{"id":173732,"date":"2017-05-03T07:34:09","date_gmt":"2017-05-03T07:34:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/tips-to-kick-the-smoking-habit\/"},"modified":"2017-05-03T07:34:09","modified_gmt":"2017-05-03T07:34:09","slug":"tips-to-kick-the-smoking-habit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/tips-to-kick-the-smoking-habit-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Tips to Kick the Smoking Habit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Half a million people die each year from smoking-related illnesses \u2013 but these deaths are preventable. Learn how to kick the addiction and take control of your health.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shawn says he was so addicted to cigarettes that he kept smoking after he was diagnosed with cancer. He smoked through radiation treatments as well. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until they took out my voice box and I breathed through a hole in my neck that I finally quit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today Shawn works with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Tips from Former Smokers Campaign<\/a>, helping others quit smoking. Terry has been smoking since she was 13 \u2013 now she\u2019s 60 and she wants to give up the habit. \u201cMy brother and one of my sisters died from complications of diabetes, which were made worse by smoking,\u201d she says. \u201cMy other sister had two open-heart surgeries, and she still smokes.\u201d Terry\u2019s daughter just got married, and she hopes to see her grandchildren someday.<\/p>\n

Shawn explains the Tips from Former Smokers Campaign. \u201cThe campaign gives a voice to 16 million people dealing with smoking-related diseases. The ads show the real impact smoking can have on smokers and their families and the people around them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Terry says she has high blood pressure, high cholesterol, bad circulation, a chronic cough \u2013 and she doesn\u2019t like the way her skin\u2019s aging. She tried to quit in the \u201870s, and then again about seven years ago. \u201cBut today, I put out my last cigarette!\u201d she vows.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe health issues that you mentioned \u2013 they\u2019re all improved by quitting smoking,\u201d ER Physician Dr. Travis Stork tells her. \u201cAnd there are specific risks that woman smokers face. You mentioned your sister\u2019s health issues \u2013 heart disease is one of the leading causes of death for women, and smoking is such a risk factor for heart disease.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Terry, and everyone else out there,\u201d adds Plastic Surgeon Dr. Andrew Ordon, \u201cthe sooner you stop, the better!\u201d In the first smoke-free month, Terry can expect her circulation and her cough to improve.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not just smokers at risk \u2013 more than 40 percent of the children who visit emergency rooms for asthma live with smokers while breathing secondhand smoke can increase chances of developing lung cancer by up to 20 to 30 percent.<\/p>\n

Looking to quit? These tips may help:<\/p>\n

\u2022 Have a plan in place for when you feel tempted to smoke.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Ask your doctor about nicotine-replacement therapy, like gum or patches.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Short bursts of physical activity can help beat the craving to smoke.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Find a distraction.<\/p>\n

\u2022 When you feel a craving, wait 10 minutes for it to pass.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Try chewing sugarless gum or cinnamon sticks.<\/p>\n

\u2022 When you quit \u2013 quit! Don\u2019t have \u201cjust one more.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2022 But if you slip up, keep going. Don\u2019t throw away your progress because of one mistake.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Call 1-800-QUIT-NOW or visit www.cdc.gov\/tips<\/a> for help and reinforcement.<\/p>\n

Sponsored by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Half a million people die each year from smoking-related illnesses \u2013 but these deaths are preventable. Learn how to kick the addiction and take control of your health. Shawn says he was so addicted to cigarettes that he kept smoking after he was diagnosed with cancer. He smoked through radiation treatments as well. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173732","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173732"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/173732\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=173732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/healthmedicinet.com\/i\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}