions rob sufferers of health and happiness, because they leave sufferers struggling to breathe, and prevent them from doing anything active (like taking a walk). Finally, there is a host of other problems that smokers face — from premature aging and wrinkling of the skin, to cold hands and feet caused by poor circulation, to depression, to a series of lesser known cancers that also can kill. Sadly, the rates of mouth, throat, laryngeal, and bladder cancers are all much higher in smokers than non smokers.